Discipline Clarifications

[Skir]

It's no secret that everything White Wolf wrote is pretty vague and subjective, but that doesn't stop with the storyline material. The mechanics for powers and abilities all throughout the source books leave a lot of questions unanswered and a lot up to ST interpretation.

These are not rules revisions, unless otherwise noted. These are the calls that I and my staff would make if the situation came up at game. Rather than making one call one day, and another call another, with no parity or consistency, we are going to make all the calls ahead of time so that you know what to expect. If I miss something here and we have to make a spot call at game, we'll get it added to the list so that everyone is playing by the same rules.

This is an ongoing process, and it takes a surprisingly long time, so this will be put down as I complete it. Again, most of this is not any sort of change, just filling in the blanks of what isn't answered in the core material. If there is a major change in the rules or something is being run contrary to the book, that text will be in red.
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WEBMONKEY NOTE: A bunch of clarifications are now on the core website at www.emeraldcitychronicles.com in the Play Hub>3. House rules>Discipline Related Rules section. The ones already up and clarified are, though the ones on the site might not match the ones below, because if they're below on the boards, the idea is that they're still under discussion. But for the ones that are set in stone (ish), they'd be on the main vampire site.

For ease, here is the link: www.emeraldcitychronicles.com/213224/index.html

[Skir]

Mytherceria

Mytherceria 1: Folderol

This power has no cost, and is used after a statement to check to see if it was a lie.

This power only detects deliberate lies, not mistakes. However, a lie for the purposes of this power is any deliberate falsehood AND any deliberate attempt to deceive the Kiasyd with words, even if it is a lie of omission or using misleading language.

The effect of this power is specific to every user of the power, but is also consistent in effect for that individual as well. In other words, a lie triggers the same strange effect each time they hear one, but that effect is unique to the user of the power.

These effects can be either personal to the Kiasyd himself, such as a shiver down the spine, or the mouth running dry, or can be visible to others, such as the liar's tongue glowing green, or the Kiasyd's eyes glowing with light for a brief moment.

Mytherceria 2: Fae Sight

This power is always on for the purposes of seeing Faeries as they truly are.

Once a character has this power, they may attempt a downtime Investigation to locate Faeries within the city if they choose to.

The Perception + Occult Roll to perceive the presence of faerie magic in an area is dif 6. Like any sense the supernatural roll, 1 success lets you know some power was used but not what, 2 successes gives a vague idea of the kind, and 3 or more means you know the precise purpose of the power in use, similar to the Thaumaturgical Sight ability.

This power can also be used to detect magic from any non-undead source, (not vampires, not ghosts, etc) but can also detect the magics of mortal mages and werewolves in the same manner as above.


Mytherceria 2: Darkling Trickery (Alternate)

This power may be purchased as an alternate level 2 effect. Kiasyd may purchase both versions if they wish, by paying the normal experience cost.

Darkling Trickery has the following description:

Level 2 • Darkling Trickery

The Kiasyd can cause minor magical pranks. The vampire can create numerous spontaneous effects, and while none of them should be overtly harmful, they most certainly should be annoying to the victim. It is up to the player and Storyteller to come up with the pranks' effects.

System: Using this power requires a Manipulation + Occult roll (difficult 7). The number of successes usually determines how long the trickery lasts. This varies based on what the trick is.

Here are just a few possibilities: remove hair (the victim's hair falls out), banshee's wail (the vampire lets out a scream, deafening all nearby for an hour and causing fear in animals), blight crops (causes all plants within a 100-yard radius to wither away and die), falling stones (telekinetically causes small stones to fall), slip (causes one victim to slip on the floor unless he makes a Dexterity + Dodge roll with a difficult of 7), and foul simple machines (the vampire causes a simple machine to malfunction when the victim uses it).

The effects that this power produces can be widespread in nature but are always relatively minor in effect. No effect of this power may cause damage significant enough to wound people directly, such as stabbing them with a flying knife, but may indirectly, such as igniting a flammable liquid, starting a larger fire. As a general rule, it should not be significantly more powerful than a given Thaumaturgical path power at level 1 or 2.

The effects that this power produces, while not damaging, can be quite embarrassing, such as changing the color of someone's skin, making their hair fall out as in the example, or causing a generally harmless but ungraceful slip.

Effects that target people in a cosmetic way last hours equal to the successes scored.

