Vampire Artes

Vampires wield numerous strange powers. In the old stores, vampires could control the minds of the weak-willed, shapeshift into beasts, or vanish from sight. These powers are intimately tied to the power of blood, and rely on the Hunger to reach out through blood to work its dark magics.

Learning Artes

Many vampires spontaneously manifest new Artes as their connection to blood evolves.

Artes have five ranks. Each rank grants the vampire a new power. It costs a vampire 3 experience to increase their rank in particular Arte by 1.

Alacrity

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: None
Action: 1 Free Action
Duration: Varies, see below

In some legends, vampires are said to have inhuman speed, being able to move faster than the eye can see, and even appear in two places at once. While some of these claims are exaggerated, a vampire with Alacrity can move faster than any living mortal.

For every Rank in Alacrity a Vampire possesses, they gain a +1 bonus to their Dexterity score.

In addition, you can spend 1 Anima as a free action to gain a burst of speed, and gain one of the following benefits:

Add your ranks in Alacrity to your Initiative roll
Gain 1 additional Reaction, which you can use immediately
Increase your speed by your ranks in Alacrity until the start of your next round.

Battle

The first valravns arose from the battlefields of the Viking era. It was in the midst of blood and flame that this Arte arose, as these early valravn learnt to twist their curse of undeath into a weapon against the living.

Rank 1 - Biting Fingers

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: None
Action: 1 Action
Duration: 1 Scene

With this power, a vampire creates tiny piercing mouths in their fingers that can drain the blood from a victim without a bite.

You can spend 1 Anima as a standard action to cause tiny beak-like mouths to grow from your fingertips. While is power is active, whenever you grapple a target, you automatically deal 1 Wound damage and drain 1 point of Anima from your target.

You can also use the mouths on your fingers to lap up blood from a container or puddle at a rate of 1 pint, and 1 point of Anima, per round.

Rank 2 - Skewer

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: None
Action: 1 Action
Duration: 1 Scene

A vampire with this power can force their bones to twist and piece their flesh, becoming deadly physical weapons.

You can spend 1 Anima as a standard action to cause your bones to break through the flesh of your arms and legs, forming serrated, knife-like growths. For the rest of the scene, your unarmed strikes do x3 damage on a critical hit. In addition, your unarmed attacks now gain the Parrying trait, as your bony growths can turn away melee attacks. You may use Unarmed Attacks to parry attacks instead of Melee Weapons.

In addition, whenever you critically hit with your bone-blades, you can drain the blood from the wound directly into your blood. For every 1 Wound damage your bone blades inflict, you also drain 1 Anima.

Rank 3 - Bloodshell

Cost: 2 Anima
Defence: None
Action: 1 Action
Duration: 1 Scene

A vampire with this power can cause their blood to bubble through their skin and congeal into a thick, thorny armor.

You can spend 2 Anima as a standard action to form armor out of your tainted blood. For the rest of the scene, increase your Armor by 1/2 your ranks in Potence.

Rank 4 - Bonedart

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: None
Action: 1 Action
Duration: Instantaneous

With this power, a vampire can grow a spike of bone and blood, and launch it from their wrist at a foe.

Spend 1 Anima as a standard action to grow your bone dart, and then make a Ranged Attack against a target. The bone dart is a light weapon with a range equal to 2/4/6. It deals 2d6+your Strength in damage, and causes an amount of persistant bleed damage equal to 1/2 your ranks in Potence. It has the Agile property.

Beast

A vampire is a predator, dwelling at the pinnacle of the global food chain. A vampire can use their position as an apex predator to overpower weaker animals, bending them to the vampire's will.

Rank 1 - Feral Whispers

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: None
Action: 1 Action
Duration: 1 Scene

To be obeyed, one must first be understood. A vampire using Feral Whispers overpowers an animal's instincts and force them to listen to the vampire's speech. You can ask ask questions of the creature, or compel it to obey you.

You can command groups of animals, such as a flock of birds or swarm of rats, as long as you are close enough that you can see all the animals, and the animals can all hear you.

Spend 1 Anima to gain the power to communicate with animals for the duration of a scene. You can use Charisma skills, as appropriate, to interrogate and influence an animal's reactions as if they were a human. Any animal you make Friendly or Helpful can be compelled to complete a single action, such as "attack a person who matches this description," "follow that person and then return here," or "chew through these cables."

Rank 2 - Raise the Familiar

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: None
Action: 1 Minute
Duration: Until the next dawn

Animals cannot be raised into true undeath, as they lack the soul of sapient beings. However, with this power, a vampire can feed some of their tainted anima to the corpse of an animal to temporarily bring them to an abomination of unlife.

The animal looks like it did when it died, perhaps a bit more drawn and gaunt, though it gains wicked, almost vampiric, fangs.

A vampire's familiar doesn't act like a normal animal. It doesn't hunt for food, nor does it react to human presence like a wild animal would. They sleep through the day, and become primarily nocturnal, as daylight dazzles them.

Spend 1 Anima to animate an animal. The animal returns to until the sun next rises. The vampire can feed the animal 1 additional point of anima to extend this unlife by an additional day.

The raised creature gains an unnatural cunning, enough to follow orders that living animals would not. The familiar has an Intelligence score equal to the vampire's Potency.

