Presence

Disciplines / Discipline Techniques

"When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion."

- Dale Carnegie

Introduction to Presence

A character using Presence becomes supernaturally attractive and charismatic. She can draw others to her side with a smile and sway the emotions of large crowds with just a few words. She can incite all varieties of emotion in her victims.

The Toreador, Ventrue, Brujah and Followers of Set favor Presence, and each of them have different uses for it. Many Toreador use Presence to better evoke a particular set of emotions in those who witness their artwork or performances. The Ventrue evoke a majestic air and cow their subjects easily with this ability. The Brujah often evoke the righteous spirit of their listeners, swaying them to whatever cause the Zealot espouses, be it the cause of deposed king or a new crusade. Setites prefer to use Presence in more intimate surroundings, coaxing their victims this way and that and driving the victims to give way to their baser urges. However, this Discipline is a common one in Cainite circles. Knights can use it to drive their footmen into a killing rage before battle, peasants can garb themselves in the haughty attitude of the wealthy without suspicion, and sea captains can easily cow a rowdy crew far from shore.

Unlike Dominate, Presence does not turn its victims into mindless automations. Victims of Presence might feel differently toward the power's user, but they retain the ability to think and act on their own. This aspect of Presence can be very useful - a pawn might come up with a useful solution to a problem that the character might not have seen. It can also be problematic, though. Pawns are remarkable for their ability to surprise their beloved with expressions of affection at the worst possible time. Targets of Presence do not leap to obey spoken commands, as they do with Dominate. They need to be persuaded that a particular course of action is the best one for them. Doing so is rarely difficult, but it is not automatic by any means.