The Path of Mars

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The few Sabbat who have retained Thaumaturgical talents have turned their focus to the assistance of the sect in times of war. This path has proven useful to Sabbat War Parties, and it has turned the tides of several confrontations with elder vampires. It is quite unusual among Thaumaturgical paths, in that it adopts a very martial stance, whereas other blood magics tend to have subtler, less violent effects.

1) War Cry
A vampire on the attack can focus his will, making him less susceptible to battle fear or the powers of the undead. The vampire shouts a primal scream to tart the effect, though some thaumaturges have been known to paint their faces or cut themselves open instead.

System: For the duration of one scene, the vampire adds one to his Courage Trait. Additionally, for the purposes of hostile effects, his Willpower is considered to be one higher (though this bonus applies only to the Trait itself, not the Willpower pool). A character may only gain the benefits of War Cry once per scene.

2) Strike True
The Vampire makes a single attack, guided by the unholy power of her Blood. This attack strikes its foe infallibly.

System: By invoking this power, the player need not roll to see if the vampire's attack hits - it does, automatically. Only Melee or Brawling (or Martial Arts) attacks may be made in this manner. These attacks are considered to be one-success attacks; they offer no additional damage dice. Also, they may be dodged, blocked or parried normally, and the defender needs only one success (as the attacks' number of successes is assumed to be one). Strike True has no effect if attempted on multiple attacks (dice pool splits) in a single round from one character.

Errata: We have ruled that successes with this power add dice to the user's next attack, since getting an automatic one success to hit is a penalty, not a benefit.

3) Wind Dance
The thaumaturge invokes the power of the winds, moving in a blur. She gains a preternatural edge in avoiding her enemies' blows, moving out of their way before the enemy has a chance to throw them.

System: The player needs not split her dice pool if she wishes to make multiple dodges in a single round. This advantage applies only to dodges - if the character wishes to attack and dodge, the player must still split her dice pool. This power lasts for one scene.

4) Fearless Heart
The vampire temporarily augments his abilities as a warrior. Through the mystical powers of blood magic, the character becomes a potent fighting force.

System: Fearless Heart grants the vampire an extra point in each of the Physical Attributes (Strength, Dexterity and Stamina). These Traits may not exceed their generational maximums, though the player may use blood points to push the character's Traits even higher. The effects last for one scene, and a character may gain its benefits only once per scene.

The vampire must calm down for two hours following the use of Fearless Heart, or he loses a blood point every 15 minutes until he rests.

errata: Use of this power may take the vampire to one above his or her generational maximums (just as if the vampire had spent one blood into each physical above the normally allowed trait rating. It is not useless to those who have "maxed out" one of their physicals. Thus, an 8th (or weaker) generation vampire using Fearless Heart may use this power to increase his or her physicals to 6, but no higher.

5) Comrades at Arms
This ability extends the power of the previous abilities in the path. It allows any of the earlier effects to be applied to a group such as a pack or War Party.

System: The player chooses one of the lower-level powers in the path, invoking it as normal. Afterword, he touches another character and (if the roll for Comrades at Arms is successful) bestows the benefit on her as well. The same power may be delivered to any number of packmates, as long as the thaumaturge pays the appropriate blood point cost.