In addition, the familiar gains the immunities and weaknesses of a vampire, including the Undead traits and weakness to fire. When reduced to 0 wounds, the familiar dies, but it does not compose for a number of days equal to the vampire's Potence, allowing the vampire to recover their familiar and feed it more anima to restore its unlife.

The tainted anima thrumming in the familiar's dead veins creates a sympathetic link between the familiar and its master. The vampire and the familiar can communicate silently over a number of Kilometres equal to the vampire's Potency. The familiar is loyal to the vampire who created it.

A vampire cannot create more than one familiar. If a vampire attempts to raise another familiar, their original one collapses into a corpse.

Rank 3 - Summon the Hunt

Cost: 2 Anima
Defence: Willpower
Action: 1 Action
Duration: 1 Scene

The vampire marks their prey with some of the vampire's own tainted blood. Until the sun next rises, the vampire's prey becomes irresistible to predators.

Spend 2 Anima to infuse your next attack with some of your tainted anima. If you hit, make a Potency check against the target's Willpower defence.

If you succeed, you call a number of animals, depending on the vampire's location. This could be one of the following:

12 tiny animals (bats, crows, feral cats, rats, vipers, weasels)
4 small animals (feral dogs, coyote, foxes)
1 medium animal (black bear, boar, panther, wolf)

The animal shows up in 1d4 rounds, and does its best to attack your prey. The animals linger on until the prey is dead, or it takes an amount of damage equal to 3/4 it hit points, at which point your control over the animal breaks and it flees.

The animals are allied to you, but are not allied to any of your allies, and may attack them if your allies get in between them and their prey.

Blood Magic

Among the oldest forms of magic in the world, blood magic is primal in nature, tied to the fundamental forces of life and death. Blood holds anima, and anima is the stuff of magic. With proper training, a vampire can use anima to cast magic as a mage.

With 1 Rank in Blood Magic, a vampire unlocks the ability to cast magic as a mage, and gains 1 Rank in Spellcraft.

A Vampire with Blood Magic can gain ranks in the following sphere: Animal, Charms, Curses, Illusions, Scrying, and Warding, as well as the Sphere of Blood.

A Vampire casts Blood Magic from their anima pool, and cannot use Rote casting. A vampire can use Ritual Casting to cast a spell if they have access to a fresh corpse (less than 1 minute old) or a living human. If using a living human, that human must be immobilized, paralyzed or unconscious, and takes 1 Wound damage for every 1 point of anima the Ritual Casting takes. If using a corpse, the vampire can only draw 2d4 anima from the corpse before the anima within it is expended

A vampire does not start with any Rote Spells and must buy the Expanded Rotes feat to cast any of their known spells as rote spells.

Blood Magic only has one rank.

Breath

A favoured Arte of the vetala, breath allows a vampire to drink anima from the breath of the living. While less effective than draining blood, breath-drinking is far more subtle, and allows a vampire to feed without leaving behind the telltale bites that tip off hunters and other foes.

A victim of breath-drinking feels tired, headachy and nauseous until they next take a long rest. While there are no visible wounds, if enough damage is inflicted by breath-drinking it will show up in a medical examination as internal bleeding and organ damage.

Rank 1 - Sips of Breath

Cost: None
Defence: Endurance
Action: 1 Hour
Duration: Instantaneous

A vampire who knows the Arte of Breath can drain the anima from a human just by being in the same room as them.

If you spend 1 Hour in Close Range of a single target, concentrating mostly on drawing in their breath, you can attempt a to make Shadow check to Drain Vitae as if you were feeding from a grappled or immobilized target. If you are interrupted by violence or a complex conversation that diverts your attention away from your target, you must start over again.

Rank 2 - Stolen Words

Cost: None
Defence: Endurance
Action: 30 Minutes
Duration: Instantaneous

A vampire with this level of proficiency in the Arte of Breath can feed from a human in half the time so long as you keep them talking and engaged in the conversation. If you are engaged in a conversation with your target, you can attempt a Shadow Check after only 30 minutes.

Rank 3 - Spirit Thief

You can now use Sips of Breath and Stolen Words on any supernatural being, not just humans. Add your ranks in Breath to Shadow checks to drain vite from Sips of Breath and Stolen Words.

Control

A vampire is a prince of the night. They command obedience from lesser creatures. With the Arte of Control, a vampire learns to exert their authority through supernatural means.

Rank 1 - Command

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: Resolve
Action: 1 Action
Duration: 1 Round

By meeting the gaze of a target, the vampire can issue a single command that the target must obey.

Spend 1 Anima and use a single action to roll a Potence check against the target's Resolve. If you succeed, you can issue a single, straightforward order, such as the following:

Run away
Approach
Release what you're holding
Jump
Close your eyes
Drop prone
Stand in place
Attack your ally

The next action the target takes is to fulfill that action. Only actions that take 1 Action to complete can be commanded. If the command is ambiguous or confusing, the target may not respond at all and instead just stand confused while they process the order, causing them to be Stunned for 1 action. If the target does not speak the same language as you, they are by default stunned. Additionally, commands are always interpreted in the subject's best interests. Telling someone on a roof to "jump" will usually involve them jumping in place, and not leaping off the edge.

Subjects of Command cannot be made to directly harm themselves, so a command such as "Die" automatically fails.

While under the effects of Command, a target cannot make reactions. Command ends after the target's next action.

