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

If the character succumbs to torpor with no Vitae left and has lost all of her Health points
to lethal damage, she awakens having recovered one Health point as a result of the torpor,
which she doesn’t have to pay for with Vitae. In effect, the character recovers this Health
point for free, as a result of the stabilizing sleep of torpor.
Example: Alexis is beaten into torpor by a pack of Kindred enforcers under Ian’s command. When
Alexis sinks into torpor, she does so with only two Vitae in her system. Her Humanity is 6 and her Blood
Potency is 3. Normally, this would result in a six-week torpor. Because she lacks the Vitae to properly heal
herself, however, Alexis’s Blood Potency is treated as if it were one higher. This results in an eight-week
torpor for Alexis, and when she rises, the wounds from her right two Health boxes are erased — wounds
recovered from the Vitae she had in her system and spent refl exively.
STARVATION
A Kindred who sleeps during the day and who has no Vitae — but who is not truly in
torpor — fails to rise. All Vitae in him has been exhausted, so he has none to spend to rise
the next night. For every night that passes under these circumstances, the character suffers
a point of lethal damage in lieu of spending Vitae. In this state, the character is incapable
of functioning at all, yet is not in torpor. This is important because this vampire does not
need exceptionally potent Vitae to be roused yet — see p. 252. At this point, any Vitae given
to him allows him to rise as normal (fed only a few Vitae, the character probably rises in a
hunger frenzy). Denied any Vitae from an outside source, a starving character continues to
suffer one lethal wound a night until he slips into torpor.
The character sleeps in torpor for a duration determined by the preceding chart: the
base duration set by the character’s Humanity, multiplied by a number one higher than the
character’s Blood Potency. At the torpor’s end, the character awakens with only one Health
point restored, as discussed previously.
VOLUNTARY TORPOR
Kindred can also enter torpor deliberately. Sometimes unlife just gets to be too much and
a Kindred decides to sleep in hopes that some of her problems will be solved by the time she
wakes again. Elder vampires also sometimes use torpor to reduce their Blood Potency when
feeding becomes too inconvenient.
Vampires seldom enter voluntary torpor lightly. An extended torpor usually requires abandoning
all responsibilities in the Kindred world and all the infl uence so painstakingly built in the
mortal world. A Kindred might hope that his childer remain reasonably loyal and greet him
with respect when he rises again. He might also hope that his centuries of experience bring him
honor among other Kindred and win him at least a minor title in his covenant and city’s undead
community, but he cannot realistically hope to resume his old offi ces as if he’d never left.
Voluntary torpor lasts at least as long as the base duration set by the character’s Humanity.
At the end of that time, the character wakes if his player makes a successful Resolve +
Composure draw. If the draw fails, the character remains in torpor for another increment of
time, and so on. The player may choose not to make the draw to rise after each increment
if he wishes his character to remain in torpor for another increment.
Example: Lucius fi nds himself stymied by the presence of too many enemies and decides to lay low
for a while, seeking refuge in voluntary torpor. His Humanity is 4, so he spends at least one year in
torpor. After that year, Lucius’s player decides Lucius wishes to stay out of sight and chooses not to
draw Resolve + Composure. Lucius remains torpid for another year, at which point the player chooses
to draw and succeed; Lucius is free to rise.
After the fi rst increment passes, the character can also try to wake up if something disturbs
his body. The character can recognize a disturbance if the player succeeds at a Wits + Auspex
250
mind’s chapter eye three: theatre: special requiem rules and systems