Effects that target the general environment can be, once again, almost anything, such as withering plants in a large radius, slamming every door and window in the room at once, or cleaning the floor to a perfect, sparkling finish. If there is a continuous effect, such as the doors slamming open and closed repeatedly, it lasts for minutes equal to successes, but still doesn't produce effects that deal actual damage to characters, though it may annoy or impede progress.

Since this ability is so open ended, the storyteller remains ultimate authority over what is and isn't possible with this power.

Mytherceria 3: Aura Absorption


The difficulty for this test is determined identically to the difficult of The Spirit's Touch. Auspex does not benefit this roll for the purposes of difficulty reduction.

This power gives more information than The Spirit's Touch does, and is superior in that regard through the violent nature of its use. Each success gives one clear image of the scene in question AND one piece of personal information of the person who left the impression. The piece of identity is chosen by the Storyteller, though each success gives a new piece of information.

After this power has been used, the successes on Aura Absorption are treated like barrier successes for any use of Aura Absorption or The Spirit's Touch on that object to acquire the same information, though the item can accumulate more impressions over time, eventually.

The Kiasyd's own handling of the item in question to use this power does not leave any impression on the item after the power is used.

As an alternate use of this power, the Kiasyd may spend a point of Willpower to activate the power's absorption power for the scene, and no record of anything that happens in the Kiasyd's vicinity will be detectable by powers such as Spirit's Touch, Wooden Tongues, or Eyes of the Sea. This is the equivalent of using it on everything that the character encounters non stop and ignoring the information it gives.

Mytherceria 3 - Goblinism (Alternate)

This power may be purchased as an alternate level 3 effect. Kiasyd may purchase both versions if they wish, by paying the normal experience cost.

Goblinism has the following description:

Level 3 • Goblinism

The Kiasyd has an innate understanding of earth and stone. The Kiasyd can instantly identify metals, rock formations and stones. Underground, the vampire has an intuitive direction sense.
Through long and strenuous effort, the Kiasyd can also alter earth and stone. The vampire can use this power for many purposes, such as shaping tunnels, building supports for underground havens, and smoothing out surfaces into flat floors and walls.

System: The knowledge and direction sense associated with this power do not require a roll, but shaping rock means the vampire must concentrate carefully on the desired shape of the rock for long periods of time, coaxing the rock to change its shape to suit the Kiasyd's needs. Every few minutes the Kiasyd may roll Charisma + Occult, (difficult based on how far underground the vampire is -in a mine shaft would mean a difficult of 6, on the street would have a difficult of 8, and at the top of the Sears Tower would have a difficulty of 10, if the Storyteller permits it at all.) For each success, the Kiasyd may reshape about a ton of earth or stone, which translates to a small room's worth of space.

The Kiasyd may also collapse or close tunnels that he created at will, as long as he is within a mile or so by rolling Strength + Occult, (difficulty 4+1 for every 1000 feat from the tunnel the Kiasyd is, to a maximum of difficulty 10) The tunnel closes at once, and if there are living creatures caught within, it takes a Feat of Strength equal to 5 + the successes scored to free ones' self from the rubble and advance about 10 yards, and it may require many such Feats to fully get free. Mortals and other living creatures suffocate within a few minutes if they cannot escape.

Mytherceria 4: Chanjelin Ward

The roll for this is Intelligence + Security. V20s suggested roll of Larceny does not apply as we do not use that Ability.

The difficulty of the roll is 7 for all inanimate objects or Current Willpower + 2 if inscribed directly on a person (clothes count as the person for this purpose).

In order to create these wards, the symbols must be physically written or marked in some manner. This can be almost anything, from a temporary finger trace of blood to a permanently etched carving. The same glyph can be "Recharged" with another application of this power if the Kiasyd desires.

"Proximity" to the ward is defined as in the same room, or hallway, anywhere a subject *could* see the glyph clearly, if they were looking in the right place, though the subject must actually see and identify the symbol at least once to be affected by it.

The roll to escape the glyph is Wits + Investigation. Investigation is a knowledge, and cannot be rolled untrained, so it is possible to trap those without the Ability indefinately. If the roll to escape is made but not successful, the subject may try again once per minute, at the standard +1 increase in Dif for each additional attempt.

More than one glyph can be used at a time, or in a single place, though a subject can only be "confused" once over. However, if the subject breaks free from the power, they may be caught by the next symbol they see, including the same one that caught them the first time.

