The Sepluchre Path
(Primary for all but Harbingers of Skulls)
Level 1
Insight
This power allows a necromancer to stare into
the eye of a corpse and see reflected there the last thing the dead man
witnessed. The vision appears only in the eyes of the cadaver and is only
visible to the necromancer using Insight
System:This power requires a roll of Preception
+ Occult (difficulty is 8 for formerly living creatures, 10 for unliving
ones such as vampires) as the vampire stares in to the targets eyes. The
number of successes on the roll determine the clarity of the vision, a
botch shows the necromancer his own Final Death, which can induce Rotschreck
This power cannot be used on the corpses of vampires
who have reached Golconda, or those whom advanced decomposition has already
set in.
1 success A basic sense of the
subject's death
2 successes A clear image of the subject's death
and the seconds preceeding it
3 successes A clear image, with sound, of the
minutes preceeding death
4 successes A clear image, with sound, of the
half-hour preceeding the subject's death
5 successes Full sensory preception of the hour
leading up to the target's death
Level 2
Summon Soul
The power of Summon Soul allows a necromancer
to call a ghost back from the Underworld, though for coversational purposes
only. In order to preform this Feat, the Giovanni must meet certian
conditions:
System:To use Summon Soul, the vampire's
player must roll Preseption + Occult (Difficulty 7, or the ghost's Willpower
if the storyteller knows it). The number of successes on the roll
indicates the tractability of the summoned spirit and how long the summoned
wraith remains in the vicinity of her summoner.Summoned ghosts are visible
and audible to the vampire who summoned them, and remain so up until the
summoning wears off. Ghosts who wish to be summoned can voluntarily
appear.
For each question the vampire askes the summoned
spirit, the Storyrteller should roll one die per summoning success.
At least one success is needed on this second roll (Difficulty 6) in order
to keep the wraith around long enough to answer the question.
If a vampire botches a summoning roll, she calls
forth a malevolent ghost (known as a spectre), which immediately sets about
tormenting its summoner
Level 3
Compel Soul
With this power a vampire can command a ghost
to do his bidding for a while. Compel is a perilous undertaking and, when
used improperly, can endanger both vampire and wraith alike.
System: In order to compel a wraith,the
vampire must first successfuly summon it. Before the wraith has left
the scene of the summoning, the vampires player must roll Manipulation
+ Occult (Difficulty equal to target's Willpower). The wraith can
spend Pathos (ghostly equivalent to blood; assume a pool of 7 for all ghosts
or see Chapter Nine) to combat the compulsion; each spent removes one of
the vampire's successes. The vampire may attempt to compel a wraith
multiple times during a single summoning.
For each success acheived on the Manipulation
+ Occult roll, the necromancer acheives a greater degree of control over
the wraith. The breakdown is as follows:
Failure: The compulsion of the summoning ends and the wraith is free to leave. Many wraiths take the opportunity to assult their would-be masters as they depart.
One Success: The wraith must remain in the vicinity and refrain from attacking any creature without the necromancer's consent.
Two Successes: The wraith is bound to remain and answer any questions truthfully, though the questions had best be phrased carefully.
Three Successes: The wraith is forced to remain and answer any questions truthfully, without evasion or omission.
Four Successes: The wraith must remain, answering truthfully any questions asked of it. It must also preform any services commanded by its new master, though it is bound only by the letter of the command, not the spirit.
Five Successes: The wrait is trapped, obeying the spirit of the vampires commands to the best of its ability.
Compel holds a ghost for an hour for each success
rolled. If the vampire wishes, she my expend a temporary Willpower to keep
the wraith under the compulsion for an extra night. The expenditure
of a permanent point of Willpower on the vampire's part binds the wraith
for a year and a day.
Level 4
Haunting
Haunting binds a summoned ghost to a particular
location or, in extreme cases, an object. The wraith cannot leave
the area to which the necromancerbinds it without risking self-destruction.
A wraith attempting to leave the area of a haunting must make a Willpower
roll (difficulty 10,two successes necessary) or take a level of aggravated
damage; if the wraith runs out of health levels, it is hurled deep into
the Underworld to face destruction.
System: The player rolls Manipulation +
Occult (difficulty is target's Willpower if she resists; otherwise it is
4). Each success ties a wraith to a particular spot of the necromancer's
choosing for a night; with the expenditure of a Willpower point, that becomes
a week. Expenditure of a point of permanent Willpower extends the duration
to a year.
Level 5
Torment
It is through the use of this power that elder
Giovanni convince bound ghosts to behave -- or else. Torment allows
the vampire to strike a wraith as if he himself was in the land of the
dead, inflicting damage on the wraith's ectoplasmic form. The vampire
remains in the real world, however, so he cannot be struck in return by
the wraith.
System: The player rolls Stamina + Empathy (difficulty is the wraith's Willpower), and the vampire reaches out to "touch" the wraith. Each success inflicts a level of lethal damage on the wraith. Should the wraith lose all health levels, it immediately vanishes into what appears to be a doorway to some hideous nightmare realm. Ghosts "destroyed" thus cannot reappear near the real world for a month.