Phantom Haunter
This frightening ability taps into the victim's actual self-image and grants the power found therein to the User. The elder can reach into the targets mind, draw forth the image of the person who has most shaped (or fucked up) the target's self-image, and then become that person in all respects. If the victim was most traumatized by her Embrace, the user might appear as her sire; if she was most affected by her overweening mother, then her mother suddenly confronts her; if a friendly priest managed to pull her back from the brink of self-destruction, the elder might wear that priest's face. The phantom isn't necessarily accurate; as it's shaped by the victim's memories, the phantom might even be an outright caricature of the real figure from the victim's past.
Although the change is largely illusory, it's more than skin-deep. Once the user has assumed the persona of the phantom, he gains whatever knowledge of the victim that the victim believes the phantom would have. if the victim believes her father suspected her of slipping off to have sex with her boyfriend on Sunday mornings, then the user learns of that little habit, and can use that knowledge believably. since the phantom's knowledge depends on the victim's belief, then the user can wind up lacking information that the actual figure would ordinarily possess, but can also gain knowledge that the real-world counterpart wouldn't know. It all depends on what the victim thinks her phantom tormentor or benefactor knows.
Of course, assuming this form and faux memories exacts something of a toll on the user. Spending too much time acting (and thinking) like someone's personal bugbear can temporarily imprint the the user with behavior patterns not their own.
System: The power requires a Manipulation + Empathy roll, difficulty of the target's Willpower. Each success allows the user to assume the phantom's persona for one turn. While this power is in effect, the user can destroy his targets confidence by using the secret knowledge so gained; any Dementation, Presence or Dominate attempts against the victim are at -3 difficulty, and the victim loses one temporary point of Willpower that the "phantom" continues its rebuke.
However, the vampire must make a Willpower roll, difficulty 6, every turn past the first in order to retain full control. Failing a Willpower roll means that the user is oversaturated in the conjured phantom's persona, and continues to be haunted by the phantom's habits and prejudices for the rest of the night. This can be treated as either mild multiple personality disorder or mild schizophrenia; in either case, the user temporarily loses some of his own self-image to the phantom's personality. If the Willpower roll is botched, the phantom personality remains for a month or longer. In any case, the user no longer has access to the phantom's appearance or "memories;" the vague impressions of personality are all that remain.
