Passion
- Presence 6
Description: True masters of the Discipline of Presence can toy with the emotions of an entire crowd with but a glance. Passion allows a vampire to create violent, overwhelming sensations in another, subsuming her victim's rational mind under waves of emotion. The most stoic monk can become a sex-starved beast or a raging killer. The most hateful barbarian can be filled with true love. With something as simple as a few whispered words or a glance, the vampire changes the balance of humors in her target, creating the desired effect. The victim might not be aware of the arcane nature of his sudden emotional change, but he will likely realize that the vampire is the source -- if only because his feelings seem focused on her.
System: The vampire can use Passion to create any powerful emotion, as long as it involves a loss of control: Fear, lust, envy, love, hatred and anger are all viable candidates. When the vampire uses the power, the player must decide whether she is making herself the subject of the emotion or not. If so, it is the vampire herself whom the victim will love, hate, fear or desire. If not, the emotion is unfocused and much less controlled: Rage, paranoia or lust simply overwhelms the victim. The vampire cannot make a third party the subject of Passion.
To use the power, the vampire must initiate some form of communication with the subject, be it a glance, a subtle touch or a charming whisper. The player then rolls Manipulation + Expression (difficulty equal to the target's Willpower). Success indicates that the victim is overcome by the desired emotion for a scene. A botch renders the target immune to the vampire's Presence powers for the rest of the night and may have other effects at the storyteller's discretion, such as making there target hate the vampire for the indefinite future.
The specific effects of Passion depend on the emotion created, but they are mostly up to the Storyteller and the player to portray through roleplaying. Some of the most common uses function as follows:
| Successes | Targets Affected |
| One | Two people |
| Two | Four people |
| Three | Eight people |
| Four | 20 People |
| Five (or more) | Everyone in the vampire's immediate vicinity |
- Love: The subject falls madly in love with the vampire. He reacts to her as if he were under the blood oath except that he feels affection and romantic love rather than feudal loyalties. Each success on the initial Passion roll also reduces all of the victim's dice pool by one die for Social rolls made against the vampire.
- Fear: The subject becomes terrified of the vampire or overcome by a generalized panic. The victim is immediately subject to Rotschreck (difficulty 5 to resist) and each success on the Passion roll adds to that difficulty. Mortals do not enter Rotschreck, but their players must roll Courage against a similar difficulty.
- Greed: The subject becomes completely focused on acquiring valuables, status and wealth --as fast as possible. The victim's player must make a Self-Control or Instinct roll (difficulty 5 + successes on Passion roll) to resist taking any action that will lead to immediate material gratification such as stealing an available jewel or agreeing to murder a baron.
- Rage: The subject's heart fills with rage, and she lashes out at anything nearby. Vampire victims immediately become subject to frenzy (with similar difficulties for fear). Players of mortal victims must roll Self-Control.
The vampire can also choose to target Passion at a single subject or at a crowd. If she is targeting a crowd, the vampire must be able to communicate clearly to everyone within it, and the number of people who are affected depends on how many successes the player gets on her Manipulation + Expression roll, which has a flat difficulty of 7 for a crowd. The vampire cannot choose specific people in the crowd to affect. The emotions waft over the crowd and grip people starting from those closest to her.