Mytherceria 5: Riddle Phantastique

The roll for this power's difficulty is based on the subject's Current Willpower, similar to Dominate.

Despite being a vocal effect, this power can only be used on one target at a time, though others may still hear the words.

The Wits + Occult roll to solve the riddle is modified in difficulty by the Derangements of the victim, either up or down for each one. Which way this occurs is determined by a single World of Darkness check. On a win or tie, the Derangements lower the difficulty by one each. On a lose, they raise the difficulty by one each.

The subject of this ability needs to accumulate triple the successes as the Kiasyd did on the activation roll, with one roll made per hour. Without the Occult ability, the subject may not attempt to roll, as per normal, and is held until the Kiasyd tells them the answer or they starve into torpor.

If attacked during this time, the victim may defend themselves normally, including taking actions to Dodge or Block, but may take no other actions, including retaliation, even if they take damage.

[Skir]

Daimoinon

ECC uses the rules for this discipline printed on page 38-40 of the Dark Ages Storyteller's Companion as a baseline for these powers.

While knowing or using this power does not in of itself make the user an Infernalist, it does draw upon a power that is outside the normal source of Disciplines. Spending blood or willpower to activate its powers causes the user to experience a painful, pleasurable connection to a primal outside force that is not themselves.

Daimoinon 1: Sense the Sin

The power does not require eye contact but does require the user to intensely scrutinize the target in a wicked manner that may draw attention. As always, those aware of the user when he activates the power may use Perception + Occult, difficulty 10, to notice the power in use.

For three successes scored on this power, the storyteller will generally respond to the player using this power with answers from the Secrets and Weaknesses portion of their questionnaire, specifically targeting those first that have to do with moral failings or vice.

Each use of this power on the same target raises the difficulty by 2 for the remainder of the story (one month) Botches give false secrets, misleading fantasies about the depravities that would be most juicy for the subject.


Daimoinon 2: Fear of the Void

Ghosts, Fae and Mortals get no resistance to this power.

When used, this power targets every creature that hears the spoken invocation for which the user has used Sense the Sin on that Scene with any success.

The user must speak to use this power, but it doesn't matter what it spoken or in what language.

Daimoinon 3: Essense of the Netherworld

The exact manifestation of this power is unique to the user, and once manifested, does not change. Missiles that are not obviously made of fire provoke Rotschreck upon taking damage from the attack. Fire based attacks provoke Rotschreck normal to the amount of fire present.

Each blood point spent on this power increases the damage rating of the missile by 1, and there is no upper limit to this amount.

The Dexterity + Occult roll to hit with this power adds carry over dice from accuracy as normal, and the target of this attack may Dodge normally to attempt to evade the attack or reduce accuracy.

This power utterly destroys the scenery when it hits it. Normal items are destroyed totally and irrevocably by just being the target of this attack. Extremely large or durable items, at Storyteller's discretion, may require additional blood to be spent on the missile, but as a guideline, each blood spent accounts for 5 steps on the Feat of Strength Chart for the purposes of what kinds of objects it can destroy.

Daimoinon 4: Psychomachia

All uses of this power require a storyteller to be present to narrate the Manifestation.

As a general rule, the manifestations do not generally attack immediately, and are not under the direct control of the user of this power. In fact, the user has no idea (other than their own inference and what they have learned from Sense the Sin) what the victim of this power is seeing or experiencing. Manifestations generally will try to convince their target to give up their quests, indulge in their desires, and otherwise aid their darker natures. Generally, only if the victim attacks them, they refuse to indulge in the course suggested by the Manifestation, or the victim attempt to harm the user of the power will the Manifestation attack.

If the Storyteller has foreknowledge to prepare the manifestation, the creature may be a figure from the subject's backstory, or some other key figure from their experiences. For vampires, it will otherwise usually be a manifestation of the subject's Beast, and have all of the subject's own capabilities and the subject's appearance, albeit with a ferocious and insane demeanor.

The user of the power need not be visible for this power to be invoked.

Injuries and torpor sustained by this power end immediately when the opponent is defeated or the user of the power ceases concentration on the power. Users with the Concentration merit may take other actions (including using this power again on a different victim) without disrupting the ongoing effect.

If the victim defeats the Manifestation through roleplay (Storyteller's discretion based on the drama at hand) or through combat, the power and all wounds taken end at once. The victim may also recover all of their lost Willpower pool.

Daimoinon 5: Curse

The difficulty of this roll is the target's permanent Willpower.

