Potence

Kindred endowed with Potence possess unnatural strength. This Discipline enables vampire to leap massive distances, lift tremendous weights, and strike opponents with brutal force. Even low ranks of this power can give Kindred physical power beyond mortal bounds. More powerful Kindred can leap so far that they appear to be flying, toss cars like soda cans, and punch through walls like cardboard. While the more subtle mental Disciplines can be awe-inspiring, the brutal effectiveness of Potence is formidable in its own right. The Brujah, Giovanni, Lasombra, and Nosferatu are naturally gifted with this Discipline, but members of other Clans often make a point to find someone who can teach them the awesome power of Potence.

System: Each dot that the vampire has in Potence adds one die to all Strength-related dice rolls. Further, the player can spend one blood point and change his Potence dice into an equal number of automatic successes to all Strength-related rolls for the turn. In melee and brawling combat, successes from Potence (either rolled or automatic) are applied to the damage roll results.

Potence 6+

While flesh and blood have their limits, undead sinews and vitae have a bit more latitude when it comes to feats of strength. Vampires who are close to Caine in descent are sometimes capable of strength-based maneuvers that awe even other vampires. A product of blood and will as much as of muscle and bone, mastery of Potence gives a vampire the ability to do far more than just lift progressively heavier objects — if the vampire himself is willing to learn an alternate way. Advanced Potence powers can be purchased in the same fashion as advanced Celerity or Fortitude powers: A character can choose to learn an alternate power instead of advancing along the Discipline’s normal progression, and can later go back and re-purchase what he’s missed.

Power Animal
This is a combo Discipline and requires Animalism 3.

The Kindred’s connection with animals is such that they can transfer their physical power to animals under their control. Such creature can be made stronger and more deadly with an increase in strength from the vampire’s Potence.

System: The vampire must first make a connection to an animal using Feral Whispers. She must then spend a blood point for each point of Potence she wishes to invest in the animal for the rest of the fight. She may not grant the animal more Potence points that it has Strength, or than the vampire has potence. So, a rat with a Strength of 1 may only be given Potence 1, but a pig of Strength 4 can be given a Potence of 4, as long as the vampire has at least a Potence of 4.

Experience cost: 12

Pulse of Undeath
This is a combo Discipline and requires Auspex 1. Canny Brujah with this power can go into fights forewarned about their opponents’ capabilities. The Brujah can intuitively sense which, if any, physical Disciplines another vampire possesses.

System: The player rolls Perception + Empathy (difficulty 6). Each success informs the Brujah of one physical Discipline (Celerity, Potence, or Fortitude) possessed by the target observed, as well as that Discipline’s approximate level.

Experience cost: 6

Blood Thorns
This is a combo Discipline and requires Protean 2. This power allows the user to expend the force of her blood in order to make a ranged attack with her natural weaponry. With this ability, the Gangrel shoots a barb or claw at her target, potentially injuring them as though she had struck them with her Feral Claws. It takes three rounds for a claw expended in this manner to grow back. Claws or barbs expelled by use of Blood Thorns turn to dust within ten minutes of leaving the Gangrel’s body.

System: The character spends a blood to perform a ranged attack against one character within 10 yards/meters. If successful, this attack inflicts Strength +1 aggravated damage.

Experience cost: 12

Flaying Touch
This is a combo Discipline and requires Vicissitude 2. With this cruel power, a Tzimisce can tear away a victim’s skin as easily as removing a robe, all without disturbing the muscles and other tissue beneath. The Fiend simply grabs a handful of skin and pulls it away or surgically slices it with the artful caress of a fingertip. Regardless of the method used, the target suffers excruciating pain and begins bleeding profusely from the exposed flesh. Even if a target somehow survives the blood loss, the area of skinless flesh soon becomes infected. Even Cainites suffer under this agony, though they do not have to fear blood loss.

