Disciplines

Much debate occurs over the nature of Disciplines among the Kindred community. Many young vampires, as yet unfamiliar with the price that the Embrace demands of their souls, see only the upside of Disciplines, thinking of them as powers they can wield over lesser creatures such as mortals. Penitent vampires, as well as those of traditional or theological bent, often see Disciplines as edges granted by whoever created vampires so that the terrible race of the Damned can more effectively fulfill that individual’s plan. Still others consider Disciplines their own ends, as with the Ordo Dracul and its proscribed but powerful Coils of the Dragon.
The truth, of course, remains as unknown as any of the answers to the Kindred condition. What leaves no doubt, however, is the terrible efficacy of vampires’ powers.

You’ll note from character creation and the clan write-ups, presented previously in this chapter, that among each clan’s three “Clan Disciplines” is one that is listed for no other clan. These individual powers are presented in italics in the five clan descriptions. For example, the Daeva is the only group with Majesty listed as a clan Discipline. Meanwhile, Ventrue is the only one with Dominate listed as a clan Discipline. Such special Disciplines allow members of each clan immediate access to a particular vampiric power. That Discipline is one of the things that makes each clan unique. These capabilities are not wholly exclusive to their respective clans, however. Characters of other clans can learn them through the expenditure of experience points, but these specialized Disciplines are considered “out of clan” and are expensive to acquire (as explained on p. 230-231). Adopting a bloodline may allow access to another clan’s signature capability, as explained on p. 259. And of course, there’s the option of acquiring the capabilities of another clan’s Disciplines by committing diablerie on vampires of that lineage. Gaining these powers by such horrific means is explained on p. 159.
The basic system for using a Discipline is a bit different from the standard dice-pool mechanic. The Attribute that governs a certain power’s use is included in the system subsection of the capability’s description. In conjunction with that Attribute is a specific Skill that lends finesse or emphasis to the power. Remember that characters who have no dots in required Skills will suffer penalties to their dice pools to activate certain Desciplines. Additionally, the character’s mastery of the Discipline as a whole adds dice to the pool. The result is a dice pool composed of three traits instead of the usual two for mundane Skill or Attribute tasks. For example, the first Discipline power in this chapter is Feral Whispers, under Animalism. The power lists Manipulation as its requisite Attribute and Animal Ken as its requisite Skill. If a character has Manipulation 2, Animal Ken 3 and Animalism 4, his player rolls nine dice to determine the margin of success of using Feral Whispers. The fact that Feral Whispers is a levelone power isn’t important; the character’s ultimate potential with Animalism as a whole is what’s key.
Other information contained in the system subsection includes the following:

• Trait costs, if any, such as Vitae or Willpower expenditures.
• Bonuses or penalties to dice pools based on circumstance. These lists are not exhaustive, just a few commonly encountered situations that a character using the Discipline might experience. As always, the Storyteller is free to modify these circumstances in any additional ways he sees fit.
• Other specific details that need to be described in game terms.

A character may use only those Discipline powers that are available at her level of mastery of a given Discipline, and below. Thus, a character with Dominate 3 can use the Discipline’s level-one, -two and -three powers.
Elders speak of mighty powers becoming available once a Kindred’s Blood Potency reaches a certain degree. Levels one through five of a given Discipline always produce the listed effects, but some elders insist that once a vampire’s potential with a Discipline reaches a certain point, she may break from the static incarnations of a given Discipline and manifest powers with her own personality invested in them. That is, mystic wisdom suggests that there is no hard-and-fast level-six power for Auspex, for example, and that a Kindred who masters Auspex at such a high level creates her own unique application. Tales of such powers are unreliable, though. The nature of Blood Potency is fluid enough that what a Kindred masters one night might vanish if he sinks into torpor and forgets what he once knew.

It’s inevitable that the undead come in contact with the other terrifying and bizarre denizens of the World of Darkness. Vampires might clash with werewolves, mages or stranger things. When such contact can’t be resolved peacefully, supernatural powers and capabilities can be brought to bear to decide which creature prevails.
In this book, Disciplines are applied against mortal human beings and other vampires. In those cases, the rules operate as written. There’s little question as to what protection a target might have. A mortal probably has little protection other than his relevant Resistance Attribute, and another vampire has the protection described for the power in question. For example, a vampire who’s made the target of Dominate has a contested dice pool composed of Resolve + Blood Potency. Meanwhile, a mortal target of Dominate has only his Resolve to apply in a contested roll against a vampire’s Intelligence + Intimidation + Dominate. (After all, a mortal has no Blood Potency.)
So what happens when a vampire encounters a supernatural being and is subjected to the powers that creature wields? How do the vampire’s inherent nature or capabilities protect him? In cases where a contested roll is made to determine the power’s effects, the vampire’s relevant Resistance Attribute + Blood Potency is rolled. The Resistance Attribute is any one of the vampire’s Stamina, Resolve or Composure. Stamina is used against powers that have a physical effect, Resolve is used against powers that have a mental effect, and Composure is used against powers that have an emotional effect.
For example, if a mortal mage seeks to transform your vampire’s body, roll Stamina + Blood Potency in a contested action to resist. If a werewolf tries to use spirit magic to alter your character’s mind, roll Resolve + Blood Potency to resist. If a mysterious creature seeks to strike terror into your vampire, roll Composure + Blood Potency to resist.
Otherwise, follow all the other rules that apply to the power used. The main difference here is that vampires benefit from their Blood Potency in resisting supernatural phenomena.
The Storyteller can invoke this general rule whenever he confronts your character with monsters of his own creation — weird beings that might have never been seen before. Or he can allow you this kind of contested roll when your Vampire chronicle overlaps with Werewolf: The Forsaken, Mage: The Awakening or any other Storytelling game. When the Gifts, spells or other powers from those games are turned upon your character, you know that his inherent potency as a creature of the night may afford him some protection.
Note, however, that such protection doesn’t apply when no contested roll is allowed against the power in question. Say the Storyteller rolls a dice pool to determine the effects of a witch’s spell cast on your vampire, and the rules say your character’s Resolve is simply subtracted from that pool. In that case, your vampire’s Blood Potency is not subtracted from the pool. Since no contested roll is involved to fight off the power, your character’s Resistance Attribute alone applies as a dice-pool penalty.
Be prepared! Just as vampires get special defenses against the powers of other supernatural entities, so too do those beings get extra benefits against vampire Disciplines. When Disciplines are combated with contested rolls, creatures such as werewolves and mages get special dice pools based on their own otherworldly nature. Their extra protection is addressed in Werewolf: The Forsaken, Mage: The Awakening and other Storytelling games.