 |
Visceratika
|
| All Gargoyles have a natural affinity for stone and earth, and this Discipline is an extension of that. The popular belief is that possession of Visceratika causes its user to start looking like a Gargoyle - complete with the hideously ugly, rocklike appearance and wings. The Tremere have recently released a report that states otherwise, but most Kindred don't feel like taking the risk of learning Visceratika and finding out that the Tremere were wrong - or lied. In any case, the point is rather moot as the Gargoyles don't feel inclined to teach one of their primary survival tools to outsiders. No Gargoyle has ever demonstrated Visceratika beyond Advanced level. If higher levels of this power exist, it's either an extremely well-kept secret, or no one who has reached such a level of mastery has lived to spread his knowledge. Retests of Visceratika use the Survival ability. Visceratika is bought the same way as all other clan Disciplines. |
basic Visceratika
| |
|
Skin of the Chameleon |
When activated, your skin takes on the color and texture of the surrounding environment, allowing you to blend in with your surroundings. The illusion moves as you move, as long as you don't move any faster than a normal walking pace. Faster movement causes your body to become a blur of colors and textures. It offers no camouflage, but anyone trying to identify you may find it difficult. If this power is used when in flight, your skin blends in with the night sky almost perfectly. You'll still show up rather obviously against skyscrapers or other similar structures as a dark, winged humanoid shape. When using Skin of Chameleon, you should cross your arms over your chest as if using Obfuscate, but place your hands on your shoulders to indicate the difference. You may also want to use a colored ribbon. Spend a Blood Trait to activate this power. For the rest of the scene, anyone who wishes to detect you must succeed in a Mental Challenge. Unless the person attempting to detect you has Auspex, you gain four extra Traits to use in the challenge, or five Traits if you're in flight against the night sky.
| |
|
Scry the Hearthstone |
| |
|
Gargoyles were created to act as guardians of chantries and havens. This power allows you to maintain watch over an entire building without needing to scout around all the time. All you need do is touch the building, and you gain an innate sense of where things are located inside. Furthermore, you receive accurate information about the building's layout - where everything is, if there are secret passages, and so forth. You also learn the location, approximate size and physical condition of all living (and unliving) beings within. Spend a Willpower Trait to activate this power. You may move around slowly, but maintaining the power requires constant active concentration, and you must keep touching the building (skin contact is required). The building may be as large as a multiplex theater, a parking garage or a castle, but there must a be a sizable quantity of stone or concrete in its construction. There is a limit to how much detail you can discern; Scry the Hearthstone cannot be used to listen in on conversations or to see what people are holding in their hands. The Storyteller has final say on what kind of things you can detect. You may attempt to detect Obfuscated Kindred within; such creatures register to your senses as something of a blur. You know there's something in that particular location, but you're not quite sure who or what. Challenges, if you can otherwise see someone Obfuscated, work as per the rules detailed under Auspex in Laws of the Night p. 137. |
| |
|
Bond with the Mountain |
Similar to the Protean power of Earth Meld, Bond With the Mountain allows you to meld with stone or concrete. However, unlike with Earth Meld, you don't disappear completely; the sharp-eyed may still spot a faint outline of your form. You cannot move within the substance you have bonded with unless you also possess Flow Within the Mountain, nor are you automatically aware of your surroundings (but you may use Scry the Hearthstone to be aware of events in the area, if you are Bonded with a man-made structure). To activate the power, spend a Blood Trait and touch a suitable substance (rock, concrete, cement). Whatever you're touching must be large enough for your hulking form to fit in - a wall will do fine, but a head-sized rock will not. It takes two turns to complete the merge. Once merged, you are immune to sunlight and all aggravated damage applied against you automatically becomes lethal damage, while lethal damage becomes bashing damage. Normal bashing damage has no effect unless the attack inflicts at least two health levels of damage; anything less is just the equivalent of beating on a stone wall. However, if you suffer three health levels of any kind of damage from a single attack, you are forcibly ejected from the wall and cannot act for an entire turn as you struggle to get your bearings. Those wishing to spot a Gargoyle who has bonded must bid three extra Traits and make a Mental Challenge. Characters using Auspex do not need to bid the extra Traits.
| |
|
Armor of Terra |
Gargoyles are known as fearsome warriors who can defend themselves against staggering attacks. This power is largely the reason for that; combined with Fortitude, it allows you to withstand attacks that would reduce lesser Kindred to small piles of ash. With Armor of Terra, your skin becomes tough, truly rocklike and incredibly resistant to harm. Your pain threshold becomes far higher, and even fire may not hurt you (though you still retain your natural fear of it). Armor of Terra is always active, and requires no expenditure for maintenance or activation. Armor of Terra subtracts one level of bashing damage after halving it normally; however, a minimum of one health level is still inflicted. Furthermore, you may convert incoming lethal damage into bashing damage by winning a Simple Test. If you are exposed to fire, you take half damage, but it is still aggravated. You'll need to make a test to resist Rotschreck. Armor of Terra can be used with Fortitude; however, when used in such a fashion, it can only be used once per attack. For example, if you're under a fire attack that does aggravated damage, you may use Armor of Terra to try and halve the damage, and then use Resilience to try to convert the aggravated damage to lethal damage. But you cannot test that lethal damage down to bashing with Armor of Terra after that, as you've already used Armor of Terra on this attack. Armor of Terra must always be used before Fortitude comes into play.
| |
|
Flow Within the Mountain |
At this level of Visceratika, you are truly at home on stone constructs. Flow Within the Mountain allows you to move freely within solid rock. Obviously, while this means that you can easily enter any area in the domain you are guarding, it also has its uses as an offensive power; after all, if you can walk through the walls, gaining access to high-security areas isn't very hard. During these days of steel construction, the power isn't quite as useful as it once was, but most buildings can still be penetrated with Flow Within the Mountain. To use the power, you must first use Bond With the Mountain. After that, spend a Blood Trait. This activates Flow Within the Mountain for the duration of the scene. During that time, you may move freely through solid rock or concrete. The mode of movement is similar to swimming, and you move about at a brisk walking pace. You can also walk directly through stone walls without first using Bond With the Mountain by spending a Blood Trait, but the wall in question can be no thicker than two feet. You may attempt to walk through thicker walls by making a Physical Challenge, but you must bid an extra Physical Trait for every additional two feet. If you have Potence, each level of Potence grants you two feet - Basic Potence gives two free feet, Intermediate Potence four, and Advanced Potence six. Should you have Superior Potence, you can move through any wall, regardless of its thickness (but must still perform the Physical Challenge). It should be noted that you can stop while within the wall, but cannot deviate from your course without using Flow Within the Mountain. Should you lose a challenge, you become stuck in the wall until you are chiseled out or use Flow Within the Mountain to escape.
|
|
