Sympathetic Encryptor

Auspex Archive - Auspex 4

Supplementary Power known among the Sabbat's Black Hand

The Black Hand has developed this supplement to the power of Steal Secrets to create an impenetrable network of couriers. Combined with the use of the skill, the Art of Memory (Black Hand), it allows the user to pull information from someone else's thoughts, storing that data symbolically without ever knowing what it is or means. In this way, the user can only convey the stolen or stored information to someone who understands (or has previously decided upon) the symbology used to accomplish the task. Thus, the courier or spy could not divulge the stolen information even should he desire to.

System: The user rolls Intelligence + Subterfuge (difficulty of the target's Willpower). For each success rolled, one fact or piece of information is plucked from the target's mind and instantly converted to symbolic code via the Art of Memory. Truly deep secrets may be recovered only with five successes or more, and even then, only one such secret can be discovered per use (though this is often more than enough). If plucking information from the mind of a supernatural creature, the character must spend a Willpower point for the effort.

The only drawback to this power is that the user has no idea whether or not the information he has stolen is of any import whatsoever. Because of this, many of those who develop this power will likewise simultaneously develop their instinct for when best to use the power. The best come to recognize on an almost subconscious level when the most opportune moments to reach out will arise.