Rank 2 - Mesmerize

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: Resolve
Action: 1-3 Rounds
Duration: Until the next dawn

The source of legends about a vampire's hypnotic gaze, Mesmerize allows a vampire to hypnotically control a target. This power requires not only sustained eye contact, but intense concentration.

Spend 1 Anima and use a full-round action that provokes an attack of opportunity to roll a Potence check against the target's Resolve. If you succeed, you can issue a complex command to your target. The target gains a +5 bonus to their Resolve if the command is obviously harmful.

This command might be something that is completed immediately, such as "Walk over and open that door," or "Invite me into your house," or it could be a more complex, such as "when you see this person next, you are going to punch them." You can even alter a target's memory, planting suggestions such as "I was never here."

Mesmerize can deliver long-term complex instructions, such as "tail this individual, take notes, and email the response." Obviously impossible actions, such as "count every grain of sand on this beach," automatically fail, as do obviously suicidal commands, such as "walk down the middle of the highway during rush hour." If, during the process of carrying out the command, the target must take an action that puts themselves in danger or runs counter to their moral code, they can make a contested Resolve check against your potence to shake themselves out of the mesmerisation.

Mesmerize can implant up to three commands into the target's mind, so long as they are all linked. Each command after the first takes 1 additional round of concentration.

A target can only be subject to one Mesmerize effect at a time. If the vampire attempts to Mesmerize a target already under the effect of Mesmerisation or a similar mental control. the vampire makes an opposed Potence roll against the Potence of the target (or the appropriate supernatural ability, such as the Charm sphere for mages or Glamour for fey).

This domination lasts until the command is fulfilled, or until the dawn of the next day.

Rank 3 - Lingering Edict

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: None
Action: 1-3 Rounds
Duration: 1 Week (see below)

The vampire's control over their target lingers on as a subconscious trigger.

By spending 1 additional Anima, a vampire's Mesmerisation can be set to a specific trigger, such as "next Thursday," or "when you next encounter your boss." If you implant multiple commands, they can be tied to individual triggers. These subconscious triggers can last up to 1 week, or 1 month on a critical success on the Potence check to implant the commands. Once a specific Mesmerisation command is triggered, it lasts the regular duration of Mesmerize, until the sun next dawns.

Mirrors

The old fable that vampires cast no reflections is rooted in the Arte of Mirrors, which allows a vampire to twist and reflect light around them and grants them access to secrets held within that mirrored dimension that lies behind the glass.

Rank 1 - Warp Reflection

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: None
Action: 1 Action
Duration: Until the sun next dawns

A vampire with this power no longer shows up in reflections, and appear as blurry, distorted images in photographs, videos and other visual mediums. Once active, a vampire cannot disable this power until the sun next rises, meaning they have to be warry of large mirrors and reflective surfaces to avoid Sleepers discovering their presence. On the other hand, given the abundance of security cameras and other sensors in modern society, this power allows a vampire to feed and use their other Artes without having to worry about causing an inadvertent Veil Breach.

Rank 2 - Catoptromancy

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: None
Action: 1 Minute
Duration: Instantaneous

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

Catoptromancy is the art of divination by mirrors. Vampires with this power can gaze into a mirror and gain insight into one question.

Spend 1 Anima and smear your tainted blood on a mirror, then pose a single question about an unknown identity, such as:

Who killed this man?
Who betrayed me?
Who really runs this city?
Who does this weapon belong to?

Over the next minute, your reflection will warp and twist until it becomes the reflection of the person who most closely answers that question. Even if there are multiple answers, only one face appears.

For example, if you asked who killed a man, the mirror would only reveal the hitman's face, and not the fact that the hitman was hired by a prominent local member of the Illuminati trying to take down a potential rival.

Rank 3 - Reflective Eyes

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: Resolve
Action: 1 Round
Duration: 1 Scene

A vampire with this power can open a crack into the mirrored realm through which they can see out of any other mirror nearby.

Spend 1 Anima and smear your tainted blood on a mirror as a full-round action. At the end of the round, the reflection in the mirror becomes like a window peering out of another mirror within 1 Range. This distance increases by 1 Range for every 2 ranks in Potence you posses.

You may switch to gazing out of any mirror in the area by spending one full round concentrating on that mirror.

If an observer looks at the mirror you are currently gazing out from, you appear as a shadowy image or dim outline just off to the side, around a corner, or otherwise obscured.

Rank 4 - Reach Through the Mirror

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: None
Action: None
Duration: Instantaneous

While using Reflective Eyes, you can use your Artes and any Blood Magic you know through the reflection. You cannot use any powers or spells that directly inflict damage, but any other power or spell that targets an individual or area with a distance of at least Close Range can be cast using the mirror you're currently gazing out of as the point of origin.

Any power you cast through Reflective Eyes costs 1 additional Anima.

Nightmare

One of the foremost powers of legendary vampires is the ability to strike fear into the hearts of mortal men. But a vampire's Hunger does not desire fear. Fear is rational, understandable, natural. A vampire is an unnatural predator. The fear it creates is unnatural, unholy terror, a blight on the human psyche. Vampires with this Arte learn to to bear the darkest parts of their spirits, manifesting their inhumanity to drive others into mindless panic.

Rank 1 - Face of Hunger

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: Resolve
Action: 1 Action
Duration: Instantaneous

The true face of a vampire is an unnatural, unholy mask of hunger that unsettles even the stoutest living soul. When a vampire activates this ability, they do so in conjunction with bearing their fangs and unleashing a malevolent hiss. The result can send most mortals fleeing for their lives.