System: This power requires the same roll as a conventional use of Fleshcraft, though the difficulty is always one higher than normal (maximum difficulty 9). The vampire need not restrain the victim as long as he strikes exposed skin (requiring a Dexterity + Brawl roll as usual), in which case the activation roll is reflexive. Each success inflicts one level of lethal damage, which may be soaked (if the victim can soak such damage) at difficulty 8. If the damage exceeds the victim’s Stamina, she can only writhe and scream in pain for the rest of the turn. Mortal victims continue bleeding profusely from their exposed skin, suffering a number of levels of bashing damage each minute equal to the initial damage. Once any of the original damage is healed or the wound is stanched (Dexterity + Medicine, difficulty 9), the bleeding slows to one level of damage per hour. Only when the original injury is completely healed does the bleeding stop.

Experience cost: 12

I Am The Keystone
This is a combo Discipline and requires Visceratika 3 and Fortitude 2. Visceratika is known for Masquerade-shredding displays of toughness and strength. Masters of the Discipline can invoke changes to their body that are a bit subtler but no less devastating when unleashed at the right time. System: The Kindred spends a point of Willpower. Upon doing so, she may temporarily redistribute points between her Fortitude and Potence Disciplines up to the maximum allowed by her Generation. The Disciplines stay redistributed until the Kindred is Incapacitated or the next sunrise, whichever comes first. They may spend another point of Willpower to change the dots back or adjust them to new totals.

Experience cost: 21

Jackhammer Punch
This is a combo Discipline and requires 'Temporis 2'. Getting punched with Potence is always painful, but with this power you force your opponent to relive that pain over and over again. The True Brujah uses their control of time to seemingly repeat a strike several times at the same time. This leads to a great increase in damage from only a single attack.

System: When a True Brujah strikes in unarmed combat and opts to use this power, they may spend a blood point to add their Temporis rating as extra points of Potence when figuring the damage they have done.

Experience cost: 12

Leaps and Bounds
This is a combo Discipline and requires Celerity 2. Through this intersection of strength, speed, and will, the Brujah can leap amazing distances, whether to evade foes or flee a burning building.

System: The Brujah multiplies all vertical and horizontal jumping distances by the lesser of her Celerity or Potence. The player does not need to roll anything to make the jump but, at the Storyteller’s discretion, may need to roll Dexterity + Athletics (difficulty 4) to land safely depending on the environment.

Experience cost: 12

Mind Strike
This is a combo Discipline and requires Dominate 2.

By focusing his mental power, the vampire can channel their Potence into a powerful mental attack that does real damage to the victim. He simply meets his victim’s gaze and delivers a strike into her very mind.

System: This power costs a Willpower point to use and requires eye contact. The vampire makes a Manipulation + Intimidation roll (without any bonus from Shadow Play) against a difficulty of the victim’s current Willpower. The amount of successes are added to the vampire’s Potence rating and become bashing damage to the victim. Normal soak rolls apply. As with many Dominate powers, targets of a lower Generation are immune to its use.

Experience cost: 12

The Shoulders of Atlas
This is a combo Discipline and requires Flight 2.

The power of flight is one of the reasons the Gargoyles have existed for so long. Usually, they can only carry a limited amount of cargo based on their mastery of Flight. This combination allows them to apply some of their superhuman strength to carry bigger amounts at lower levels of Flight.

System: This combination allows dots of Potence to count as dots of Flight when determining a Gargoyle’s carrying capacity (V20, p. 448). For example, if Jurgen the Gargoyle has Flight 2, Potence 2, and this ability, Jurgen can take off with 50 pounds/25 kgs of load but carry up to 100 pounds/45 kgs while flying. Speed is still limited by the mastery of Flight.

Experience cost: 12

Burning Wrath
This is a combo Discipline and requires Celerity 3.

Among the purest expressions of Brujah fury, this power lets the vampire focus her anger through her vitae and then through her fists.

System: This power costs 1 blood point and lasts for a scene. Any Brawl attacks augmented with this power inflict aggravated damage.

