As one of the most common vampiric powers,
Obfuscate is a versatile Discipline that gives its user the power to cloud minds so as to become invisible, or better. It is contested with
Auspex in a
Clash of Wills.
• Touch of Shadow
This first level of Obfuscate allows the vampire to conceal small items, either in her grasp or on her person. The player must declare which specific item is concealed and the power must be invoked separately for each item. If the roll succeeds, the item goes undetected. Perhaps a careful search such as a pat-down or close examination reveals it, along with a Wits + Composure roll, successes from which must exceed those rolled for the activation of the power. As with all Obfuscate abilities, a character with Auspex[1] might be able to see through Touch of Shadow (though he would still have to find the object normally if it were inside a pocket or otherwise physically concealed from view). Once the character does anything to draw attention to the object — such as deliberately showing it to someone or using it to attack or threaten — Touch of Shadow ends. If someone successfully detects the item, he can point it out to others. A Wits + Composure roll is made for each such person, and successes achieved must exceed those acquired in the Wits + Larceny + Obfuscate roll made for the Discipline user. If an onlooker’s successes aren’t high enough, he still doesn’t recognize the item, even when it’s pointed out. Once invoked, Touch of Shadow lasts for a scene or until ended prematurely.
| Remove all text about declaring what an item is exactly. Anyone with supernatural perception can go directly into a Contest of Wills, just like they could with a person using Cloak of the Night in the room. Note that this power affects only the item in question — it is not intended to hide other items as a byproduct. A character could not, for example, conceal a mailbox and then hide behind it or conceal a computer and hide a stake beneath it. The mailbox or computer would indeed be concealed but the character or stake would not.[2] Touch of Shadow cannot be used on well-traveled areas such as the main entrance to a location, a connecting hallway that links a number of rooms throughout the play area, or the only entrance to a room that a character has just entered in the same scene. In other words, you can’t lure a target into a room, use Touch of Shadow on the door behind you and thus trap the target in the room, because their mind knows they had to enter somehow and refuses to believe the illusion.[3]
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- Cost: —
- Action: Instant
- Dice Pool: Wits + Larceny + Obfuscate
- Modifiers: -- An item that can be easily hidden in a jacket or barely hidden in a pants pocket.
- +2 A tiny item, one easily concealed in the palm of a hand.
- +1 An item that can be hidden in a pants pocket.
- -1 An item that can only barely be squeezed into a large jacket pocket.
- -2 An item that can be concealed under a jacket without too obvious a bulge.
- -3 An item too large to be naturally hidden, but still small enough to be carried easily.
- -3 The “item” is actually an abstract ideal or negative space, such as a hallway or portal to another room. If a closed door seals the portal, this is not subject to the penalty, as all the Kindred needs to do is hide the door, not the portal itself.
- -4 A Size 5 item.
- -5 An item larger than Size 5, such as a car or large shipping crate, but smaller than five times the vampire’s Size.
•• Mask of Tranquility
This power involves no roll, and is considered “always on.” The character does not trigger the Predator’s Taint[4]. Therefore, the character doesn’t even appear as a vampire to other Kindred who see him. Kindred who can discern auras fail to register the vampire as undead; his aura is no different from a mortal’s (the colors are not pale like a normal Kindred’s). Note that this power doesn’t render the user immune to the Predator’s Taint himself, he merely doesn’t cause the reaction in others. The character may turn off this power if he wishes, but such is an all-or-nothing proposition. He may not turn off certain aspects of this power and keep others active.
- Cost: —
••• Cloak of Night
An essential expression of the Kindred’s secretive nature, Cloak of Night allows a vampire to literally fade from sight, becoming completely invisible to observers. Mortals are likely to panic and flee the area, or to find some way to justify what they’ve witnessed, even if it means constructing new memories of the event. (“I glanced away for a moment, and when I looked back I think I saw him leave through that door.”) Some especially weak-willed mortals might simply forget the vampire was ever present at all. Kindred, of course, tend to be less strongly impacted, though even an experienced and knowledgeable vampire might find the experience somewhat startling. Successful use of Cloak of Night renders the character invisible until and unless he does something to draw attention (launching an attack, smashing a window, shouting a warning), in which case the cloak drops. Hiding oneself with this power even accounts for a character inadvertently revealing himself. A vampire doesn’t accidentally bump into bystanders, as they subconsciously move out of his way. No one hears when he steps on a squeaky floorboard unless they have somehow already pierced his Obfuscate.
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| - Upon entering a Scene (or a Target entering) with others who might have mental defenses or supernatural perception, a Reflexive Clash of Wills is rolled.
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| - Characters may only move your normal Speed with Obfuscate active. Running, or use of Celerity, instantly ends the Cloak.
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| - Surprise rolls[5] are can/will be made for characters attacked by a Cloaked character; mounting an attack breaks the Cloak.
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| - Interacting with Objects (such as texting on a phone) while Obfuscated will break the Cloak
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- Cost: —
- Dice Pool: Intelligence + Stealth + Obfuscate
- Action: Instant
- Dramatic Failure: The character believes he has vanished from sight, when in fact he has not.
- Failure: The character does not vanish at all, and knows it.
- Success: The character vanishes from sight. Mortal witnesses reconstruct the scene in their memory to justify the character’s disappearance if successes achieved on the invocation roll exceed their Willpower dots.
- Exceptional Success: Five or more successes are rolled for the Discipline user. The character vanishes from sight. See preceding text for the effect on mortals. Kindred witnesses reconstruct the scene in their memory to justify the character’s disappearance if successes gained on the invocation roll exceed their Willpower dots.
•••• The Familiar Stranger
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| - EoD uses the MET Vampire version of The Familiar Stranger[6]
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This power preys on the natural tendency of the mind to quickly categorize people based on very few superficial details, allowing the Kindred to project a powerful subconscious suggestion that makes everyone he meets believe they are looking at a member of a profession or social group of the vampire’s choice. Vaguely defined identities such as “doctor” or “club kid” are easy to assume with this power, but more specific roles like “chief resident of neurosurgery” or “ultra-hip Goth scene queen” require a great deal more effort to enact. Likewise, the features of a vampire using this power become generalized as well, to the point of being essentially unrecognizable to those that know her. She retains the impression of any notable beauty or ugliness she might possess, but her overall appearance becomes so thoroughly generic that a
positive identification is impossible.
This new role is projected so strongly that targets actively try to accept the vampire’s identity so long as it doesn’t contradict any hard facts they know.
••••• Cloak the Gathering
- Like cloak of night, but may be used on others.
