Abilities
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| Abilities are the skills and talents |
that your character has. A character with multiple levels in a given Ability is certainly more experienced and proficient
than an individual with just one. Most characters will fall
into one of three levels of Ability;
greater amounts are very rare, and anything beyond five
levels is almost certainly superhuman (and limited to elder vampires and their ilk). The total level of Ability in a given field corresponds roughly to the character's professional capabilities:
| Competent (Able to earn a living) |
| Professional (Licensed, capable of supervision) |
Journeyman (Bachelor's degree or instructor)
| Expert (Master's degree or researcher) |
| Master (Doctorate or true innovator) |
Some tasks are simply too difficult, or they require too much skill, to be attempted by a character without the
requisite Abilities.
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| Academics |
You possess a level of education and general knowledge beyond rudimentary schooling;. With Academics, you can express artistic criticism, debate the classics, consider philosophy and indulge in studies of culture. This broad Ability covers all sorts of humanities in learning. Academics allows you to recognize historical, art and cultural references. You can use Academics when working in such fields, when developing a critique or researching. Calling on Academics Ability may require a Mental or Social Challenge to determine your exact level of competence. You may further direct your studies by choosing a specific field, such as Art Criticism, Classical Studies, History, Journalism, Theology or anything else that could be studied with higher education.
| Animal Ken |
Most animals find Kindred frightening. With Animal Ken, you have learned to understand animals, and you can sometimes deal with them more equitably. Though they may retain a healthy fear of the predator lurking within you, you know what drives them and how to assuage their fears. Animal Ken is often used with the Animalism Discipline. With Animal Ken, you can train an animal (especially a ghoul) into particular behaviors (stay, fetch, attack), or attempt to deduce an animal's state of being (injured, angry, frightened, etc.) with a Mental Challenge. If you work with an animal over a long period of time (generally a month or so), you may be able to teach it a simple trick, up to a limit of one trick for each Mental Trait that the animal has.
| Athletics |
Whether due to a background in sports or just personal talent, you are skilled in all manner of athletic endeavors. You can throw a ball, sprint, climb, jump and swim. This last can be especially useful to vampires, who do not naturally float. Your Athletics Ability is used for retests on most forms of raw physical activity: Acrobatics, swimming, jumping, throwing, climbing and running. You may choose
to focus on something you do especially well.
Awareness
You have a talent for knowing when things are not as they should be, whether by that strange feeling in the pit of your gut or through tested observation. This is particularly useful for sensing when other supernatural creatures about, detecting evidence of Numina or other strange phenomena, or just getting that weird feeling when the laws of nature are about to take a hard left. Awareness requires a Mental Challenge to use, and retests are made with the Occult Ability.
| Brawl |
Back-alleys, martial arts schools and rough bars are your stomping ground. You might have military training, or maybe you just grew up with a posse of rough-and-tumble siblings. Whatever the case, you know how to dish out damage with your fists and feet. Use the Brow! Ability for retests in combat when you are using your natural weapons (teeth, claws or fists). This Ability is also the province of the martial arts, although you should specify which art when taking this Ability.
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Computer |
Most Cainites have difficulty adapting to modem inventions. As a result, an understanding of cutting-edge technology makes for dangerous knowledge. With the Computer Ability, you understand how to use, program and access computers of all sorts. Use Computer with a Mental Challenge (difficulty determined by the Storyteller) to break into systems, alter data, write programs or figure out unfamiliar operations.
Crafts
You can build things. Depending on your area of expertise, you know how to manufacture items and make handy tools or decorations. You must choose a focus for Crafts, specifying your form of creation: Carpentry, Clockworks, Blacksmithing, Leatherworking and the like are all possibilities. You can fashion works of art, studying Painting, Drawing or similar physical media. Crafts also covers more technical skills done with labor, such as Mechanics and Electronics. Making or repairing an item with Crofts usually involves a Physical Challenge of your dexterity, with difficulty set by the Storyteller based on the type of job (making a concealed spring-loaded trap is far more difficult than planing a board, for instance). Artistic works designed with Crafts x 3 or better may entrance Toreador, at the discretion of the Storyteller. The Tzimisce practice a focus of Body Crafts when using Vicissitude. This Ability covers tattooing, piercing, flaying and all other applications thereof regarding the alteration of the body.
| Dodge |
When trouble rears its ugly head, you know how to get out of its way. Unhesitating reactions let you evade blows and shots, getting out of the way of injury. You can use Dodge against any attack that you're aware of: Diving for cover as someone fires a gun or twisting away from a sword, for instance. Dodge may be used as a retest when defending against an attack that you can see or sense coming.
