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

Kindred call such a temporary, negotiated surrender to the Beast riding the wave. Older
Kindred call it damnable foolishness.
If a character wants to ride the wave, the player makes Resolve + Composure draws and
tries to accumulate successes as an extended action, just like fi ghting back frenzy. In this case,
however, the vampire tries to goad the Beast while supplying it with a target of the Man’s
choice. The player also expends a Willpower point for trying to direct the frenzy in advance.
Riding the wave always requires accumulating at least fi ve successes. The Storyteller may ask
for more, or modify the Resolve + Composure draws depending on how well the desired
task accords with the character’s personality or existing emotions. For instance, a character
probably has little trouble deliberately frenzying when he faces the Lupine that murdered
two of his Kindred allies, his Virtue is Justice, and his Vice is Wrath. On the other hand,
frenzying so he might have a better chance to climb up a building almost certainly doesn’t
work. If the player fails any one of the Resolve + Composure draws before enough successes
are accumulated, the character falls into an undirected frenzy.
Riding the wave allows a character to end the frenzy at the point of his choice, rather than
suffering its passions until the Beast rages itself to exhaustion. Note that if a character riding
the wave faces other stimuli that might cause a frenzy, he must still deal with those stimuli as
normal after ending the intended frenzy, quite possibly frenzying again.
A character who tries to ride the wave multiple times in a single night suffers a cumulative
-1 penalty to Resolve + Composure test pools for each time after the fi rst time that he attempts
to direct frenzy (regardless of whether or not he was successful at those attempts).
Example: Favian faces two unbound Kindred who taunt him for being a slave to the rules of Invictus
high society. He feels the turmoil of frenzy deep inside him, but he knows that he can’t lose himself
completely to the Beast. Desiring to teach these punks a lesson but not wanting to relinquish control
utterly, Favian decides to ride the wave. His player spends a Willpower point and makes a Resolve +
Composure draw, gaining two successes. The next turn, Favian’s player draws again as the jeers of the
unbound continue, this time accumulating three successes for a total of fi ve. Favian directs his rage
toward the unaligned Kindred, suffering no wound penalties for the damage they infl ict on him and
gaining an extra +1 to his attacks. After he sends them fl eeing in bloody fear, he coaxes the Beast into
calmness, rather than allowing it to continue unabated until it exhausts itself.
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mind’s chapter eye three: theatre: special requiem rules and systems
Humanity
The change from life to undeath affects more than a person’s body. It changes the soul. A
Kindred shares his human consciousness with a force completely opposite to humanity — a
thing devoid of reason, conscience or any emotions except hunger and rage. Kindred call it
the Beast.
The presence of the Beast changes the very nature of morality for vampires. The Kindred
can pretend to be human, but they are not. Even the most evil and monstrous mortal does
not have a Beast. A vampire’s existence is a constant struggle between the Man, the aspect of
a Kindred that can make moral choices, and the Beast, which cannot.
The Beast follows a simple plan: Hunt. Kill. Feed. Sleep. Repeat. It feels no pity, only thirst
for blood. It cannot even speak.
The Man consists of everything that resists the Beast: rational thought, a conscience, and
most of all the ability to relate to other people. The Beast does not understand what other
people think or feel, and it doesn’t care. They are just food.