Spend 1 Anima as a single action to activate your Face of Hunger, then make an Intimidation check, adding your ranks in Nightmare, against the target's Resolve defence. The target must be within 1 Range for every 2 ranks in Potence you possess.

Critical Success The target is frightened 3 and collapses into a cowering heap, being rendered stunned for 1 round.
Success The target is frightened 2. and fleeing for 1 round
Failure The target is frightened 1.
Critical Failure The target is unaffected

Rank 2 - Dread

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: Resolve
Action: 1 Action
Duration: 1 Scene

Everyone around the vampire feels the world go slightly off. The air is chill, lights are dim, and angles are just off enough to be wrong. Gloom and uncertainty creep into the hearts of those around the vampire.

Spend 1 Anima as a single action to activate your Aura of Dread, then make a Potence check against the Resolve defence of all living creatures in Close Range.

Critical Success The target is frightened 2, and loses 1 Anima.
Success The target is frightened 1.
Failure: The target suffers no ill effects
Critical Failure The target is immune to the vampire's Dread for the next 24 hours

Dread lasts until the vampire takes an overtly hostile action, or 1 Minute, whichever happens first.

Rank 3 - Eye of Terror

Cost: 2 Anima
Defence: Resolve
Action: 1 Action
Duration: Instantaneous

By making eye contact with a target, you can reveal the true nature of the Hunger that dwells within. Your Hunger is psychically unleashed upon your target, causing them to flee or cower in fear.

Spend 2 Anima as a single action to make a Potence check against your target's Resolve defence.

Critical Success The target is Paralyzed in terror. This paralysis lasts until the end of your next turn. Every round, you may elicit to take a single action to maintain eye contact and extend the duration of this ability to the end of the following turn. This paralysis is broken when the target is attacked.
Success The target is Fascinated until the end of your next turn, unable to look away while you maintain eye contact. Every round, you may elicit to take a sing le action to maintain eye contact and extend the duration of this ability to the end of the following turn.
Failure: The target is frightened 1.
Critical Failure The target is immune to the vampire's Eye of Terror for the next 24 hours

This is a gaze attack that requires you to meet the eyes of your target. A creature without eyes, or who is otherwise unable to see, is immune to Eye of Terror.

Obscure

Vampires are creatures of the night, nocturnal hunters who dwell within the darkness. By mastering the Obscuring Arte, a vampire can draw upon the darkness to better meld into the night and hide their actions from their mortal prey.

Rank 1 - Touch of Shadow

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: Awareness
Action: 1 Action
Duration: 1 Scene

The most basic of the Obscuring Artes involves cloaking a single item or object from the observations of others. The item fades from the attentions of others, and becomes incredibly difficult to focus on or even consciously acknowledge.

Spend 1 Anima and take a single Action to touch an unattended item of a Size up to your ranks in Potence. Any creature who searches the area must succeed in an Awareness check equal to 10+your Potence+your ranks in Obscure or they completely fail to register the object's presence for the remainder of the scene.

For example, you can touch a desk, and anyone who fails to pierce the Touch of Shadow will not remember there was a desk in the room. They will manoeuvre around the desk, and will still feel pain if they bump into it, but they won't think to use it, or search its drawers, or even to use it to barricade the door. Their reports won't recount a desk in the room, and, if shown a picture of the scene later, they will probably say they don't remember that desk being there.

This only affects inanimate objects, but can include unanimated corpses. If an item obscured by Touch of Shadows is used as a weapon, the victim of the attack is considered flat-footed for that attack, but they pierce the illusion as if the succeeded on the Awareness check once they take any damage from the item.

Rank 2 - Shrouded Guise

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: Awareness
Action: 1 Action
Duration: 1 Scene

A vampire refines their ability to shroud objects to now shroud their own unliving self.

By spending 1 Anima as a single Action, the vampire can render themselves so profoundly uninteresting that others just fail to recognize their presence for the rest of the scene. As long as the vampire doesn't do anything obvious to draw attention to themselves, they're incredibly easy to ignore.

While Shrouded Guise is active, you gain a bonus equal to your ranks in Obscure to Stealth and Manipulation checks. In addition, any creature that tries to interact directly with you must make an Awareness check with a DC equal to 10+your Potence+your ranks in Obscure. If they fail, they acknowledge a person is there, but they're just "some guy" with average height, average build, and average clothes. Unless the vampire acts profoundly out-of-place, nobody really cares about them. They could walk down the street with a sword out, and unless they start attacking people, nobody will bat an eye.

If a vampire does attack a target, or attempts to feed, the target of their attack is flat-footed for the first attack. After that, they immediately notice the vampire, as if the succeeded on their Awareness check, and everyone else around the vampire makes another Awareness check with a +4 bonus to notice the vampire's actions.

Finally, while Shrouded Guise is active, the vampire adds their ranks in Obscure to their defences against any attempt to discern their vampiric nature.

Rank 3 - Cloak of Night

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: Awareness
Action: 1 Action
Duration: 1 Scene

A vampire with this level of mastery over the Obscuring Artes can straight-up vanish into the night. He leaves no scent and makes no sound, though this cloak does not extend to incidental reactions to their passing, such as the creaking of floorboards or the swirling of mist.

