DAIMONION

World of Darkness -- Medieval

Introduction

Ripped from the whispers of those bound to the earth, a voice torn from the throat of the first sorcerers who called to the Abyss sings through Baali blood. Damionion is a cry across Creation, stretching from this world to a place forsaken, and power comes along the echo that returns. Someday, the Baali bloodline will scream, and that shout will shatter the world. For now, they use Daimonion to softly lull others to sleep and bid them dream of fire and darkness.

Characters with True Faith are more resistant to the Baali’s darkness. Subtract a victim’s True Faith rating from all rolls to activate Daimonion powers against her. This includes secondary targeting rolls, such as the roll to hit with Tormented Essence.

●SENSE THE SIN

Every jewel has a fault, and every man has a vice. The best way to shatter a jewel is to strike that fault, and the best way to shatter a man is to hammer his vice. This power allows the Baali to find a target’s particular vice and glean their secrets with a glance.

System: Roll Perception + Empathy against living or undead beings; the difficulty is equal to the subject’s Self-Control or Instinct +4. Success indicates the Baali has gleaned insight into the subject’s weakness. With one success, this is information like a low Virtue, weak Willpower, or recent actions that violated the subject’s Road. Two successes might yield a beloved vice or casual secret. Three or more yield a central Derangement or formative trauma from the subject’s past.

●● FEAR OF THE VOID

Once you know a subject’s vices, manipulating them is easy. Converting vices of pleasure into waves of existential terror is a greater trick. Speaking in soft tones of primeval horror, the Baali inflames her victim’s traumas.

System: The Baali must first successfully use Sense the Sin or another method to learn the target’s secrets or fears. She must then speak to the target, mocking his insecurities with her tone. A successful Wits + Intimidation roll (difficulty of the subject’s Courage +4) drives the victim into furious fits of terror. Two successes causes panicked flight similar to Rötschreck, while three causes an inflamed Derangement (Storyteller’s choice) and four or more causes catatonia. All effects last for the remainder of the scene. Mortals and supernatural creatures bound to strong emotions (such as fae or ghosts) may not contest this roll; other supernatural creatures may make a con- tested Courage roll (difficulty of the Baali’s Willpower).

●●● TORMENTED ESSENCE

The Baali know their place in the universe and within the hierarchy of their masters. Suffering trickles downward, and the Baali stand within that torrent. Calling on the torment in their blood, the Baali may hurl a blazing bolt of infernal pain at their enemies. Nerves cry out, wood turns to ash, stone melts, and flesh disintegrates utterly.

System: Spend a blood point. The character gathers infernal pain into their hands; most commonly this manifests as a bolt of black flame, but sickening-hued lightning or slick black tentacles are just as common. Regardless, the power creates a missile that inflicts one die of aggravated damage. More blood points may be spent to increase the size and damage of the missile, for one die per point. The player rolls Dexterity + Occult (difficulty 6) to hit the target, who may dodge as normal. As with any normal attack, successes add to the damage dice pool. Vampires confronted with this power make Rötschreck checks (at difficulty 8), regardless of the power’s form. Interestingly, this power is doubly effective against demons and other spirits, whose corporeal forms react poorly to the stuff of torment. Against such creatures, each blood point becomes two dice of damage instead of one.

●●●● PSYCHOMACHIA

Prudentius was a Roman poet who wrote the Psychomachia – “the Battle of Souls,” describing the struggle of faith against idolatry and vice. Baali know this game, and they play to win. With this power, the vampire combines the ability to read a victim’s psyche with the ability to rend spiritual matter. Psychomachia breathes infernal life into the target’s vice, forcing the victim to act the hero and literally battle her inner demons.

System: After successfully using Sense the Sin, the vampire forces the target to roll his lowest Virtue (difficulty of the Baali’s Willpower). Failing this roll brings any Derangements the target possesses to the fore, pitting them against a personified apparition of the victim’s vice summoned from her darker self. A botch indicates the target has been overwhelmed and frenzies — or becomes possessed by his dark passenger. A failure results in a literal fight between the two, though this may take the form of any conflict, such as an abusive argument rather than a physical battle.

The assailant is a Storyteller character with traits equivalent or slightly inferior to the victim’s. Targets with a low Road score face significantly more powerful opposition (+1 to all traits for every level of Road less than 5). The wounds inflicted by the mind are illusory, though they can force a mortal into catatonia or a vampire into torpor upon a phantom “death.” The phantasm vanishes on their defeat or the Baali’s loss of concentration.

●●●●●CONDEMNATION

The Children of Baal relish the opportunity to impor- tune dark energies into the waking world. With this power, the Baali levies a curse upon her victim, drawing upon the tormented might of their blood to work their will upon fate.

System: An Intelligence + Occult roll (difficulty equal to the subject’s Willpower) dictates the length and severity of the curse. Successes must be split between both these effects, as per the sidebar below.

Curses with zero successes allotted to duration last for one night. The Baali may choose to end the curse at any time, but they rarely do so. Storytellers should feel free to invent creative or story-appropriate curses. At five successes, a Baali may rip a demon out of a mortal host or relic and fling it back to Hell, but they only do so against the most recalcitrant.

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