Gift of Morpheus
Contents
Rank 1: Daydreaming
The borderland between wakefulness and true sleep, daydreaming is a kind of distracted restfulness that allows the mind to drift off into whatever direction most pleases the subject. It is also the novice thaumaturge's first tool in the studies of Morpheus. The vampire who possesses this ability can cause her victim's thoughts to drife off in a pleasing direction, ultimately and completely distracting the sybject from real world events taking place around him, such as the vampire walking up and biting him.
System -- Expend a Blood Point, roll Willpower, difficulty 5 (4 for natural casters). The number of successes are the number of dice that can be removed from the target's Perception dice pool, thereby making it nearly impossible for most individuals to notice the vampire, though exceptional individuals can still try to notice the vampire with a vastly diminished dice pool. All dice return to the victim at the end of the scene.
Note: This power only works on one subject at a time.
Rank 2: Somnolence
The state in which both the mind and body are reinvigorated, it is also the vampiric thaumaturge's next stage of mastery in her ongoing studies of Morpheus. With this power, the thaumaturge can cause an individual to fall into a deep and healthy sleep; for the exceptionally gifted thaumaturge, this power can be used against more than one subject.
System -- Expend a Blood Point, roll Willpower, difficulty 6 (5 for natural casters). The thaumaturge needs an initial number of successes equal to the target's Stamina rating; this action is a single roll for the thaumaturge, not an extended action. If the thaumaturge is even minimally successful (the roll equaled the target's Stamina score and nothing more), then the target falls into a deep, restful sleep for a minimum of one round; if the thaumaturge gains additional successes past the first, then those successes equate to additional rounds of sleep. Example: the target's Stamina is 3 and the thaumaturge gains exactly three successes, then the target sleeps for a round; if the thaumaturge gained 5 successes, however, then the target sleeps 3 rounds, one because she was successful and an additional two because that's what she scored above the target's Stamina. The thaumaturge must target either an individual or group; if a group is targeted, the thaumaturge has no idea which of that group will succumb first, but after the target with the greatest stamina in a group is affected, then subsequent successes equate to additional targets with less Stamina falling asleep.
Note: If used against a group, then the group only sleeps one round, as successes are applied to affecting as many individuals as possible.
Note: The subject of Somnolence may awaken due to painfully loud noise, physical injury, unusually strong smells; if any of these things happen, the subject gets an automatic Perception + Alertness roll (diff 5) to awaken. If their successes exceed the thaumaturge's original roll, then they awaken. Of course, the thaumaturge may release them at will.
Rank 3: Morpheus Ascendant
When an initiate into the mysteries of Morpheus reaches this level of skill, she has access to multiple tools with which to affect the enslumbered mind.
Dreaming - The first of these powers is the ability to cause sleeping minds to dream; though many deride this function, without it all other functions of Morpheus Ascendant are of little value; literally, this function of Morpheus Ascendant allows the sorcerer to cause dreaming in a slumbering mind and grants the thaumaturge the power to choose what kind of dream the subject experiences, i.e. nightmares, exotic, surreal, etc. Though the thaumaturge can choose the type of dream the slumbering target experiences, she cannot directly control the dream itself with this power.
Scrying - This ability is exactly what it sounds like, for it allows the thaumaturge to watch the dreams of a chosen target. Though most initiates at this level of proficiency acknowledge the use of this power, most use it as a preface to Weaving and nothing more, but its uses are far greater than that and many masters of this art are rumored to watch the dreams of their enemies for weaknesses.
Weaving - This prized ability of Morpheus Ascendant is none other than the ability to manipulate the dreams of the sleeping mind. With this ability the thaumaturge can create dreams of any type and change them at will; though a tremedous power in itself, it is a pale imitation of Morpheus the Master. Weaving allows a tremendous amount of control over the dreams of those subjected to it, but it can only control dreams in subjects; when the dream ends, the effects of this power end with it and no permanent harm (psychological or otherwise) may be inflicted upon a subject of this power. Still, the useful limits of this power are only subject to the imagination of the thaumaturge who uses it.
System -- Expend a Blood Point, roll Willpower, difficulty 7 (6 for natural casters). As there are three separate powers, Blood Points must be spent individually for each power to be activatedl of course, these powers need not be used in conjunction. As an example: the thaumaturge might put a prized ghoul to sleep for its own good, then cause the ghoul to dream pleasant dreams with Dreaming (spends one Blood Point), then wishing to ensure the ghoul is dreaming of her, watches the ghoul's dreams with Scrying (spends a second Blood Point), and finally, on finding the ghoul is dreaming of someone else, she can cause the ghoul to dream only of her with Weaving (spending a third Blood Point).
For Dreaming, any success is sufficient, it's a pass or fail roll and the thaumaturge may choose normally what type of dream the subject will have.
For Scrying, each success counts toward two different features of this power. The first is how many dream sequences the thaumaturge may watch; the second equals a pool of dice that the thaumaturge may use to remain undetected. As an example: the thaumaturge gains six successes on her Willpower roll; now she can watch her subject's dreams for up to six dream sequences and she has six dice to effectively remain hidden from the dreamer. All dreamers get a Perception + Alertness roll (diff 7) to notice the watcher; if the dreamer's successes equal or exceed the thaumaturge's opposing roll (with her success dice) then the dreamer awakens with the sense of being watched and may not dream the remainder of the night; this automatically ends this power.