When you activate Shrouded Guise, you can spend an additional 1 Anima to become Invisible for the duration. This replaces the standard effects of Shrouded Guise. A vampire using Cloak of Night still appears in photographs and video, but any sapient being treats them as if they were not there, including besouled golems and AIs.

The Cloak of Night breaks when the vampire attacks a target or makes another overtly hostile action that would normally draw attention to them.

Presage

This Arte turns the vampire's predatory senses up to the next level, allowing them to locate points of weakness or discern potential dangers around them. The more power a vampire becomes in this arte, the more their powers border on prophetic, allowing them to catch glimpses of the future.

Rank 1 - Heightened Senses

Cost: None
Defence: None
Action: None
Duration: Passive effect, see below

Your vampiric senses improve. Add 1/2 your ranks in Potence to your Awareness checks and Investigate checks to Seek.

Rank 2 - Hunger's Kenning

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: Composure
Action: 1 Round
Duration: Instantaneous

The vampire awakens their Hunger to gain the senses of a predator, allowing them to see things others might not.

To activate Hunger's Kenning, spend 1 Anima and then make a Potence check against the Composure defence all creatures in 1 Range. This ability takes 1 full round of concentration.

You can then ask one of the following questions of the GM:

Who here is most likely to give me what I want?
Who or what is most likely to resort to violence?
Who here is most afraid?
Who or what is most likely to hurt me?
Is there a powerful supernatural here (A creature with more than 10 ranks in Potence, Spellcraft, Glamour, Legacy, Balance or a similar skill).

If you succeed, you are given brief flashes of insight into those around you. Any creature you fail against is not considered in the answer to the question, and a critical failure results in a lie about that induvial as you misread the situation.

Rank 3 - Uncanny Perception

Cost: 2 Anima
Defence: Composure
Action: 1 Action
Duration: Instantaneous

The vampire focuses on a single individual, peeling back their secrets and delving deep into their psyche.

To activate Uncanny Perception, spend 2 Anima and then spend 1 action to ask a supernaturally empowered question to a single target. Roll a Potence check against their Composure defence.

You can then ask one of the following questions of the GM:

What is this person's mood?
What is this person afraid of right now?
What is this person's virtue or vice?
What is one of this person's vulnerabilities? (ex. depression, addiction, anxiety, physical illness, etc.)
Is this person being controlled by someone else? (either supernaturally, or coercion)
Is this person a supernatural creature?
Who is this person aligned with/what are their Allegiances?
Who does this person want to hurt the most?

For every 5 you beat the target's Composure by, you can ask an additional question. If you fail the roll, you gain no information, and if you critically fail, you gain misleading information.

Resilience

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: None
Action: 1 Action
Duration: 1 Minute

Vampires are walking corpses, free from the fragilities of mortality. Their bodies are capable of incredible punishment, but when a vampire's Hunger is factored in, the vampire gains a truly remarkable ability to shrug off damage.

For every Rank in Resilience a Vampire possesses, they gain a +1 bonus to their Constitution score.

In addition, you can spend 1 Anima as a single action to gain a Resistance to physical damage equal to their ranks in Resilience for the next 1 Minute.

Seduce

One of the most legendary powers of vampires is the ability to attract, sway and control the emotions of the weak-willed, twisting mortals around their claws. The Arte of Seduction amplifies the Vampire's attractive characteristics, be it their physical appearance, charisma or force of personality. Though often associated with sexual desire, seduction can involve anything people would be attracted to, such as power, knowledge, or just a good time.

Rank 1 - Awe

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: Composure
Action: 1 Action
Duration: 1 Scene

By using this power, a vampire can supernaturally enhance their social attractiveness, drawing others to them like a moth to the flame.

A vampire can spend 1 Anima as a single action to make a Potence check against the Composure defence of all targets in Close range. Every target the vampire is successful against feels supernaturally drawn to the vampire for the rest of the scene. They suffer a penalty to their Composure defence equal to 1/2 the vampire's ranks in Potence until the end of the scene.

In addition, while Awe is active, vampire ignores all Charisma penalties imposed by their appearance--even dressed in street cloths, they fit in at a black-tie event.

Rank 2 - Charmed

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: Composure
Action: 1 Action
Duration: 1 Hour, see below

The vampire can focus their social charm down onto a single target. A few heartfelt words or a compassionate glance breaks down the target's prudence and hesitation, causing them become absolutely infatuated with the vampire.

While Awe is active, a vampire can spend 1 Anima as a single action to make another Potence check against a single target. If the vampire succeeds, the target becomes Helpful towards the vampire for the next 1 hour, and cannot make any hostile reaction against the vampire. If the vampire critically succeeds, this infatuation lasts until the dawning of the next day.

If the vampire takes any hostile action against the target, this power immediately ends.

Rank 3 - Entrancement

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: Composure
Action: 1 Action
Duration: 1 Hour, see below

With this power, a vampire manipulates their target's emotions, causing them to undertake actions they normally wouldn't.

While interacting with a Charmed target, a vampire can spend 1 Anima as a single action to make another Potence check against a single target. If the vampire succeeds, the target becomes a willing servant of the vampire for the next hour. The vampire can make commands of the target, and the target will try to fulfill them as best as possible, feeling an obsessive need to accomplish it to please the vampire. The vampire may make as many commands as they desire over the duration of the Entrancement.