Experience cost: 18

Empower Minion
This is a combo Discipline and requires Dominate 3.

Using this ability, the vampire can pass his immortal strength on to those who serve him. No matter how far apart they are, the bond of command allows the vampire to channel his Potence to his servant to assist her in doing his will.

System: Any allies currently under the control of the vampire’s Dominate power may act with a portion of the vampire’s Potence. The vampire must spend one blood point per point of Potence for each thrall he wishes to empower, up to a maximum of three dots of Potence per thrall (the vampire can spend blood over successive turns, as long as the Dominate power is in effect). If the target already has Potence, the controller’s Potence level replaces it instead of adding to it

Experience cost: 18

Forbidden Zone
This is a combo Discipline and requires Obfuscate 5.

By infusing her strength into an area as a barrier, the Nosferatu can create a space that resists any form of physical entry. However, this barrier is illusionary and all in the mind of the target. The area might be cloaked or not, as the Nosferatu decides. However, entering the area requires anyone else to have to push through an apparent invisible force. The vampire can release individuals from this power simply by touch.

System: The vampire rolls Strength + Subterfuge (difficulty 6) and spends a blood point. For each success, the character may maintain the zone for one hour, although once set up she need not remain nearby.The vampire can create a zone of any size up to a radius of six feet/ two meters for each point of Potence and Obfuscate she has. So a vampire with Obfuscate 5 and Potence 3 could create a zone with a radius of up to 48 feet/16 meters. For anyone except the vampire to enter the zone requires a roll as if the character was attempting to open a door. However, the zone is actually a mental barrier, not a physical one, so the successes required equal the vampire’s Obfuscate + Potence, and the difficulty is 7. Characters already inside the zone may leave it without any problem, but must make the same roll to return. The vampire can touch any character and exclude them from the effects of this power at no cost.

Experience cost: 24

Iron Heart
This is a combo Discipline and requires Presence 3.

Common among Individualists who quest for selfcontrol, Iron Heart fortifies the Brujah against supernatural powers that affect her emotions, her self-control, or her reason (including Dominate, Dementation, and Presence), while also allowing her to inspire others to resist such manipulations themselves.

System: This power has two effects. First, a Brujah who has acquired this power permanently increases the difficulty of all attempts to manipulate her through supernatural means (whether Disciplines or other magic) by 2, to a maximum of 9. Against unrolled supernatural effects (such as Majesty), the Brujah instead reduces the difficulty of any relevant resistance rolls by 2. This aspect of the power is always active. Second, if the player spends a Willpower point while the character actively persuades another to resist such effects, the difficulty of any such supernatural manipulation increases by 1 (or the difficulty of the character’s resistance roll against unrolled effects is reduced by 1).

Experience cost: 18

Typhonic Beast
This is a combo Discipline and requires Serpentis 4.

The Setite calls upon the primordial chaos of the Duat, expressing it through his own flesh. The vampire takes on the form of the mysterious Typhonic animal.

System: This power requires the expenditure of three blood points; the transformation takes three turns to complete. The transformed vampire gains one dot each of Strength, Dexterity, and Stamina, as well as the benefits of Potence. The Typhonic form gains the soak benefits of Skin of the Adder: dropping the soak difficulty to 5; and the vampire can use her Stamina to soak aggravated damage from claws and fangs, but not from fire, sunlight, or magic. The Setite also gains the venomous bite of Form of the Cobra, doubles her running speed, and gains +2 dice on all Perception rolls related to smell or hearing. The vampire remains in bestial form until the next sunrise, or until she voluntarily changes back. Clothing and other small personal items transform along with the vampire.

Experience cost: 21

Esprit de Corps
This is a combo Discipline and requires Presence 4.

The power of the Brujah to raise a mob or even an army is not to be ignored. Those inspired by the vampire’s use of this power fight fearlessly and ferociously.