In Weaving, the thaumaturge's successes equate to a dice pool that can be used to alter a dream according to the following difficulty. These very same success dice can be used to smooth the transition of one element of a dream into another of the thaumaturge's choice.
- Insignificant Changes = 5 (The color of your clothes) Revised Difficulty = 3
- Minor Changes = 6 (What type of clothes you are wearing) Revised Difficulty = 4
- Significant Changes = 7 (Creating or reshaping items in your possession) Revised Difficulty = 5
- World Changes = 8 (Changing the dreamer into something she isn't, giving her powers or changing her personal weaknesses)
Note: All dreamers may roll Manipulation + Dreaming (difficulty varies) to resist changes that they don't like. For all three powers of Morpheus Ascendant, the thaumaturge must be in presence of the subject or must possess something that forms a sympathetic link between the thaumaturge and the subject; examples include bodily fluids, hair, flesh, bone, or the subject's true name.
Rank 4: Enchanted Slumber
Like the sorcerers of legend, the thaumaturge has reached a stage of skill with Morpheus that she may now cause a target of her choosing to enter a thaumaturgic torpor at her merest touch. Like the legendary 'Sleeping Beauty,' the subject of this power enters a state of suspended animation or mystical sleep wherein no bodily proccess takes place, including age; this is not to say that the subject cannot take damage -- they can. At the moment the Enchanted Slumber takes effect, the thaumaturge must speak aloud a specific set of conditions that will release the subject from her mystical sleep; these conditions need not be easy, but they must be possible, else the magic will fail.
System -- As usual, expend a Blood Point. Then the thaumaturge must touch the target (though the thaumaturge need not maintain contact after the initial touch, she must maintain line of sight) and roll Willpower, difficulty 8 (7 for natural casters). Her successes must equal the subject's permanent Willpower rating for the Enchanted Slumber to take effect; if reaching the target's permanent Willpower rating in successes requires more successes than the thaumaturge could score in a single roll, the thaumaturge may continue the use of this path in the next round with another successful Willpower roll. No extra Blood need be spent, and these successes are added to those the thaumaturg already has in her attempt to reach her target's permanent Willpower rating.
Once the thaumaturge reaches her target's permanent Willpower rating in successes, the target falls into Enchanted Slumber. After the subject has succumbed, the thaumaturge must make one additional Willpower roll (this counts as a use of Thaumaturgy, but requires no extra blood) to see how long the subject will sleep:
- 1 success = one scene
- 2 successes = one night
- 3 successes = one week
- 4 successes = one season
- 5 successes = one year
Note: If the terms of the spoken condition come to pass before the time limit is up, the subject awakens. Once a use of this power has been enacted upon a subject, that subject cannot be reaffected by this power until the time limit OR conditions set upon his release come to pass.
Note: Though this power may seem invincible, it is not. There are limitations, as touch is required, and in the case of individuals with significant Willpower, an extended roll may be necessary, during which time the target can realize her dilemma (this manifests as a recognizable drowsiness which clearly emanated from the thaumaturge) and take steps to prevent the power's final result (e.g. attacking the thaumaturge or breaking line of sight), and this presumes that the thaumaturge was successful in touching the target initially.
Rank 5: Morpheus the Master
The culmination of this path's study, mastery grants the thaumaturge the power to enter other people's dreams, changing them at will to suit her needs or desires, and these miraculous events are as real as if they had occurred in the waking world. In fact, though it is little known, the thaumaturge is equally subject to the perils and benefits of this power as is the subject whose dreams have been invaded. Few practitioners of Morpheus ever reach this level of skill, and of those who do, few survive using it regularly and is it not unknown for its practitioners to disappear and never be seen again, or for them to be crippled by some unknown horror, both physically and mentally. However, the now-extinct Tremere antitribu used this path to feed through the dreams of their victims, and according to Sabbat myth even committed foul diablerie through use of this power.
System - Expend a Blood Point, roll Willpower, difficulty 9 (8 for natural casters). Each success defines what supernatural powers the thaumaturge may take with her into the dreams of her victim. All events that take place in the dream are real; if the thaumaturge runs low on blood, then she must roll Self-Control, or if presented with fire, she must roll Rotschreck. Likewise, damage taken in dreams must be healed as normal, but those with Dreaming (the skill) may use this to their advantage. (Examples of this are too numerous to explore... ask your Storyteller for examples, if you need them.) Successes are translated according to the following chart:
- 1 success = no Disciplines
- 2 successes = Physical Disciplines (Celerity, Fortitude, Potence)
- 3 successes = Mental Disciplines (Auspex, Dementation, Dominate)
- 4 successes = Unique Disciplines (Chimerstery, Obtenebration, etc.)
- 5 successes = Blood Magic (Necromancy, Thaumaturgy, etc.)
Note: The variables are so complex with this level of Thaumaturgy that the player may need the Storyteller to arbitrate any confusing possibilities.
Addendum
With the extinction of the Tremere antitribu, rumors persist of complex rituals that were used by the Sabbat Tremere to enhance their powers with the Path of Morpheus, but since most (if not all) antitribu lairs are hidden deep inside Sabbat territory, it is likely that no one not of the Sabbat will ever be able to confirm or deny these rumors...
