Cadaverous Animation
Introduction: The Grave's Decay and the Corpse in the Monster paths are both basically sympathetic studies. The are concerned with using an understanding of the behavior of corpses to apply that behavior to other matters, be it living or unliving flesh. Cadaverous Animation relies on theories of magical contagion instead, proposing that dead bodies - once inhabited by living soul - can be made to imitate the habits of life. The Venetian necromancers recently Embraced into Clan Cappadocian are said to have a deeper understanding of this path and related arts, but those are but whispers among the Graverobbers.
Statistics for the various forms of animated corpses appear in the Appendix (p. 312).
1) Trace of Life:
The Cappadocians with this ability can cause a corpse to exhibit one or two traits of life by directly stimulating the dead flesh to twitch or move slowly. this power is most often used either to convince those beloved to the deceased that their loved one is alive, or to cause them terror. The vampire cannot force the corpse to speak, and if he makes its eyes open, any dobut that the subject is still dead is dispelled by the milky, rotted appearance of its orbs.
System: The player rolls Manipulation + Occult (difficulty 6). With even one success, the character can make a single corpse within 30 feet twitch or make similar slight movements. This ability can even replicate the throbbing of a human's pulse. More successes enable more realistic motions, though the character cannot make the corpse do more than replicate a sleeping mortal, even with many successes. A single success allows a quick twitch, a deep breath or another single movement. Four or more successes allow the vampire to establish a pattern of movement - a pulse, breathing, slight stirring or even all three - that lasts for a scene.
A failure means the power hs no effect, but the player can roll again next turn. A botch causes the corpse to rapidly decay as though the Cainite had used the destroy the Husk power of the Grave's Decay path. In any case, observers must roll Perception + Medicine (difficulty 7) and earn more successes than the character did in order to realize that the corpse is, in fact, dead. This difficulty drops to 5 if the observer touches the body and notices the lack of warmth. Success is automatic if the observer can look at the corpse's milky eyes.
The Mortis wielder can use Trace of Life on a Vampire in torpor. the results are the same as with a corpse, save that the player needs two additional successes. (Therefore, he needs a minimum of three successes to achieve any effect at all.) This power is ineffective on vampires of stronger blood (i.e., lower generation) than the wielder.
2) Call the Homuncular Servant:
With a small application of her blood, a Cappadocian using Call the Homuncular Servant can cause a small, mobile piece of a dead body to slough off the rest of the corpse and move around under its own power. Generally, the Cappadocian animates a hand, but the power has been used in the past to enable eyeballs to roll around under their own power, and even stranger stories occasionally make the rounds.
The homunculus has mystical senses enabling it to see and hear, it hides extremely well, it moves quickly, and it has a modicum of its own intelligence. When it is within a quarter-mile of the vampire, the servant can communicate what it sees and hears with the vampire who created it, via a rough sort of telepathy. The servant is intelligent enough to understand simple spoken or telepathic commands, but it lacks initiative, a failing that is particularly obvious when it leaves the Cainite's radius of control. The servant cannot carry anything, although jewelry or other very small objects might be attached to it.
System: The player spends a blood point and rolls Dexterity + Occult (difficulty 7) while the character drips vitae on the appropriate piece of an available corpse. With one success, the corpse's hand (or other member) becomes an animated creature with the game statistics as described on page 314. If the roll fails, the character may attempt to create a servant from the same member again next turn. A botch spoils the life-like residue in the cadaver, making it forever useless for purposes of this path.
The homunculus is totally obedient to its maker, and it utterly ignores other orders or requests (although rumors persist of a ritual to usurp control of a servant). It can communicate with its maker telepathically as long as it doesn't move more than a quarter-mile away. If it does, it acts according to its most recent instructions from him until it hears otherwise.
The servant remains active for one scene per success. If the player spends blood again and re-rolls Dexterity + Occult at the end of this duration, he can extend the "life span" of the servant for a further scene per success. This process can continue indefinitely, and many Cappadocians have a long-term homunculus of this sort. The servant can be killed in combat like any other creature, and it does not gain a vampire's resistance to bashing damage.
3) Raise the Corpse to Service:
This ability allows the Cappadocian to bring a lifeless corpse into a semblance of unlife, turning it into a shambling mockery. Raise the Corpse to Service works equally well whether the corpse is just half an hour old or has decomposed to a purely skeletal state. The servant is not capable of independent thought, but it can follow spoken orders perfectly well. A corpse servant is not a combatant, however. It can interfere with the vampire's enemies by getting in their way or trying to take their things, but it does not have the ability to attack. It is most akin to a shambling major-domo, and it is a mainstay of Cappadocian monasteries and havens.