| Drive |
Though most people can drive in the modem age, you can drive well. You're equally at home with a stick shift or an automatic, rush hour is no concern and you can get the most performance out of a car. In dangerous situations, you can evade traffic and even use your vehicle as a weapon. Bear in mind that just because you can drive a station wagon doesn't mean you can drive a semi with equal ease. A Mental Challenge may be required to allow you to figure out where everything is in an unfamiliar vehicle. Drive tests most often involve a Physical Challenge of your reflexes.
| Empathy |
You are sensitive to the moods and emotions of people around you. When you listen to someone, you understand her feelings. You can identify with others and tell when people are lying or holding back while talking to you. With a Social Challenge and the expenditure of an Empathy Ability, you can determine if the last thing that someone said was a lie (although Subterfuge can defend against this expenditure). Alternately, you can attempt to determine the subject's current Demeanor.
| Etiquette |
Even though knowing which fork to use isn't as important to Kindred society, you do know the proper way to greet someone, when to rise and how to make introductions. You can hold a toast with the best of them, and you keep your cool in any social scenario, from high tea to a gang's rally. The Etiquette Ability can be used with Social Tests to impress or blend in at parties. If you make a social faux pas, you may expend an Etiquette Ability immediately to negate the gaffe - your character knew better than to make the mistake.
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Expression |
Words and feelings flow freely from you. When the muse strikes, you put pen to paper (or fingers to instrument) and pour out a torrent of emotion and stirring imagery. You can convey message and meaning in your art, from symphonies to poetry, and whatever you write is both clear and moving. When writing or composing, you can sink true Expression into the work. Works created with Expression x 3 or more have the potential to entrance Toreador, as per their clan weakness.
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Finance |
The world of money and business awaits your whim. You understand interest, CDs, stock market transactions, currency exchanges and GNPs. A little Finance lets you make quite a bit of money. You can also use your Finance to balance books or run a business of your own. Typically, you can run a business, follow a money trail, perform an audit or clean up an accounting mess with a Mental Challenge (difficulty dependent on the task, as determined by the Storyteller). Alternately, you can expend a level of Finance Ability to raise $250 in cash between games. Not every use of Finance is so benign - money laundering operations have to come from somewhere.
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Firearms |
A little time at the gun range goes a long way. You know how to hold, fire and clean a gun. You can unjam one, too, and you can tell different models apart. You know how to stand to get the best aim, how to handle recoil and how to take care of problems in the field. If you possess the Firearms Ability, you may use your Mental Traits for gun combat instead of using Physical Traits, at no cost. You can expend Firearms for a retest in ranged-fire combat.
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Hobby/Professional/Expert Ability |
In a certain area of expertise not covered by another Ability, you have achieved some level of skill. You may have a small grasp of a trade due to some work on the side, or perhaps you've specifically studied a topic. Hobby / Professional / Expert Ability is a catchall category for highly unusual Abilities like Cainite Lore, Thanatology, Demolitions and so on. Any Ability of this type must be specifically approved by the Storyteller, and it has its capabilities defined by the Storyteller.
| Hunting |
| This skill allows you to stalk any prey, in any terrain, for any purpose. Deer hunters and Gangrel use this to bring down wild game. Most other Kindred, however, hunt a different sort of prey in the urban jungle. This skill allows them to gain their nightly sustenance without breaking the Masquerade or going hungry due to missed opportunities. This Ability gives you a retest in situations when you are attempting to refresh your Blood Pool, whether in the woods or out on the streets. |
Intimidation
Intimidation represents any of a broad variety of techniques for terrifying people into compliance. This could be anything from physical size, to a particularly frightening grin, to knowing which emotional buttons to push. You can use Intimidation when trying to scare someone with a Social Challenge, or with certain Disciplines.
Investigation
You know how to pick up clues and put together disparate pieces of information. By habit and training, you can set a jumbled mass of data into order, discovering identities, motives and patterns in an otherwise chaotic scene. You can use Investigation with a Mental Challenge when trying to puzzle out meaning to a random scene, or with most Auspex Discipline powers.
Law
Nobody is above the law, except those who know how to use it to their own advantage. You're one of the latter. Perhaps you uphold the law, or maybe you twist it to your own ends. Your knowledge of Law allows you to understand legal processes, courts and lawyers, and to use them effectively.
