Ride the Wild Mind
Cainites who know Ride the Wild Mind are able to dislodge their own souls from their bodies and seat them in the bodies of wild animals. The character must stare for a moment into the animal's eyes before possessing it. His body then drops into a torpid stupor as his soul drifts out of his body and into the animal's. The character may remain in the host animal for as long as he likes, but his body still loses blood at its normal rate while he does so. Those using Ride the Wild Mind are prone to adapt some of their host animal's behaviors when they emerge from the possession. Many Tzimisce sculpt dogs or wolves into hideous war-ghouls and then possess them with Ride the Wild Mind, giving themselves command of a frightening monster during a battle, while leaving their bodies safe at home. Some superstitious Gangrel and Ravnos believe that a piece of their soul remains inn the animal when they leave it, so they make a point of consuming the animal's blood when the ride is done.
Cainites who miss their living days exult in the freedom and power of Ride the Wild Mind, as it brings a strong sensation of life along with it. those who no longer miss their living days - particularly those not on the Road of Humanity, or who have low scores in that road - find the power's use to be disconcerting. Once again, the vampire can feel "his" heart beating, he suffers from mundane hunger, and sweats and produces filth all on his own. These sensations are long absent even in the ancilla.
System: Roll Charisma + Animal Ken (difficulty 8) while the character looks into the animal's eyes for a turn. The character cannot possess worms or other creatures without eyes, as they have no easy passage for the soul. The animal must also be a living creature of flesh and blood to be possessed. The Cainite cannot ride a demon (even a familiar in animal form) or a ghost. One success allows the character to just barely take over the animal's body; multiple successes give him greater access to his Disciplines.
Botch: Roll to resist Rotschreck as the character's Beast is overwhelmed by the animal's nature.
Failure: Cannot Possess: may try again next turn.
1 Success: Possess the animal, but cannot use any Disciplines.
2: Auspex.
3: Presence.
4: Dominate and Dementation
5: Thaumaturgy (paths), Necromancy (paths), Chimnestry.
Results marked with an asterisk (*) also require the character to spend Willpower to take any action that the Storyteller deems out of line with the animal's base instincts. While using Ride the Wild Mind, the character may walk around as the animal in the sunlight without suffering any ill effects, although he must make a Road roll to remain conscious, just as he would in his own body (see p. 235).
When the character leaves the animal's body to return to his own, the player must roll Wits + Empathy (difficulty 8) and scores as many successes as days the character spent within the creature (minimum of one). If the player fails this roll, the character spends the same number of days in a purely animalistic mindset, obeying the urges and instincts of the creature whose body he just left. Should he botch, the vampire frenzies and then drops into the animalistic mindset just described.
Whether the player succeeds or fails at that roll, the vampire is stuck thinking in the creature's ways for some time. The character must spend seven Willpower points or seven days (or some combination of the two) to get over the effects of having used this power. Until that time has passed, the character reflexively reacts as his old host did. A vampire who spent time in the body of a wolf may growl at unexpected visitors, kowtow excessively to princes and others of acknowledged higher status and so on. Many Gangrel use this side effect of Ride the Wild Mind to their advantage, possessing a wolverine for extra ferocity or a squirrel to get themselves in the habit of storing goodies away for wintertime.
Should the animal die while being ridden in this fashion, the character's psyche returns to his body. When it does, it may be slightly traumatized, an effect that has no game mechanics but which the player is encouraged to roleplay out.
