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

Potency comparisons or frenzy tests need to be made. This rule applies to all gatherings,
whether it’s a formal affair with engraved invitations or just a casual hangout at a local haven.
In short, if vampires are gathering with the expectation of seeing other vampires there, they
need not worry about Predator’s Taint rearing its ugly head. What’s more, this rule applies
even if other Kindred unexpectedly “crash” the affair — no one present has to check for
Predator’s Taint in response to the intrusion, unless they choose to do so. Even if they do,
the other party does not necessarily have to follow suit — it’s possible that the intruders can
frenzy while the invited guests retain their composure, and vice versa.
Think of this rule as a way of representing the fact that the undead, for all their viciousness
and barely suppressed animal instincts, still have some measure of human social habits, and
what’s more they recognize the necessity of meeting in numbers from time to time. This rule
therefore captures their willingness to put on masks of civility and cordiality in order to function
as a society, however savage and treacherous it may be. After a time, restraining the Beast
in this minor but critical way becomes second nature, an accepted part of how the Kindred
interact with each other. The same rule can be applied for situations where vampires expect
to meet each other, for instance if you are invited to another vampire’s haven or if you meet
and clearly recognize another vampire on the street without hostile intentions.
3.2 — THE PREDATOR'S TAINT MODIFIERS
Modifi er Situation
— The character witnesses another vampire in a potentially
threatening capacity for the fi rst time.
-2 The character perceives the other vampire as an intruder or
unexpected threat, such as by coming back to her haven and
fi nding an unknown vampire there.
STORYTELLING THE PREDATOR’S TAINT
Important: Use of the Predator’s Taint should be based on the dramatic potential of the situation.
Storytellers need not employ it every time a new vampire enters the chronicle. They should
not feel that they have to incorporate the Predator’s Taint into every interaction between
Kindred.
This rule exists to highlight the xenophobic world of the Kindred, as well as to reinforce
the local phenomenon of Kindred domains. After all, even in a domain where one is on
poor terms with the other local vampires, at least one knows them. In a new domain, the
Predator’s Taint threatens a would-be immigrant so as to make a “fresh start” in a new domain
a very dangerous affair.
Storytellers, don’t use the Predator’s Taint to be adversarial. Use it only to drive home
the notion that a particular vampire is strange, threatening and, most important, unknown.
Storytellers may assume that players’ characters have met most of the other local Kindred
in their domains during their period of indoctrination or protection under their sires. By
the time the actual chronicle begins, characters are familiar, at least in the back story, with
most Kindred of at least minor acknowledgement in their home domains. Characters have
probably met the Prince. They are likely to have spoken with their Prisci and at least have
been introduced to their Primogen.
Where the Predator’s Taint comes into play most effectively is when a new Kindred shows
up on the scene. Maybe this unknown vampire is a prophet of Golconda, but her unknown
nature prompts a hostile, immediate response from the Beast. Perhaps a rabble-rouser drum-
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mind’s chapter eye three: theatre: special requiem rules and systems