Curse the Laurel
This fearsome power allows the Kindred to overcome one of the traditional banes of the undead: the feared stake. With this mastery of Fortitude, the Ventrue may subsume a stake that pierces her heart, reshaping that dead organ slowly and insulating it from the offending wood. Once a given stake has been turned away with this power, tit remains within the Kindred's body, and it may even be visible beneath layers of clothing.
System: The player spends a permanent Willpower point and rolls Stamina + Survival (difficulty 9). The number of successes indicates the length of time that elapses before the Kindred's body rejects the stake, allowing her to rise from immobilization.
Each use of this power affects only one stake. If the Kindred suffers the same fate again, she may make a new attempt if the player chooses to spend the Willpower again. if the roll to use the power is a botch, the body does not expel the stake, and no further attempt may be made against that particular stake.
| 1 Success | 1 year |
| 2 | 6 months |
| 3 | 1 month |
| 4 | 1 week |
| 5 | 1 night |
After the stake has been turned away from the heart, it remains in the Kindred's body, overgrown by dead flesh and probably protruding at an unsettling angle. The Kindred may cut the stake out at any time she wishes thereafter, suffering two health levels of aggravated damage in the process.
This power is the same level as similar powers of Protean and Vicissitude. Neither take nearly so much time, nor do they require permanent willpower to function. I suggest that the willpower cost be reduced to two temporary willpower. Leave the times in place - Fortitude isn't a dynamic power, after all. -Jamie
