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Neptune's Might
Vampires are rarely associated
with the ocean in most mythologies, and most Kindred have nothing to do
with water in large quantities simply because they have no reason to do
so. Nevertheless, Neptune's Might has enjoyed a small, but devoted, following
for centuries among the Camarilla thaumaturges. This path is based primarily
around the manipulation of standing water, although some of its more disturbing
effects depart from this principle.
Once a character reaches
the third level of Neptune's Might, the player may choose to specialize
in either fresh water or salt water. Such specialization lowers all Neptune's
Might difficulties by one when dealing with the chosen medium but raises
them by one when dealing with the opposite. Blood is considered neither
fresh nor salty for this purpose, and difficulties in manipulating it are
unaffected.
Level 1
Eyes of the Sea
The thaumaturge may peer
into a body of water and view events that have transpired on, in or around
it from the water's perspective. Some older practitioners of this art claim
that the vampire communes with the spirits of the waters when using this
power; younger Kindred scoff at such claims.
System: The number of successes rolled determines how far into the past the character can look.
1 success: One day
2 successes: One week
3 successes: One month
4 successes: One year
5 successes: Ten years.
The storyteller may require a Perception + Occult roll for the character to discern very small details in the transmitted images. This power can only be used on standing water; lakes and puddles qualify, but oceans, rivers, sewers and wineglasses do not.
Level 2
Prison of Water
The thaumaturge can command
a sufficiently large quantity of water to animate itself and imprison a
subject. This power requires a significant amount of fluid to be fully
effective, although even a few gallons can be used to shape chains of animated
water. Mortals subjected to this power's effects can drown if the thaumaturge
is not careful (or if she desires it), and even vampires can be crushed
by an extreme pressure thus brought to bear.
System: The number of successes
scored on the roll is the number of successes the victim must score on
a Strength roll (difficulty 8; Potence adds to successes) to break free.
A subject may be held in only one prison at a time, although the thaumaturge
is free to invoke multiple uses of this power upon separate victims and
may dissolve her own prisons at will.
If a sufficient quantity
of water (at least a bathtub's worth) is not present, the difficulty of
the Willpower roll to activate this power is raised by one.
Level 3
Blood to Water
The thaumaturge has now
attained enough power over water that she can transmute other liquids to
this basic element. The most commonly seen use of this power is as an assault;
with but a touch, the victim's blood transforms to water, weakening vampires
and killing mortals in moments.
System: The character must
touch her intended victim. The player rolls normally. Each success converts
one of the victim's blood points to water. One success kills a mortal within
minutes. Vampires who lose blood points to this power also suffer dice
pool penalties as if they had received an equivalent number of health levels
of injury. The water left in the target's system by this attack evaporates
out as a rate of one blood point's worth per hour, but the lost blood does
not return.
At the Storyteller's discretion,
other liquids may be tuned into water with this power (the difficulty for
such an action is reduced by one unless the substance is particularly dangerous
or magical in nature). The character must still touch the substance or
its container to use this power.
Level 4
Flowing Wall
Tales of vampires' inability
to cross running water may have derived from garbled accounts of this power
in action. The thaumaturge can animate water to an even greater degree
than is possible with the use of Prison of Water, commanding it to rise
up to form a barrier impassable to almost any being.
System: The character touches the surface of a standing body of water; the player spends three Willpower points and the normal required blood point and rolls normally. Successes are applied to both width and height of the wall; each success "buys" ten feet in one dimension. The wall may be placed anywhere within the character's line of sight, and must formed in a straight line. The wall lasts until the next sunrise. It can't be climbed, though it can be flown over. To pass through the barrier, any supernatural being (including beings trying to pass the wall on other levels of existence) must score at least three successes on a single Willpower roll (difficulty 9).
Level 5
Dehydrate
At this level of mastery,
the thaumaturge can directly attack living and unliving targets by removing
the water from their bodies. Victims killed by this power leave behind
a hideous mummified corpse. This power can also be used for less aggressive
purposes, such as drying out wet clothes -- or evaporating puddles to keep
he practitioners of this path from using them.
System: This power can be used on any target in the character's line of sigh. The player rolls normally; the victim resists with a roll of Stamina + Fortitude (difficulty 9). Each success gained by the thaumaturge translates into one health level of lethal damage inflicted on the victim. This injury can't be soaked (the resistance roll replaces soak for this attack) but can be healed normally. Vampires lose blood points instead of health levels, though if a vampire has no blood points, this attack inflicts health level loss as it would against a mortal. The victim of this attack must also roll Courage (difficulty of the number of successes rolled by the thaumaturge + 3) to be able to act on the turn following the attack; failure means h is overcome with agony and can do nothing.