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Performance |
You are a true virtuoso. Whatever your chosen medium, you have gift for artistic endeavors. Whether playing an instrument, singing, dancing or acting, your skills allow you to entertain and even earn money. Your Performance Ability can be used to earn a modest income, just like other artistic trade skills. If you execute a work with Performance x 3 or better, you may transfix Toreador in the area with the beauty and grace of your style. \m must choose a specific art form when you take Performance, such as playing an instrument, singing, acting or dramatic readings. Note that Performance is generally anything done before an audience, while Expression most often focuses on literary works, and Crafts concentrates on the creation of physical objects (such as paintings or sculptures).
| Politics |
The world of influence-trading and favors is extensive enough among mortals. In vampire society, where one's prowess is measured in standing with one's peers, the game of Politics is all-consuming. Through observation, intrigue and a hit of spin-doctoring, you've learned how to handle appearances, what a speech really means, and where the dealmaking is going on. In short, it's Politics as usual. The Politics Ability is useful primarily in dealings with mortal society or Influence. You may be able to manipulate the outcome of local political actions, with the proper Influence and some well-placed Social Challenges; Politics Ability ensures that matters proceed in the direction that you desire. Politics is also used to discern hidden motives and broker deals, and as such, it is almost a requirement of any harpy. With Politics, you can usually set an appropriate level of debt for a prestation boon. The hierarchies of power are often obvious to you, granting you insight into whether the prince is really in charge, or is simply a puppet of the primogen, for example. Politics also makes you aware of who's in favor and who's out, and you can determine how much Status a particular vampire possesses once introduced. (If you know your quarry's name, expend a Politics Ability to determine the subject's Status Traits.) A knowledge of Politics includes, by extension, an understanding of the bureaucratic levels of power. You know how to cut through red tape, or how to obstruct others with it. By determining who's important in a given strata, you can usually avoid wasting time and simply go straight to the person with the power to do what you want.
| Psychology |
This is a working knowledge of psychology, both in theory and in practice. You have a solid understanding of the nature of both human and Kindred minds. Given enough time and effort, you may accurately discern how a person's mind works, or how it doesn't, as the case may be. This Ability may be used to determine the given subjects' Nature or her Derangements (if any), or as a retest to gain insight into a person's motivations. Note that a separate test is needed for each piece of information. You must speak with a given subject for anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour for this skill to work - you cannot diagnose someone's insanity at a glance.
| Repair |
You possess a working understanding of what makes things tick. With times, tools and parts, you can fix or slightly alter most of the trappings of modern society. This knowledge also allows you to excel at sabotage. The Repair Ability is widespread among inventors, mechanics and handymen. Using this Ability usually calls for a Mental Challenge, the difficulty of which depends on such factors as the item's complexity, tools and parts available, extent of damage and time spent on the repairs.
Science
The modern Information Age sees the explosion of all manner of studies. Categorizing and breaking down the world into many different forms, the methods of logic and reason give sentient beings the means to understand the universe, or at least small pieces of it. Education in Science covers techniques of inquiry, modern studies and a broad range of underpinning work in a diverse range of fields. Science Ability requires an area of particular study: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Metallurgy, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics, Geology and Botany are all possibilities, though such a list is far from comprehensive. Combining a Science with different fields may give a wide variety results. For example, Science; Metallurgy with Academics may give results regarding historical research and theory, while the same Science with Occult may center around ancient alchemy or parapsychology. Actually constructing objects or devices theorized with Science may require use of the Crafts Ability. Using a particular branch of Science usually requires a Mental Challenge of some sort to determine the success of research or the viability of theoretical work.
| Security |
Whichever side of the law you've worked on has granted you experience in Security techniques. You know about police operations and guard work, how they make their schedules and how they undertake their business - and how to disrupt such operations. Locks, traps, security systems and alarms are all within your purview. With a little time, you can put together Security measures for a location; you can also defeat such measures. Use the Security Ability with Mental Traits to set up a secure area or network, or to formulate a plan for breaching such a network. Security Ability is also used to disarm traps, alarms and other devices, and to defeat locks. At the discretion of a Narrator, you may be required to use a Physical Trait related to dexterity when attempting to bypass a physical lock or alarm.
| Scrounge |
You're exceptionally good at finding stuff. Whether it's a crucial part for a 1890s' gramophone, invitations to the most exclusive gallery opening in town, or just haven space in the downtown, you're a wiz at knowing where to go, who to talk to and how to get what you need. Granted, the things you get are rarely brand-new or exactly right and do take time and favors to acquire. Still such an ability is useful when your finances are less than sparkling or theft is out of the question. Scrounge is typically used in conjunction with Mental Traits (although the Storyteller may occasionally require a Social Challenge for haggling), and can be useful when looking for particular items or searching a place that is in shambles.
| Stealth |
By blending into cover, blurring your lines and moving carefully and quietly, you can evade notice or sneak past people. You know how best to take advantage of surrounding cover and how to use light and shadow. Opportunities for unnoticed movement are not lost on you, as you understand the uses of timing and diversion, With an appropriate Physical Challenge, you can sometimes sneak past the notice of guards and searchers (who contest your Ability with their Mental Traits and Investigation Ability). You also use Stealth to augment the Obfuscate Discipline.