System: The player spends a blood point and rolls Manipulation + Occult (difficulty 6) as the character drips vitae into the corpse's mouth. The process takes three turns, and the corpse servant is active for one day per success on this roll. If the roll fails, the character may attempt to create a servant from the same corpse again after the three turns have passed. A botch destroys the corpse in an unholy flame. The corpse servant has game statistics as described on page 313. The servant is not completely stupid. It can do simple household tasks such as tidy, prepare meals and escort visitors through a home. However, it is a corpse, not a vampire. It is slowly decomposing, and it exhibits symptoms of that decay. It cannot speak but it can gesture (though its gestures are typically ponderous and simple). While it cannot fight, it is happy to attempt to relive "guests" of their heavy weapons and armor, incompetently trying to disarm foes if ordered to do so. Once the duration of the raising ends, the corpse can be raised to service anew at no penalty.
4) Call the Athanatos:
Unlike Raise the Corpse to Service, Call the Athanatos turns a human or animal corpse into a true monster, an animated killer. The Cappadocian controls the undead warrior through force of will, but the thing itself is driven by only one motivation: death. Legends surrounding this power suggest that the undead warrior is a tool not of its creator but of death itself, and unholy spawn of the Grim Reaper. The creature animated by this power is a skilled combatant, familiar with most melee weapons even if its body was not that of a warrior in life (though the corpse of a warrior is more effective than that of a peasant. Athanatos (plural Athanatoi) is a slightly ironic usage of Herodotus's term for the so-called "Immortals," elite guards of the ancient kings of Persia. Cappadocians of a less classical bent often simply call the warriors corpse knights or miniserialis (a name borrowed from the serf-knights of Germany).
This power must be used with caution. Stories abound of foolish Cappadocians who created an undead warrior only to lose control of it and be taken to their doom by their own creation.
System: The player spends two blood points and rolls Stamina + Occult (difficulty 8), as the character spends five minutes dripping vitae upon a corpse in a ritual pattern. Success means the corpse rises to become an animated warrior with the game statistics listed on page 312. Additional successes can improve the warrior's combat abilities. The warrior immediately attempts to become free of the character's control. Though mindless, it is strong-willed, and if the Cainite loses control of the warrior, it will attack the nearest thing, be it mortal or vampire. The character must roll Willpower (difficulty 7) to retain control of the Athanatos at which point it obeys commands.
The warrior's game statistics are on page 312. Note that if the corpse from which the warrior springs had (in life) Brawl, Dodge, Archery or Melee ratings greater than the creature's default, the creature has those statistics instead. Additionally, extra successes on the initial Stamina + Occult roll can be applied to give the warrior points in any of those Abilities, with a maximum of 5 in any of them. The warrior is utterly incompetent at all but the simplest non0combat activities. It can open an door, but pouring a goblet of wine is beyond it.
This ability lasts a full night, at which time the undead warrior must be reanimated with the expenditure of more blood and another Stamina + Occult roll. Additionally, the character must keep a tight lid on the monster's murderous impulses. If the undead warrior moves more than 100 yards away from the character, it acts on its own, trying to kill nearly anything it encounters. The Cappadocian can attempt to impose his will on the thing again with a new Willpower roll, but he must get within a few yards of the murderous thing to do so. If the creature does enter combat, the character must make another Willpower roll (difficulty 7) to retain control when the combat ends and no further enemies are in the vicinity.
5) Muster the Corpse Army:
This power is similar to Call the Athanatos, except that it creates a number of warriors to serve the character. Mustering a corpse army is an even greater risk to the user than Call the Athanatos is. While a loss of will for a Cappadocian using Call the Athanatos means that she ight have to face down one of her own creations, loss of will for a Cappadocian facing a corpse army means that she'll surely have to fight have or dozen or the same creatures.
System: The player spends three blood points and rolls Stamina + Occult (difficulty 8), as the character spends 10 minutes ritually sprinkling vitae upon as many corpses as she wishes to animate. Each success animates two undead warriors with game statistics as per Call the Athanatos. Additional successes cannot be used to improve the abilities of a horde's members, but the corpses of soldiers and knights are more potent than those of peasants or highborn ladies. Failure and botches have the same effects as in Call the Athanatos.
As with that power, the Cappadocian must maintain rigid control over the murderous things she has summoned, a task far more difficult with an army tha a single warrior. The Cappadocian must impose and maintain control exactly as described under Call the Athanatos, save that the difficulty of the Willpower roll is 9. AS with single warriors, the army lasts for a full night.
This power can be used more safely to create a group of corpse servants. The difficulty remains the same, but successes can be used to create a corpse servants who do not require Willpower rolls to control.