System: The player rolls Charisma + Leadership (difficulty 7). Any opposing force that attempts to intimidate (whether supernaturally or no) those affected by Esprit de Corps find that the difficulty of such attempts increases by 2. The number of successes determines the maximum size of the crowd to be affected.

Successes Results

1 One person 2 Two people 3 Six people 4 20 people 5 All allies in the immediate vicinity (whether a battle group or everyone in a large room)

In addition, for every two successes rolled, each affected person acquires the equivalent of one dot of Potence for the duration of the scene, up to a maximum of three dots. This benefit applies regardless of whether the affected person is a mortal, ghoul, or vampire — since mortals cannot spend blood points, they can only use the “passive” effects of Potence.

Experience cost: 24

Imprint
A vampire with extensive knowledge of Potence can squeeze very, very hard. As a matter of fact, she can squeeze (or press, or push) so hard that she can leave an imprint of her fingers or hand in any hard surface up to and including solid steel. A use of Imprint can simply serve as a threat, or it can be used, for example, to dig handholds into sheer surfaces for purposes of climbing.

System: Imprint requires a point of blood to activate. The power remains active for the duration of a scene. The depth of the imprint the vampire creates with Imprint is up to the Storyteller — decisions should take into account how much force the vampire can bring to bear, the toughness of the material, and its thickness. If the object the vampire grasps is thin enough, at the Storyteller’s discretion, the vampire might simply be able to push through it (in the case of a wall) or tear it off (in the case of a spear or pipe).

Relentless Pursuit
This power is an improvement on Leaps and Bounds

System: There is no cost to use this power, which is always active. The Brujah doubles the number of automatic successes granted by Potence when applying them to jump rolls. A Dexterity + Athletics roll is required to make sure the character lands safely.

Earthshock
According to some pundits, Potence is merely the art of hitting something very hard. But what do you do when your target is too far away to hit directly? The answer is, if you’re sufficiently talented with the Discipline, to employ Earthshock. On its simplest level, Earthshock is the ability to hit the ground at point A, and subsequently have the force of the blow emerge from the ground at point B.

System: The use of Earthshock requires the expenditure of two blood points, as well as a normal Dexterity + Brawl roll. The vampire punches or stamps on the ground, and, if the attack is a success, the force of the blow emerges from the ground as a geyser of stone and earth directly underneath the target. The attack can be dodged at a +2 difficulty. Earthshock’s range is 10 feet or three meters for every level of Potence the vampire has, up to the limits of visibility. A failure on the attack roll means that the strike goes errant and is liable to explode anywhere within range; a botch means that the vampire pulverizes the ground beneath him and may well bury himself in the process.

Immovable Object
The vampire’s strength is such that her force of will alone is enough to make her an immovable object, whether or not she has something to hold on to. She can lock herself in place, clinging onto where she stands with the power of her mind. Using this ability, she can resist any attempt to shift her by telekinesis or physical strength. She digs in, holding herself in place with her will alone.

System: If the vampire spends a Willpower point and is standing on a solid surface, she cannot be moved. She might be hit by a truck or a train and not budge an inch (although she will take some hefty damage!). The only way to move her is to destroy the surface she is standing on. This will work if she is on a bridge, but blasting the ground will just leave her standing at the bottom of a crater.

Flick
It is a truism that “the great ones always make it look easy.” In the case of Flick, that saying stops being a truism and becomes literal truth. With this power, a master of Potence can make the slightest gesture — a wave, a snap of the fingers, the toss of a ball — and have it unleash the full, devastating impact of a dead-on strike. The attack can come without warning, limiting the target’s ability to dodge or anticipate; this makes Flick one of the most feared applications of Potence.

System: Flick costs a point of blood, and requires a Dexterity + Brawl roll (difficulty 6). The vampire must also make some sort of gesture directing the blow. What the gesture is remains up to the player — anything from a snap of the fingers to a blown kiss has worked in the past. Flick‘s range is equal to the limit of the Kindred’s perception, and the blow struck does damage equal to a normal punch (including all bonuses).