An Entranced target will fulfill the vampire's commands within reason--if the request would lead to bodily harm or the violation of their morals, they will walk away instead of entertaining the command. Unlike the powers of Control, the target retains their own free will and sense of identity, and so filter all commands through their own lenses, completing them in an appropriate manner.

Entrancement lasts until the rising of the sun, or, on a critical success, for one week. When the Entrancement ends, the target feels confused and "out-of-sorts," having no more attraction or ties to the vampire.

Skinwalk

A vampire is already more a beast than their living kin, what with the fangs and the penchant for hunting prey. But some vampires take it step further, indulging their Hunger and becoming embodiments of its savage power.

Rank 1 - Claws of the Wild

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: None
Action: 1 Action
Duration: 1 Scene

A vampire with this power can spend 1 Anima as a single action to twist their nails into long, vicious talons capable of rending flesh and bone. Favoured by many Valravn, this Arte means that one of Helheim's Flock are never truly unarmed.

Imbued with unholy power, your claws count as natural weapons with the finesse and unarmed properties. They deal 1d6+1/2 your ranks in Potence slashing damage. In addition, you can Climb at 1/2 Speed.

Your claws remain active for the rest of scene unless you retract them prematurely.

Rank 2 - Predatory Aspect

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: None
Action: 1 Action
Duration: 1 Scene

All a vampire has to do is slip a little bit, and let their Hunger come to the surface. For some, as their Hunger rises, it warps their body into a monstrous form, taking cues from other creatures that prey on humans.

You can spend 1 Anima to manifest Predatory Aspect as a single action. Pick three adaptations from the following list. You gain their benefits for the rest of the scene. Once manifested, you cannot change your Predatory Aspects until the scene ends.

Aquatic: You develop webbed hands and slick scales, granting you a Swim speed of 1 Range.
Echolocation: Your ears extend out to monstrous proportions, granting you Blindsight out to 1 range. This Blindsight is dependent on hearing, and so does not affect floating creatures, or creatures in areas of silence.
Feral Senses: You gain a beast's keen sense of smell. Treat your Potence as 2 higher when making a Sense Living check.
Patagia: You grow a flap of leathery skin between your arms and torso, allowing you to glide. For every 1 metre you fall, you can travel 3 metres horizontally. You take no damage from falling.
Prehensile Tail: You grow a long, prehensile tail. You can use it to grab things as if it were an extra arm, though it lacks hands and so cannot be used for tasks that require fine motor skills.
Quadrupedal: Your bones crack and shift, giving you a quadrupedal gait. Your Speed increases by 1, and you gain a +4 bonus on Athletics checks to jump.
Wall Crawling: You grow thousands of barbed hairs that grant you a Climb Speed of 1.

Rank 3 - Shape of the Beast

Cost: 2 Anima
Defence: Composure
Action: 1 Action
Duration: 1 Scene

Vampire lore is filled with countless stories of the undead taking on the form of beasts who prowl the night. With this power, you embody these legends.

You can spend 2 Anima to warp your flesh into the form of predatory animal as a single action. You can only take on the form of predatory animals, carrion-eaters and plague-carrying beasts. This transformation lasts for the rest of the scene, or until dismissed.

If you assume the form of a bat, rat, or other pest, adjust your stats as follows:
AC = 15 + your ranks in Potence
Size becomes 1
Speed 1/2 Range, either Fly Speed 1 or Burrow Speed 1
Weakness 5 to physical damage. (If you take physical damage in this form, you take 5 additional damage.)
Low-light vision and scent 1 Range.
Acrobatics and Stealth modifiers of +10, unless your own modifier is higher; Athletics modifier –4.

If you assume the form of a larger animal, adjust your stats as follows:

AC = 16 + your ranks in Potence.
5 temporary Hit Points.
Scent 30 feet.
One or more unarmed melee attacks specific to the form you choose, which are the only attacks you can use. Your unarmed attack modifier is +9, and your damage bonus is +1. These attacks are Strength based (for the purpose of the enfeebled condition, for example). If your unarmed attack bonus is higher, you can use it instead.
Athletics modifier of +9, unless your own modifier is higher.

You also gain specific abilities based on the type of animal you choose:

Bear: Speed 1 Range, Melee bite attack 2d8 piercing; Melee claw attack Damage 1d8 slashing (finesse).
Large Cat: Speed 2 Range; Melee bite attack, Damage 2d6 piercing; Melee claw attack Damage 1d10 slashing (finesse).
Serpent: Speed 1 Range, climb Speed 21 Range0 feet, swim Speed 1 Range; Melee bite attack, Damage 2d4 piercing plus 1d6 poison.
Wolf: Speed 2 Range; Melee bite attack, Damage 2d8 piercing.

Tenebrae

In the legends, vampires are masters of the night. But some take it a step further. With the Tenebrous Arte, a vampire can literally seize control of the shadows, and give them control over the darkness they dwell in.

Rank 1 - Night Sight

Cost: None
Defence: None
Action: None
Duration: Passive effect, see below

The vampire gains the ability to see in even pitch darkness, gaining Darkvision. They suffer no vision penalties in the darkness, and can sense shifts in heat and movement from others. Furthermore, they are immune to the Blinded condition.

Rank 2 - Shroud of Night

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: None
Action: 1 Action
Duration: 1 Scene

You can release the darkness dwelling within your blood to blanket an entire area in darkness.

