Platonic Split

Level 7.

According to one of Plato's fables, humans originally were both male and female. For their insolence, Zeus split humanity into male and female haves. Every soul longs to rejoin its missing half - a literal "soul mate." Vampires also have two spirits in one body, the Man and the Meast. This ritual temporarily divides them and gives them each a body. The half that receives the Man looks as the person did before the Embrace, though the person remains a vampire. The half that receives the Beast is a ravening, vampiric monster more horrible than any Nosferatu. The Beast is physically stronger, but the Man possesses all the intellectual and social abilities. The Beast hates the Man and lusts to destroy it. If the Beast can be physically restrained, however, the Man can act without the burden of its presence... for a time.

In ancient days, this ritual was highly regarded. Some Thaumaturges believed they could develop a means to exorcise the Beast permanently. Such hopes were never realized. Splitting off the Beast also carries certain problems that make its loss a dubious blessing. While a few thaumaturges may seek temporary surcease from the Beast, or offer that surcease to other Cainites, the spell can also be used as an attack - suddenly creating an enemy of your enemy that has all his powers.

System: The incarnate Beast has the target Cainite's Disciplines, Willpower, blood pool and Physical Traits. All Social Traits are at zero, and Mental Traits are reduced to one. Though both halves retain all abilities, the Beast remains in permanent frenzy. The incarnate Man has all the Cainite's Disciplines (including physical disciplines), Willpower, blood pool, Attributes and Abilities, but cannot expend blood points for any reason other than waking each evening. Drinking blood also loses all its pleasure for the Man. [No way to resist the invocation of this power? Pretty harsh. Not really. The (base) difficulty of 10 subsumes the victim's reflexive resistance to the mystical assault.]

*Ahem* using high difficulty to justify a possibility is complete garbage. The ability to attempt to re-combine is the only justification possible - Jamie'

The Man and Beast remain separate for one night per success rolled when casting the ritual. If the Beast can kill the Man, however, it gains permanent existence (as a White) until destroyed. The reverse is not true: If the Man kills the Beast, the ritual ends and the two sould rejoin in one body. The same happens if either one dies for any other reason. Once per night, the Man can also try to force a reunion. This requires a Willpower roll (difficulty 9) and the expenditure of a point of willpower.