Form of the Cobra

Serpentis 4

Some Cainite myths describe Set's true form as that of a gigantic cobra, hundreds of feet long and as thick around as a great whale. This ability lets one of Set's childer echo his founder's nature by transforming himself into a huge cobra, eight feet long and nearly a foot thick, weighing aw much as the character ordinarily does. The cobra is strong and swift, and it has a sense of smell better than any mortal's. Additionally, its bite carries a poison that is fatal to humans and animals (but which has no effect on Cainites). The character loses the ability to speak while in this form, but he can communicate with others in the same form.

For the Followers of Set, the Form of the Cobra is a sacred state, one akin to apotheosis. Many of the most devout of the clan - those elevated on the secret Road of the Serpent - use this form in dark rituals to Set. Set teaches that law is a lie, a deception of the tyrant-god Osiris, and in the Form of the Cobra, his follower is free to experience the savage truth.

In dealing with outsiders, Followers of Set reserve the Form of the Cobra for mortal combat only. Letting the profane see the sacred form of their god is not something to undertake lightly. Those Serpents less inculcated with traditional beliefs are somewhat less restricted in their use of the form, but not greatly.

System: The player spends one blood point, and the transformation takes three turns. As with Skin of the Adder, that time can be decreased to one turn if the player spends three blood points at once. The vampire's Attributes remain identical, but the player gains two dice to any dice pools involving scent and loses two dice from pools involving hearing. She also gains a similar two-die bonus to Dodge and climbing dice pools. As a creature roughly a foot in diameter, the vampire has an easier time moving around in tight spaces, and he can escape from many prison that are meant to hold a mortal or vampire. Activating this transformation in a single turn gives her a free chance to escape from a grapple, as her form writhes and contorts unexpectedly. The vampire's bite does the same damage as it would in human form, but she does not have to grapple her target before biting. The venom does seven levels of aggravated damage to any mortal the vampire bites, but no special damage to Cainites.

Unless the vampire decides to reverse it earlier, the transformation lasts until dawn. It costs no blood to reverse, but it takes three turns to revert to human shape.