Spend 1 Anima as a single action. You shroud the entire area in Close Range of you in supernatural darkness. Light does not enter the area and any non-magical light sources, such as a torch or lantern, do not emanate any light while inside the area, even if their light radius would extend beyond the darkness. Light can't pass through, so creatures in the area can't see outside. From outside, it appears as a cloud of pure darkness.

This cloud lasts for the remainder of a scene, or until exposed to natural sunlight, after which it burns away in 1 round.

Rank 3 - Blades in the Night

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: None
Action: 1 Action
Duration: 1 Scene

You entwine shadows into a bladed weapon you're wielding, allowing it to cut through both physical and incorporeal creatures.

Spend 1 Anima as a single action to wrap a single melee weapon that does slashing or piercing damage in darkness. The weapon deals additional damage equal to 1/2 your ranks in Potence, and can now affect incorporeal creatures.

Rank 4 - Walk the Night

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: None
Action: 1 Action or Reaction
Duration: Instantaneous

You can now emulate the Flickering nightmare of horrors, allowing you to swiftly step between shadows.

If you are standing in a location of dim illumination or lower, you can spend 1 Anima to use a single action and shadowstep to another patch of dim illumination within Close range. This Movement is instantaneous, as you vanish into the shadows at your starting location and appear at your destination. This movement only provokes an attack of opportunity at your destination, and only if your target is aware of you.

You can only Flicker to a location you within range that you can see and that you would be normally able to reach by walking within Close range. For example, you can flicker to the back seat of a car pursuing you within Close Range, as, in theory, you could walk that distance. But you cannot Flicker across a chasm unless the distance to the bottom, across, and back up is less than Close Range.

If you spend 2 Anima, you can use this action reactively, allowing you to step through the darkness after taking damage.

Rank 5 - Become the Night

Cost: 3 Anima
Defence: None
Action: 1 Action or Reaction
Duration: 1 Scene

You can draw shadows into yourself, becoming a creature of pure darkness.

If you are standing in a location of dim illumination or lower, you can spend 3 Anima to use a single action to meld with the shadows, becoming incorporeal. While merged with the shadows, you are immune to all physical damage, and you can only take damage from sunlight, fire, and supernatural abilities that can affect supernatural creatures.

While merged with the shadows, you cannot harm corporeal creatures, though you can freely interact with other incorporeal beings. If you are wielding a weapon you enhanced with Blades in the Night, you can attack corporeal creatures freely. You can move at your regular speed, and you are not hindered by barriers that wouldn't stop a shadow.

Thorns

Developed by the Asanbosam vampires of West Africa, the Arte of Thorns gives its practitioners control over wild places, specifically plant life. Though developed in the mangroves and tropical rainforests along the Gulf of Guinea, it works just as well in any location teeming with plant life, be it a taiga, a city park, or even a greenhouse.

Rank 1 - Silent Passage

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: None
Action: 1 Round
Duration: 1 Scene

The vampire learns to pass through wild places without the risk of being heard or followed.

Spend 1 Anima and take a full round to meditate and spreading your taint into the soil. For the remainder of the scene, so long as you're travelling across natural terrain, such as dirt, grass, stone or snow, you gain a bonus equal to 1/2 your ranks in Potence to Stealth checks, and you impose a similar penalty on checks to Track your passage.

Rank 2 - Blight the Land

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: Endurance
Action: 1 Round
Duration: Instantaneous

The Arte of Thorns gives vampires dominion over plants, and that includes both life and death. With focus, the vampire can blight the land around them, and spread a wasting rot.

Spend 1 Anima and take a full round to become a bridge between the powers of entropy and the living world. You can either choose to release these energies in a burst, or a single focused touch.

Burst: make a Potence check against the Endurance of all plants within Close range. Every plant that fails takes 1d4 Void damage for every 2 ranks in Potence you possess as rot quickly overtakes them them.
Touch: make a Potence check against the Endurance of a single large plant (such as a fully-grown tree) or an item made of organic materials (such as a log cabin or a wooden bridge). If you succeed, the plant or object takes 1d8 Void damage for every 2 ranks in Potence you possess as rot consumes them. This damage bypasses hardness.

Rank 3 - Synthesis

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: None
Action: 1 Round
Duration: Instantaneous

A useful tool for stalking prey, a vampire with this power can meld with trees and other large plants.

Spend 1 Anima and take a full round to merge with a plant that is at least the same size as you. The plant can be dead or alive, but it cannot be worked in any form.

While merged with the plant, your senses extend from it, granting you all-around vision and sight, and your sense of touch tends through the entire plant. While within the plant, you cannot be directly targeted, though half of all damage done to the plant--after hardness is applied--is dealt to you. You are immune to sunlight while inside the plant, but you retain your weakness to fire. Exiting from the plant is a single action, though you can spend 1 Anima to exit as a free action to ambush prey.

Vigour

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: None
Action: 1 Action
Duration: 1 Turn

Most vampires can tap into their Hunger for incredible bursts of strength. Vampires with Vigour, however, can rend steel with their bare hands. The Hunger tunes every fibre of the vampire's being into a predator of the highest calibre.

For every Rank in Vigour a Vampire possesses, they gain a +1 bonus to their Strength score.

A vampire can also spend 1 Anima as a single action to gain a bonus equal to their ranks in Vigour to all Strength-based checks made until the end of their turn.