The successes necessary for a given severity of curse to be laid down is equal to the number of points it would grant as a character Flaw. If there is no analogous Flaw already written, it is judged as per the Cursed flaw on its severity. The length of time functions as the power suggests, and the successes must be distributed between severity and duration.

When healing physical maladies with Vicissitude, use the roll for Fleshcrafting. When healing mental maladies with Dominate, use the roll for Forgetful Mind.

[Skir]

Melpominee

A Character's rating in the Melpominee discipline cannot exceed her Performance Ability.

The powers of Melpominee do not actually need ears or the ability to hear to function - all uses of Melpominee may be heard by the deaf.

Melpominee powers only work on those who hear them directly - they may not be recorded, broadcast, etc.

Multiple users who use these powers together decrease the difficulty by 1 for each additional Siren, to a minimum of difficulty 3.

Melpominee enhanced songs take about 1 minute to begin to affect their listeners with their power.

Singing from Obfuscate requires 5 successes on a Wits + Stealth roll (Diff 9) per minute of singing.

Melpominee 1: The Missing Voice

This power requires no expenditure of any kind and can be used at will, including while the user is speaking normally or taking other actions.

This power may be used as quietly or loudly as the user chooses (within the range of your normal human voice). Because it can be used very quietly and at any location, it can be used to speak directly and quietly into someone's ear for an inexpensive form of subvocal communication (and doesn't even have to sound like a whisper voice!). Unlike Telepathy though, it does create true sound which can be picked up by such things as sensitive microphones or Hightened Senses, something akin to the volume of a cell phone call or an ear bud transmitter.

If used simultaneously with one's own natural voice for singing to create an ethereal mix of sounds, it adds 2 additional dice to any such Performance roll but produces a remarkable, eerie effect.

The voice one produces need not be one's own, or rather need not seem to be one's own. A Manipulation + Performance roll (dif 6) may be used to disguise one's voice as another's through mundane mimicry. If the user possesses the power Mask of a Thousand Faces, they may use that power to produce a wide array of vocal effects (subject to piercing by Auspex if it comes to it)

As long as eye contact is maintained, a user of this power may use The Missing Voice to deliver the command portion of Dominate quietly (though this imposes a 2 dice penalty)

Other Melpominee powers may be used through The Missing Voice to disguise their source.

Melpominee 2: Phantom Speaker

This power works on someone whom you have more than a passing familiarity with. "More than a Passing familiarity" in this case, means someone who you know fairly well and have a good sense of their personality.

In regards to turns of speech for activations of less than 3 successes, each turn is around 30 seconds.

It is important to remember that this transmission is one way - the Daughter cannot hear a response from the person she sends the message to unless she has some other way to do so.

Because she cannot hear her own voice, any uses of Melpominee or any other social challenge such as Intimidation used through Phantom Speaker are done at +1 difficulty.

Melpominee 3: Madrigal

This power doesn't just illicit a certain feeling in the listener, it specifically compels them to act on those feelings, though the Siren cannot control directly what happens - that depends on the Nature of the subject and the emotion created, but some action always comes from a successful use of this power.

Each success is 1/5th of the audience listening to the Daughter's voice, regardless of the amount of people that happens to be, be it a coffee shop or a cathedral.

This power may be resisted by spending a Willpower point, but only if they score 3 successes on a Perception + Occult roll, difficulty 8.


Melpominee 4: Siren's Beckoning

The entire Malkavian clan is immune to this power.

The difficulty for this power is the target's current willpower.

The 20 net successes needed to make this effect permanent must be done during the same application of Siren's Beckoning - they do not add up over multiple uses.

The Storyteller determines the Derangement or Psychological Flaw, but it will be chosen by context of the situation and the Nature of the characters involved.

Melpominee 5: Virtuosa

Targets of Phantom Speaker by way of Virtuosa need not be anywhere near each other.

This power can consider Stamina enhanced by blood spends in how many people it can affect.

[Skir]

Thanatosis

The effects of Thanatosis require touch, and can be delivered along side any attempt to touch or make contact with the target, including a Hold, Clinch or Strike, and become cumulative with those. Effects may also be delivered along side one another where applicable.

Thanatosis 1: Hag's Wrinkles

The roll for this power is Stamina + Subterfuge, dif 8.

The character may also plunge their hand into their chest or stomach cavity to hide a small item (perhaps the size of a softball) into their body to keep it hidden.

