Corruption - Presence

Presence 8

this terrible power enables a Setite to break down the mental barriers between the target's Beast and libido. As a result, the victim becomes addicted to sadism as he takes pleasure in rage and aggression. The Setite can also reverse the connection, so that pleasure might rouse the Beast to frenzy. These two effects produce a spiral of desire and violence dragging the victim to madness.

System: To corrupt a victim, the player must pit the Setite's Manipulation + Empathy vs the victim's Humanity (or Path of Enlightenment). If the Setite can accumulate net successes equal to the victim's Humanity or Path rating, the victim suffers the Corruption effect. A character with a Humanity greater than 3 will automatically lose a point of Humanity for using this power (generally not a problem for the few elder Setites who know this power).

A corrupted victim must receive a frenzy check for anything that gives her pleasure, from sex to her favorite food. Like a frenzying vampire seeking blood, the victim will try to indulge her lust in the most brutal and immediate way. Note that Corruption works on mortals as well as vampires (although the human Beast is weaker, resulting in lower difficulties to resist frenzy). Conversely, a frenzying vampire might seek out more than blood in her rage. This may result in bizarre situations such as a maddened vampire smashing into a record store to hear his favorite music and killing anyone who tries to stop him.

The victim cannot overcome Corruption by expending Willpower: Corruption is no mere induced derangement, but a fundamental alteration to the Curse of Caine. The Inconnu might know how to remove a Corruption - if they really do know the secret of Golconda. The Setite who laid the Corruption could remove it at will, but the Setites would probably urge the victim to view the Corruption as an opportunity for self discovery.