Leaden Moment

Temporis 3

Description: With this power, a vampire may begin to alter the flow of time itself rather than the mere perception of events. The vampire gestures and unchains a fraction of the force holding his unliving body in stasis. This force leaps instantly and invisibly to its target, slowing the desired object while time rushes around it at full speed. This power can enchant incoming arrows to fly at the pace of drifting clouds or cause an enemy warrior to see the battlefield quicken to a blur of dizzying carnage even as his every motion slows to a crawl.

System: The player spends one blood point and rolls Intelligence + Occult. The difficulty depends on the size and nature of the target: A single arrow is only difficulty 4, while a charging knight on horseback has a difficulty of 9. Targets larger than a mounted man cannot be affected with Leaden Moment... It is possible to affect small, closely grouped inanimate objects of the same nature as a single object, though this increases the difficulty by 2 or more at the Storyteller’s discretion. This power may be activated reflexively as a defensive action against projectiles but otherwise requires a full action on the vampire’s initiative. Though failure carries no special penalty apart from wasting blood, a botch means the vampire mistakenly slows himself rather than the target, counting every 1 as a success for that purpose. If the vampire succeeds, the object slows to one half its true speed. Every two successes beyond the first reduce this speed by one additional factor, so three successes slow the target to one third its speed, five successes yield quarter speed, etc. The actual mechanics of such slowing depend on the situation. For projectiles, multiply any successes to hit and final damage by the speed factor, rounded down. Similarly apply the speed modifier to the successes of other actions involving Dexterity, Wits or Strength for slowed characters. Characters with Celerity may spend one blood point to negate one factor of speed reduction at the expense of the usual extra action provided. For example, one blood point cancels a reduction to one half speed, two blood points cancel one third, (celerity action "burned" reduces the penalty for all actions that round from 1/3 to 1/2) etc. Leaden Moment lasts one turn for every two successes rolled, rounded up.

Successes	# of Actions Lost ... (or)	Speed of Actions Taken (round down)	Duration
Botch	Apply 1's as successes against user.
Failure	0	Full Speed	0 rounds
1-2 successes	1	1/2	1 round
3 successes	2	1/3	1 round
4	2	1/3	2 rounds
5	3	1/4	2 rounds
6	3	1/4	3 rounds
7	4	1/5	3 rounds
8	4	1/5	4 rounds
9	5	1/6	4 rounds
10	5	1/6	5 rounds

Each additional success alternately increases the duration by one (for even successes) or the penalty by 1 action /1 multiple (for odd successes)

Example: The True Brujah prince Nehemiah faces a fanatical inquisitor wielding torch and stake. For her first attack, the hunter hurls the burning brand at the vampire (the Storyteller rolls five successes for this attack). Nehemiah gestures at the spinning torch, activating Leaden Moment as a reflexive defense. His player spends one blood point and rolls Intelligence + Occult (difficulty 5), gaining a modest three successes. This is enough to slow the torch to a third its natural speed. The five-success attack now has only one success to hit. Nehemiah dodges the torch quite easily. Had it not struck the wall behind him, the torch would have resumed its normal speed after two turns. Nehemiah takes a moment to consider the hunter’s futility, while she lunges at him with her stake. This time, he uses Leaden Moment on her. Rolling at difficulty 6, his player miraculously accumulates seven successes. She slows to one-fifth speed for four turns. Her brave lunge at his heart suddenly drops from six successes to one. Nehemiah doesn’t bother to dodge; the slowed stake drops from three damage successes to zero, barely indenting his flesh. He shakes his head almost sadly before snapping her neck.