Storing objects within the body does not have a duration, but removing the object does require another application of this power.

Thanatosis 2: Putrefaction

The damage from this power cannot be soaked, as the character's Stamina + Fortitude are already considered in the difficulty of the power.

Additional damage to the Appearance Attribute is cumulative from repeated uses of this power.

Thanatosis 3: Ashes to Ashes

While in this form, the ashes are truly invincible to all damage.

The Samedi does not expend blood points to awaken each night while in this form. The total dormancy of the ashes does not require it.

Because the Samedi loses 1 future blood point and 1 future health level for each 10th of the ashes to be separated, the form bears the risk of coming back into form taking enough damage to be in torpor. When the user ends the transformation, the form will recover from the largest collection of ash, with the minimum of the head and heart (and the intervening space) intact. If the Samedi reforms into torpor, they bear out the normal time in torpor prescribed by their Path rating before awakening as normal, but still missing parts of their body.

The ashes are sticky and clumpy, actually more like a fine tar than real ash, and any attempt to separate them is a disgusting and tedious task requiring deliberate effort and at least a few minutes.


Thanatosis 4: Withering

If a leg is chosen to be Withered, the target's running speed is reduced by half. If both legs are Withered, they may only move 1 yard per turn by crawling prone. He may not Dodge.

If an arm is chosen to be Withered, the target may not use that arm, and it may impeded certain split action uses at storyteller discretion. If both arms are Withered, the target may not Block, Parry, Strike or use any other form of combat maneuver except Kick, Tackle and Sweep. He may still Dodge.

If the head is Withered, the target loses 2 from each Mental Attribute and may use no Disciplines except Potence Celerity and Fortitude. This is fatal to any mortal creature. Supernatural creatures that survive their head being Withered may not use any mental powers particular to their kind - only those powers which are physically latent to them and require no magic to work.

Withering lasts until the end of the night (or permanent for mortals), and may not be recovered from sooner.

Thanatosis 5: Necrosis

Like Putrefaction before it, these health levels of damage do not get a soak roll because the victim's Stamina + Fortitude is already considered in the activation difficulty.

If a victim is reduced to 0 Strength or 0 Dexterity, they cannot take physical actions except weak flailing, but they may spend blood to heal the wounds or pump physical stats. The reduced Attribute totals also decrease the "Generation cap" by the same amount for the purposes of how high blood pumped Physical Attributes may be raised and maintained. These missing Attribute levels (including Appearance) only recover when the last point of lethal damage from the attack is recovered from.

[Skir]

Temporis

ECC uses the text listed in Player's Guide to the High Clans as a baseline for this discipline, rather than that found in 2nd Edition Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand.

Temporis, the parent or sister (accounts differ) Discipline to Celerity, is still a distinct discipline and it is possible to know both forms of the discipline.

Mastery of Temporis has a psychological effect on those who use it. Vampires with Temporis 5 (or higher) tend to acquire Derangements that relate to time and perception of time when they do acquire Derangements for other reasons (such as Dementation or Degeneration rolls). Appropriate choices are Amnesia, Regression, Visions and Obsession (with time or the future).

Temporis powers can substitute for Celerity powers for certain combo disciplines, especially ones that relate to heightened perceptions or reaction times. In most cases, Temporis 5 may be used to substitute for Celerity of equal or lesser degree in speed enhancing combo disciplines, though it may cause the Combo discipline to be rated more expensively because of its high level.

Temporis 1: Hourglass of the Mind

This power allows the user, among the other effects, to know the exact amount of Celerity declared by all characters in a scene, and detect the presence of any Celerity use. As a consequence, any surprise attack or Ambush that utilizes Celerity automatically fails to Surprise someone with this Discipline.

Because Celerity is always passively active in it's granting of Dexterity for unused actions, a Perception + Alertness test, difficulty 8, may be used to determine whether a character has Celerity, and how much they have.

Vampires with this power can understand timing to within a second or better, and so can also perfectly measure the duration of any effect they themselves produced.

This power duplicates the effects of the Time Sense and Celestial Attunement merits as well, allowing the vampire to know when sunrise and sunset are and (with at least one dot of Academics) can determine astrological conditions without charts.

Temporis 2: Recurring Contemplation

The vampire may use this power to have the subject relive a specific set of beign memories from their past, so long as those memories do not require any direct action and so long as they have some way of knowing those memories (such as Telepathy, a previous use of Forgetful Mind, or simply being present for them earlier).

