Aid of the Gandharvas
It is claimed that the founder of the Sybarite caste, which thrives on luxury and excess, learned this power by defeating a Gandharva spirit in combat, thus earning the spirit's aid. With Aid of the Gandharvas, a Ravnos may cloak himself and his surroundings in the illusions of these spirits, turning even the simplest hovel into a magnificent dwelling.
System: In order to invoke Aid of the Gandharvas, the character spends a few minutes visualizing the splendor she wishes to create. The player spends one Willpower and three blood points and rolls Charisma + Expression, Subterfuge or Performance (difficulty 6). (The Ability used is chosen when the power is first developed and may not be changed. There are no functional differences aside from the number of dice rolled), it is simply a matter of the vampire's perceptions: those who use Expression see Aid of the Gandharvas as an expression of beauty from within themselves; those who use Subterfuge see it as a way to deceive others; and those who use Performance consider it an expression of something artistic.) If the roll succeeds, the character (and possibly other surroundings) is covered in an illusion of splendor. Simple rags become clothing fit for a prince, a rusted blade becomes a Damascene scimitar, a simple meal becomes a feast and rickety chairs look like veritable thrones. The illusion covers all five senses, but it is only an illusion. Clothes that look like fur-trimmed wool of the best quality do not warm better than the rags they really are, a rusted sword is still rusted and so on. Also, the illusion only covers things already present; it does not create new items. Thus, strewing a few copper coins over a table and piling some pebbles in an urn will help the illusion along, as the coppers become a small hoard of silver and the pebbles become gemstones.
The illusion is very hard to filter out. Any attempt to detect the illusion suffers a +2 difficulty. Any item removed from the area of effect reverts instantly to its former semblance. The number of successes on the initial roll determines the area of effect:
| Successes | Area of effect |
| 1 success | User only. |
| 2 | A small room (up to 15'x15') |
| 3 | A large room or Hall |
| 4 | The inside of an entire large house |
| 5 | The inside and outside of an entire small house or the inside of an entire manor or small castle. |
Any character veiled in Aid of the Gandharvas gains one dot of Appearance. All uses of Aid of the Gandharvas last for one scene.
