Dominate

Disciplines / Discipline Techniques

“Authority is ability to rule. Dominion is rulership.”

― Sherry K. White

Description

Scions, vampires who follow the Road of Kings, teach that Cainites were made to lead, that their orders demand obedience by unholy right. There is no better manifestation of this belief that the Discipline of Dominate. With this gift, a vampire may impose her will on another, compelling her to obey commands or even rewriting her memory. Where Malkav's gift of Dementation turns its victims minds inside out, the high blooded ability of Dominate forces the weak of will to submit to the strong.

Dominate is not always an easy power to use, however, since it requires both eye contact and speech for most of its applications. Clear gesturing (holding up a hand for "Stop!") can work for the simplest commands, but anything more complex requires verbal communication. Unless the victim has already become a will-less thrall, eye contact is an absolute requirement and the most limiting, since it means commands can be imposed on only one person at a time. Beyond these limitations, most targets can be made to submit to the will of a Cainite skilled in Dominate. The major exception is subject of more power cannot be used to upset the right hierarchy of blood among the Damned.

There are a few other limits to the uses of Dominate, but they occur much more rarely. Stories claim that some mortals blessed by God are immune to the breaking of their wills--their fear of the Lord is greater than any other subjugation. It is also easier to force a victim to act in a way close to her true self than to make her reject her nature. In game terms, efforts to Dominate a character into doing something in line with her Nature (make a Barbarian strike someone, make Defender stand guard) enjoy a -1 difficulty bonus. Efforts to Dominate someone into doing something utterly against her Nature (making a Caretaker commit murder) suffer a +1 difficulty penalty.

Finally, it is always possible for the Cainite to taint the subject's will himself. Dominate is best used with precision, and careless applications can unnecessarily arouse the defenses of the immortal (or Damned) soul. Whenever a player botches a dominate roll, that subject becomes immune to her character's Dominate efforts for the rest of the story (and shakes off any of her existing effects).

The Lasombra and Ventrue are the ancient masters of this Discipline, but they do teach it to others on the Road of Kings. Most accept the story that the power reflects the curse of God in that it erodes the basis of friendship or true intimacy. Such is the price of leadership, however, and they pay it gladly. The Tremere sorceress upstarts n Cainite world, also have an affinity for Dominate, said to be corruption of the mind magics they once wielded in their breathing days.