This power essentially works like a video backfeed of the mind, cycling in previously experienced information in an ongoing way, and thus, when the power is occurring and isn't turned off by intense action (like combat or even a gentle nudging) the subject of this power is completely oblivious to their circumstances and surroundings, and will have no memory of what happens during the time they are affected, even if the events around them would be otherwise alarming or dangerous (until the point when they are actually disturbed by loud noises or taking damage).

A subject attacked from this power cannot attempt to dodge or prepare any other kind of defense and is treated as if successfully Ambushed.

Temporis 3: Leaden Movement

This power does require that the user gesture at the target.

The difficulty of affecting a person with this power is 9. An assault rifle on full auto is also 9.

The speed factor penalty from this power is counted for both the Accuracy and the Damage rolls. Thus, if a 6 success attack roll were at one third it's normal speed (3 successes on Leaden Movement) it would hit at 2 Successes, so +1 damage rollover. The damage roll would then also be cut in a third, rounded down, and the final damage applied then.

The speed penalty also applies to any use of Dexterity, Strength or Wits. This includes Initiative.

Firearms attacks suffer penalties to the Dexterity roll to attack, but not to damage unless the bullets themselves are slowed with a different use of this power.


Temporis 4: Patience of the Norns

Auspex 1 or higher negates the need for the Perception + Alertness roll to see quickly moving objects and use this power on them.

Like Leaden Movement, this power may be aborted to as a defensive action to stop projectiles, but unlike Leaden Movement, such projectiles are halted completely. The difficulty of Patience of the Norns for this purpose are the same as for Leaden Movement, though Patience of the Norns may not be used on living or unliving creatures.

This can be used to stop all manner of non living projectiles, including mystical or chemical ones such as normal fire, Lure of Flames, or even lightning.

It is possible to use this power to create traps, such as firing a hail of bullets, then halting it and waiting for some intruder to trigger them by accidental touch.

If a grouping of objects are stopped by one single use of this power, such as a burst of bullets, all of them break and reanimate at once if any of them are touched.


Temporis 5: Clotho's Gift

This power costs 3 blood, but they are spent like Celerity and do not count against the vampire's Generation limit for the turn.

Because the extra actions created by this power are, for the user, full rounds, the vampire may spend their normal Generation limit of blood expenditure for each turn. Any other effect that lasts a number of rounds advances one round for each action taken during this time as well.

The vampire may not split actions granted by Clotho's Gift.

A point of unsoakable lethal damage is taken for every additional use after the first of a mental discipline per normal combat round. The first use does not include such limitations. The lethal damage may be healed during for one blood as normal during the duration of Clotho's Gift.

Uses of any power that grants extra actions during this power, including Celerity or another activation of Clotho's Gift causes the user to take the normal lethal damage but gain no benefit. It does not cause instant final death like in some printings.

[Skir]

Bardo

Bardo 1: Restore Humanitas

This power can only help recover the last path rating lost. If there are multiple losses before this power can be successfully used, only the most recent can be restored.

This power requires that your blood pool hit 0. This can be done by spending the blood or by bleeding out, but the result is that the character's Self Control / Instinct rating goes to 0 as well, and while this does not cause automatic frenzy, anything, including the sight or smell of blood (such as would be desired very soon after) will cause irresistible Frenzy (since there are no dice to resist with) and may cause further Path loss, although the Conscience roll to complete the power activation happens immediately once the blood is spent, so would proceed such Path loss.

Bardo 2: Banishing Sign of Thoth

This power adds a defensive action option that can be declared as an action in the same round as a mystical attack happens. Like a normal defensive action, it can happen during an action faster than your initiative, and thus, in situations where powers are being used outside of regulated initiative combat rounds, such as a Dominate effect happening in the course of a conversation, Banishing Sign of Thoth may be used to "pre-empt" that effect to attempt to negate successes.

Any use of Banishing Sign of Thoth still requires that the user be aware of the action. For obvious effects like Lure of Flames, this is assumed unless in Surprise, but for subtle effects like Dominate or Presence, a Perception + Occult roll achieving at least one success (the amount of success required to know *something* is amiss) must be achieved first to attempt it.

In order to use this power, like a block or dodge, the user must be physically able to move, so this power cannot be used while staked or otherwise totally immobilized.