| Streetwise |
Word on the street is known to you. Even if you don't have any particular friends or contacts in the area, you know about the different communities and gangs that hang out in town. You recognize tagging and other territorial markers, and you know some of the signs, colors and clothes that denote street people, homeless, gangbangers, hoodlums, criminals and social workers. Using the Streetwise Ability, with your Mental Traits, lets you recognize the influence of various gangs or street communities. You also know about criminal organizations and activities, and you could perform a little larceny yourself An appropriate Social Challenge can help smooth dealings with a hostile gang (though you may need Etiquette to make a really good impression).
| Subterfuge |
There are many ways to talk about subjects, and equally many ways to uncover the truth of die matter. Even in idle conversation, people use little white lies, slip hints about their true motives, try to guide the course of discussion and give away their secrets indirectly. The art of Subterfuge is the art of reading these tricks and using them effortlessly, When someone confronts you with one of your lies, you can use the Subterfuge Ability in your own defense (if someone uses the Empathy Ability, for instance). By guiding a conversation, you can also unearth someone's Negative Traits; if you manage to steer conversation to a particular topic in play, you can expend a Subterfuge Ability and make a Social Challenge to determine one of the subject's Negative Traits related to the topic. Furthermore, because it deals in deceit and subversion, Subterfuge is used for retests with the Chimerstry Discipline.
| Survival |
Survival Ability represents a knowledge of terrain, how to find shelter, where to find water, techniques in hunting, edible and poisonous plants and fungi and so on. Though a vampire needs only blood to live, use of Survival makes hunting of animals much easier, and it provides some assurances of a safer existence for those who travel outside the cities. Hunting and avoiding danger in the wilderness usually relies on a Physical Challenge. With Survival, you can substitute your Mental Traits if you so desire. Survival is also a measure of the character's ruggedness and ability to overcome obstacles and injury, so it can be used in retests of the Fortitude and Protean Disciplines.
SABBAT ABILITIES
| The Sabbat is an ever-changing arena of war and personal power. Members are expected to be knowledgeable in a vast array of subjects, from the sect's history and traditions to battle tactics against the Camarilla's pawns. These are the tricks of the trade, the hard-earned rewards of those who survive in the sect. Abilities aid the outcome of actions, give the character knowledge and an understanding of the world around her and describe how competent a character is in her chosen fields. The Abilities listed in the Laws of the Night are all applicable to the Sabbat venue; those listed below are additional Sabbat-only Abilities. |
| Blindfighting |
Many Sabbat games and Monomacy ritual fights require use of this Ability. Blindfighting means you are practiced at fighting without the aid of your eyes. You've learned to use your instincts, hearing and innate hunter nature instead of sight. You may use this Ability to retest in any Brawl challenge that occurs in the dark or while blindfolded.
| Fire Dancing |
You can enter a trancelike state that relieves you from Rotschreck and allows you to leap bonfires and burning coals during Fire Dance rituals. You do not get nervous around fire if you take the time to sit apart and meditate for five minutes before encountering the flames closely. However, unless a fire is specifically built as a ritual bonfire, you still suffer the same Rotschreck as anyone else.
| Fortunetelling |
Tea leaves, Tarot cards, runes, I Ching sticks, a swinging pendulum or entrails - these are the tools you call upon to read the future. Whether or not you have the actual psychic chutzpah to do this is up to the Storyteller, but at the very least, you can put on a good show and part the gullible from their money. Using Fortunetelling requires you to specify at least one divination method and may require Social Challenges to pull off a good performance.
| Rituals |
You know the rituals and ritae of the Sabbat and can perform them whenever the occasion requires. This Ability is vital to being a pack priest: Unless the character performing the ritae has this knowledge, the ritae will fail. This Ability is not simply the knowledge of such rituals, but is a spiritual, almost supernatural ability to perform them. This Ability is typically taught to pack priests and other spiritual leaders, and a Sabbat who is not a priest but possesses such knowledge may come under scrutiny.
| Torture |
You know how to inflict pain and are efficient at doing so. This Ability allows you to retest any Physical Challenge when you are in a torture situation - i.e., when you have already caused pain to your opponent and are continuing to inflict pain (not damage). Regular combat is not an appropriate use of this Ability; this can be used for retesting when inflicting pain on your opponent either during an interrogation or when using Disciplines.
| Vamp |
You can use your seductive means to get any information from anyone. Your advances could make a sailor blush, and you know how to tailor them to the individual. Remember, however, that you will still need to spend blood in order to make yourself appear human to ordinary sight and touch. This Ability can be used in appropriate Presence retests, as well as in unique interrogation circumstances. Bear in mind that vampires on Paths of Enlightenment may not spend blood to make themselves appear more human, and many vampires find the idea of such base acts to be no better than animals coupling (benefits aside).