Hybrid Artes

While most vampires focus on a few artes, some vampires experiment with the power of blood, and develop strange powers that blend several artes together.

Hybrid Artes require a number of ranks in standard Artes, listed in their prerequisites. A Hybrid Arte costs 3 experience, just like a standard Arte.

Become the Juggernaut

Cost: 5 Anima
Defence: None
Action: 1 Reaction
Duration: 1 Round

Prerequisite: Resilience 4, Vigour 3

Benefit: The vampire coats themselves in a protective coating of anima-enhanced blood that boils forth from their flesh. Until the start of their next turn, the vampire is completely immune to all sources of damage, be it physical or supernatural in origin. Even damage from sunlight and fire is absorbed into the blood before it harms the vampire.

Between the Walls

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: None
Action: 1 Round
Duration: Instantaneous

Prerequire: Resilience 1, Skinwalker 3

Benefit: The vampire unfolds their body in ways a living body could never survive, slipping into spaces they should not be able to fit.

By spending 1 Anima, you can ooze your way into any space that is Size 2 and move through those spaces at 1/3 your normal speed, allowing you to slide through vents, pipes, and the spaces between walls. You can reassemble yourself a single action.

Cross-Contamination

Cost: 2 Anima
Defence: Composure
Action: 1 Action
Duration: 1 Round

Prerequisite: Nightmare 2, Seduce 1

Benefit: A vampire can blend Awe and Dread together to warp the emotions of those around them, causing confusion.

Spend 2 Anima to activate both Awe and Dread simultaneously as a single action, then make a Potence check against the Resolve defence of all creatures in close range. Those you succeed against are Confused until the start of your next round. On a critical success, this lasts for 2 rounds.

Eat the Pain

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: Composure
Action: 1 Free Action
Duration: 1 Round

Prerequisite: Resilience 3, Vigour 1

Benefit: A vampire can push through the pain, and become stronger for it.

By spending 1 Anima as a free action, you can ignore all conditions that would impact their physical checks, such as Drained, Clumsy or Wounded, until the start of their next turn.

Enfeebling Aura

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: Composure
Action: 1 Action
Duration: 1 Round

Prerequisite: Seduce 1, Resilience 1

Benefit: The vampire bring forth their awe-inspiring presence to cause their target to subconsciously stay their hand.

By spending 1 Anima as a single action, you can make a Potence check against their target's Composure defence. If you succeed, they can cause their target to suffer a penalty to all Strength checks equal to 1/2 their ranks in Potence until the start of your next round. On a critical success, this lasts for 2 rounds.

Eyes of the Mage

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: None
Action: 1 Action
Duration: See below

Prerequisite: Blood Magic 1, Prescence 2

Benefit: You gain access Mage Sight as if you were a mage.

Flush Out

Cost: 2 Anima
Defence: Composure
Action: 1 Action
Duration: Instantaneous

Prerequisite: Control 1, Nightmare 3

Benefit: You release a wave of terror that drives your prey from their hiding spaces, and out into the open where they can be properly hunted.

Select an point within 1 Range per rank in Potence you posses. You must be able to see the point, but you don't have to select a creature or object as a target. Then, spend 2 Anima as a single action to unleash a burst of terror around that point. Make a Potence check against the Resolve defence all creatures in Close Range of your targeted point.

If you succeed, your targets gain 1 application of Fleeing. On a critical success, they gain 2 applications of Fleeing.

Hint of the Hunger

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: Composure
Action: 1 Reaction
Duration: See below

Prerequisite: Alacrity 2, Nightmare 2

Benefit: The vampire can use Face of Hunger as a reaction by spending 1 additional anima.

Quicken Sight

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: Composure
Action: 1 Free Action
Duration: 1 Round

Prerequisite: Alacrity 1, Prescence 1

Benefit: Your supernatural awareness and speed allows you to, for a brief moment, experience time slowing down to a crawl around you.

You gain Quickened until the start of your next round.

Shatter the Shroud

Cost: 1 Anima
Defence: Composure
Action: 1 Reaction
Duration: Instantaneous

Prerequisite: Prescence 2, Vigor 1

Benefit: You can pierce straight through a shroud, illusion or other veiling. This includes any supernatural effect that causes Concealed, Hidden or Invisible.

When you land an unarmed attack on any shrouded creature or illusion, you can immediately take a reaction to shred the shroud apart. Make an opposed Potence check and add your Strength as a bonus. Your opponent rolls as appropriate for the shroud (such as Potence for an Obscure effect, Shroud for a horror's stealth, or the Sphere of Illusion for a mage's spell). If you succeed, the shroud effect immediately ends, and the target cannot reactivate it until after the start of your next turn.

Vermintide

Cost: 3 Anima
Defence: Endurance
Action: 1 Round
Duration: 1 Scene

Prerequisite: Alacrity 2, Animalism 3, Vigour 2

Benefit: You can call all animals in a neighbourhood to immediately swarm en masse and pick apart your foes.

Spend 3 Anima as a full-round action to taint the area in Close range. Within 1d4 rounds, a swarm of small animals, such as rats, bats, corvids and insects, immediately swarm the area and begin tearing and chewing everything in sight. All creatures in the area must make a dodge check equal to 10+your ranks in Potence+your ranks in Animalism or take 3d6 slashing damage. This damage increases to 5d6 if you have four ranks in Animalism, and 7d6 if you have five ranks in Animalism.

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