Path of the Defiler
- Description
Few dark Thaumaturgy paths, except perhaps the Path of the Unspoken, are so reviled as the Path of the Defiler. Under the auspice of this path, a thaumaturge can warp and taint others as easily as a gardener can make plants blossom or whither - even other infernalists loathe the corrupting influence of the defilers. The thaumaturge's hatred and jealousy of the normalcy of others fuels this insidious and perverse school of Thaumaturgy. Many infernalists come across the path through a desire to see people debase themselves - not by perverting them through pleasure or suffering - but by tainting their own perceptions of themselves and all that they hold dear.
Many Inquisitors consider this path tho be a variation of the more traditional Path of Corruption, and they charge the now defunct Tremere antitribu with its creation. The fact that it continues to exist, and attract new practitioners even after the disappearance of the Sabbat Warlocks, suggests that more malignant forces are at work.
- Hell's Price:
Jealousy
Defilers are extremely territorial, especially when it comes to their victims. One the thaumaturge uses Path of the Defiler on an individual, he becomes possessive, even protective of his victims. Like an overprotective parent or lover, the infernalist guards his victim jealously. If another vampire, or even mortal attempts to harm, seduce, use any Discipline or even help the victim while in the presence of the thaumaturge, she must succeed on a Self-Control roll (difficulty 7) to prevent herself from flying into a possessive frenzy. This territoriality lasts for as long as the victim is under the effect of a power from the path or the thaumaturge uses the path of the Defiler on another target. A Willpower point can be spent to override the urge for a scene.
- System: Blood Expenditure & Willpower Roll +3 difficulty
- Skill to Power Ratio
Rank I: Call the Weakness
Defilers are adept social predators, able to surmise an individual's passions and weakness by engaging in idle conversation. From a simple answer or a casual gesture, the defiler can piece together a complete mental picture of the individual. The thaumaturge can use this information to bring the victim under her sway.
System: Aside from the blood point and Willpower roll needed to evoke Call the Weakness, the defiler must engage the victim in conversation. For each success, the thaumaturge can ask the Storyteller a single question about the target, which then must be answered truthfully. Information that can be gleaned this way includes, but is not limited to, Nature and Demeanor, Willpower ratings, derangements, blood bonds and Virtues that the character observes - in effect, any single aspect of the character's emotional or moral self.
Furthermore, each success adds one to the thaumaturge's dice pool when making any Social rolls against the target. This aspect of all the Weakness lasts for an entire scene.
Rank II: Tainted
With this power, the defiler can plant the seed of doubt and self-loathing in an individual, slowly infecting the victim with shame and guilt. With a well-timed comment or action, the thaumaturge can break the victim's spirits, rendering him hollow and empty. An artist will be ashamed of his work, a priest's faith will falter, and a prince might lose all confidence. Once under the spell of Tainted, the victim becomes an easy tool for the defiler to bend to his own ends.
System: Tainted requires the thaumaturge to first use Call the Weakness to discern the victim's most cherished quality of herself. this can be something tangible like a prized possession, or an intangible quality, like a Trait, Ability or even a less quantifiable characteristic. The player then rolls as normal, and the target can resist with a Willpower roll (difficulty equal to the thaumaturge's Manipulation + Subterfuge). If the thaumaturge is successful, the victim must spend a point of Willpower to use or acknowledge the Trait or quality in question. For example, an artist will cease to paint, possibly pushing him into depression, unless he spends a Willpower point every time he picks up a brush. Likewise, a priest's sudden lack of faith might lead him to ward sin as his moral resolve is stretched to the limit.
The duration of Tainted varies, based on the number of successes the thaumaturge scored.
1: 1 scene
2: 1 night
3: 1 week
4: 1 month
5: 1 year
Rank III: Degradation
With this power, the defiler not only taints an individual's source of pride, but he can cause drastic personality changes as well. Once under the effect of Degradation, the victim becomes a whole new person, unrecognizable to his friends and family, and governed by strange obsessions and desires.
System: Degradation allows the defiler to change a target's Nature. Doing so has the immediate effect of altering the victim's personality and how he regains Willpower. Most infernalists choose a new Nature that is contradictory to the target's old one, forcing the target to debase himself in order to regain Willpower.
Alternatively, with Degradation, the thaumaturge can infect the victim with a derangement of the defiler's choice.
The number of successes rolled determines the duration of the Degradation.
1: 1 scene
2: 1 night
3: 1 week
4: 1 month
5: 1 year
Rank IV: Poisoned Soul
Far more potent than Degradation, Poisoned Soul removes any moral or ethical inhibitions from an individual. Without the need to conform to social mores, victims of Poisoned Soul succumb to their most base and perverse desires, indulging in rape, murder, torture, and other heinous crimes to provoke any emotional response at all from herself, much as a Kindred with low Humanity does. Poisoned Soul, like other path of the Defiler powers, is subtle and insidious, even though the results seldom are.
System: The player spends a blood point and rolls Willpower as normal. The victim may resist with a Conscience roll (difficulty equal to the thaumturge's Manipulation + Empathy). If successful, the victim resists. If the victim fails, every success that the infernalist scored reduces the victim's Humanity rating by one. The effect occurs at a rate of one Humanity point lost per night.
Furthermore, each night that the victim's Humanity rating is affected, he is compelled to perform one sin according to his new Humanity rating unless he spends a Willpower point. In addition, the target incurs any penalties associated with his new, lower, Humanity score. If reduced to zero, the victim becomes a mindless beast for as long as Poisoned Soul remains in effect.
Poisoned Soul's duration is based on the number of successes scored on the thaumaturge's Willpower roll.
1: 1 night
2: 3 nights
3: 1 week
4: 1 month
5: 1 year
Rank V: Chancrous Blossom
The Thaumaturge can transform the target's perversion, self-loathing and guilt into a physical cancer that either turns her into a hideous mass of boils and sores or kills her outright. The effect is disturbing to witness as the victim's skin literally erupts with lacerations and ulcers that ooze a black, malignant ichor.
System: The thaumaturgist must catch the target engaging in some depraved act (as determined by his Humanity/Path score). The player then spends a blood point and rolls Willpower as normal. For each success, the victim suffers a health level of aggravated damage. Additionally, the victim cannot heal these wounds for a number of nights equal to the thaumaturge's successes.
