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

chapter one: society the of the vinculum
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Vinculums. For example, a player who succeeds on the second draw doesn’t negate the presence
of the fi rst stage of the Vinculum. If the character drinks again from the same vampire,
his player might choose to draw again (with the expenditure of another Willpower point) to
see if the second stage does occur. Vampires who have the same Blood Potency still threaten
Vinculums as normal. No Stamina + Composure draws are allowed to resist the steps toward
a blood bond.
Subjecting a thrall to the Vinculum certainly offers some benefi t to the regnant. The regnant
can use certain applications of Dominate on a thrall without the need for eye contact (see p.
168). The thrall merely has to hear the regnant’s voice.
Regnants are the objects of their thralls’ love, artifi cial and unwilling though it might be. A
regnant gains a +2 bonus on all Social draws affecting her thrall. Further, thralls are subject to
a Resolve + Composure draw at a -3 penalty any time they want to take an action (or engage
in inaction) that might result in indirect harm to their regnants. For example, a ghoul thrall
who tries not to run to her regnant when she sees obviously hostile Kindred breaking into
his haven would be subject to this draw. A thrall who directly tries to act against her regnant
— say, the same ghoul trying to stake her regnant as he slept — is subject to the Resolve +
Composure draw at a -5 penalty. Failing either of these draws means the thrall cannot act
against the regnant (or allow her to engage in the dangerous inaction).
BREAKING VINCULUMS
The Kindred know of a few ways to break a Vinculum. The most certain consists of the
regnant’s Final Death. Torpor does not suffi ce. Some Kindred tell how they felt their blood
oath break like a chain snapping and knew their regnant was no more. In other cases, Kindred
have continued to work their regnant’s will for years after their thralldom should have
ended. In such cases, the thrall had an unusually dependent personality or an unusually kindly
regnant, so the former thrall genuinely wanted to complete his master’s last commands… or
what he thought his master might command.
Simple time can erode a Vinculum. A mortal loses her blood oath if she goes for a full
year without tasting her regnant’s Vitae. One taste a year can preserve a mortal’s thralldom
indefi nitely.
For the Kindred, a Vinculum takes much longer to fade. Some Kindred have remained
blood bound through decades of their regnants’ torpor. More dubious tales speak of regnancies
lasting through centuries of separation, after everyone else had forgotten that one elder
labored beneath a Vinculum to another — until the regnant reappeared and invoked the
blood oath once more.
Generally, a successful Resolve + Composure draw can free a character who goes 50 years
without tasting her regnant’s Vitae. The character’s player attempts another draw for every
50 years of separation thereafter. This guideline becomes important in a century-spanning
“chronicle of ages.”
Mistreatment can also weaken a Vinculum. If a regnant gives his thrall reason to hate him,
that hatred can prove stronger than forced devotion. When love, hate and terror roil within
a thrall’s heart, the confl ict might resolve itself with a murderous assault on the regnant.
Succeed or fail, the thrall probably goes mad as well. We cannot provide a system for such
hatred or madness, though. Too much depends on the details of how the regnant treats the
thrall, the thrall’s personality and the specifi c events that cause his mind to snap.
ROLEPLAYING THE VINCULUM
Portraying such intense feelings can be a challenge for many players, especially if their
character isn’t fond of their regnant and had to be somehow been forced or tricked into the