The user need not "see" the effect of this power in order to attempt to stop it, just be aware of the effect as described above. This power may be used to stop effects that happen at range, such as rituals.

If the power normally has a difficulty to resist or some other means of contested resistance based on the successes scored, and the Banishing Sign of Thoth cannot totally negate the effect as it begins to affect the user, they test for resistance against the new, partially deflated value when doing their normal resistance roll.

Bardo 3: Gift of Apis

This gives animals a blood total equal to their Health levels instead of the normal blood total listed.

Once learning this power, a vampire may feed from animals using the Feeding Modifier of 2x rather than 0.5x.

Bardo 4: Pillar of Osiris

The "addiction" to the Pillar of Osiris occurs after benefitting from the Pillar once, regardless of whether the user has the fourth level of Bardo or created the pillar. This can be a somewhat problematic situation for those users of Bardo who have not yet achieved this level of the power, as they must stay close to the temple and rarely leave.

Bardo 5: Paradox

This power affects all listeners who can hear the target's true voice speaking at normal volume (not screaming across the hills with Potence). It does not work on any reproduction of the voice, such as a recording or a loud speaker.

Any user affected by this power permanently has the difficulty to act against the user of the power increased by +1. This includes discipline activations, physical attacks, and even things like lies or intimidation. Any contested roll or roll where the user is the direct target of an aggressive effect has this penalty.

People who have been affected by the Paradox power have great difficulty explaining what happened to them or why they were affected so, or what they feel for the user of the power (in regards to the permanent +1 difficulty to act against them) It takes 5 successes on a Intelligence + Expression roll, dif 8 to explain to another.

[Skir]

Visceratika

Learning Visceratika does not cause the vampire to manifest horns or wings. These are endemic to the Gargoyle bloodline, and not part of the discipline itself.

This discipline is teachable like any other by a Gargoyle to any other vampire, technically, though most Gargoyles do not understand that this is the case as they do not think of either this power, or Flight as real disciplines.

Visceratika 1: Skin of the Chameleon

This power's bonuses are only in effect so long as the character is moving no faster than a walking pace and is grounded. While running or moving quickly, either in the air or on the ground, the power causes the Gargoyle to blur (for no mechanical benefit) but his presence is more obvious and the stealth bonuses are negated.

During flight, the Gargoyle turns black. This is not camouflage other than the obvious effect against a black sky. The stealth dice are not granted.

Visceratika 2: Scry the Hearthstone

In regards to detecting Obfuscated characters, this power allows you to know the location in a general sense (ie, somewhere in this room) and only for those characters for which the Obfuscate has been defeated by the power. Visceratika is treated like Auspex minus 1 for Seeing the Unseen, so a character with Obfuscate 3 would need Visceratika 5 to pierce it automatically, and 4 to make the opposed Seeing the Unseen check to detect the presence of such a character. This roll, however, is automatic as long as the power is activated.

Visceratika 3: Bond with the Mountain

The disorientation mentioned is -2 to Initiative during the first turn.

Visceratika 4: Armor of Terra

This power is always on. For non-Gargoyles who learn this power, the skin is extremely hard and tough, but it does not change in appearance.

Visceratika 5: Flow Within the Mountain

This power costs 2 blood to activate for the scene, but must be used in conjunction with Bond with the Mountain. This means that it costs 2 blood (and 4 rounds) to enter a wall each time the Gargoyle leaves and re-enters, but he only needs to activate Flow Within the Mountain once in a scene. The Gargoyle may choose to only partially leave a wall, such as extruding their torso to attack, and in this case, they need not reactivate Bond with the Mountain (though they still need to spend an action to re-enter).

This power can also be used to walk straight through a single wall for just 1 blood point, rolling Strength, dif 8, and moving a maximum number of feet equal to the successes rolled in a straight line, and getting stuck in place if the distance is too great.

This power mentions that traveling works per the Protean 6 power "Earth Control". The text for that portion of Earth Control is as follows, for reference:

While in the ground, a vampire can propel herself at half her normal walking speed. She cannot see, but gains a supernatural awareness of her underground surroundings out to a range of 50 yards....If two or more vampires attempt to interact underground, only direct physical contact is possible. All damage dice pools in thise case are halved, and doge and parry attempts are at -2 difficulty. If an underground chase takes place, it is resovled as an extended contested Strength + Athletics roll.

[Webmonkey]

All of the above discipline clarifications are up on the site under Play Hub>House Rules