•• Draw Ectoplasm
This power allows the Kindred to draw Ectoplasm from a ghost or medium and consume it. While Ectoplasm can be used to increase a vampire’s blood pool slightly, it is better used to fuel later levels of Essentiaphagia.
To use this power on a ghost, the character must first find it, usually through the use of Hunger for Essentia, and that ghost must be within a few yards of the character. If the ghost manifests before the Kindred, however, the character may attempt to Draw Ectoplasm at that point (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 210, for details on manifestation). If used on a medium, the subject must be actively involved in contacting or channeling a ghost for this power to have any effect.
To use this power on a ghost, the character must first find it, usually through the use of Hunger for Essentia, and that ghost must be within a few yards of the character. If the ghost manifests before the Kindred, however, the character may attempt to Draw Ectoplasm at that point (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 210, for details on manifestation). If used on a medium, the subject must be actively involved in contacting or channeling a ghost for this power to have any effect.
Effect
Dramatic Failure: The vampire’s own essentia becomes caught in a sort of back draft. The Kindred bleeds from the mouth, nose and eyes, losing one point of Vitae for every success the subject rolls.
Failure: The character loses or ties the contested roll. No Ectoplasm is drawn out, but the character may try again on her next turn.
Success: The vampire wins the contested roll. The subject oozes Ectoplasm, which the vampire can then collect and consume. See below for details.
Exceptional Success: The vampire wins the contested roll and tastes the target’s essentia directly. The vampire gains a Willpower point (not to exceed the character’s Willpower dots) in addition to any Ectoplasm drawn forth.
Failure: The character loses or ties the contested roll. No Ectoplasm is drawn out, but the character may try again on her next turn.
Success: The vampire wins the contested roll. The subject oozes Ectoplasm, which the vampire can then collect and consume. See below for details.
Exceptional Success: The vampire wins the contested roll and tastes the target’s essentia directly. The vampire gains a Willpower point (not to exceed the character’s Willpower dots) in addition to any Ectoplasm drawn forth.
Side/Secondary Effects
If the vampire succeeds in drawing Ectoplasm, the subject produces one unit (or point, referred to simply as Ectoplasm) of the substance per success on the vampire’s player’s roll. Ectoplasm appears as a milky-white or yellow substance, about the same consistency as very thick mucous. One Ectoplasm amounts to roughly two ounces of material. Ghosts, including those being channeled by mediums, lose one Essence for every Ectoplasm they exude, though mediums do not suffer any adverse effects from the process. Ectoplasm extracted from a medium leaks from his nose, eyes and mouth. If extracted directly from a ghost, it simply falls to the ground. It evaporates by the end of the scene if not consumed. A vampire cannot take more Ectoplasm from a given ghost than that ghost has Essence, and a ghost’s final point of Essence cannot be taken using this power.
A vampire can hold Ectoplasm in her undead body indefinitely. Kindred using the Auspex power Heightened Senses notice a strangely sweet, moldy scent of decay around vampires holding Ectoplasm. A vampire can hold an amount of Ectoplasm in her body equal to her Stamina + Size.
A vampire who consumes Ectoplasm has the following options:
A vampire can hold Ectoplasm in her undead body indefinitely. Kindred using the Auspex power Heightened Senses notice a strangely sweet, moldy scent of decay around vampires holding Ectoplasm. A vampire can hold an amount of Ectoplasm in her body equal to her Stamina + Size.
A vampire who consumes Ectoplasm has the following options:
- Two Ectoplasm translate to one Vitae. The Coil of Blood has no effect on this exchange. Once added to a Kindred’s reserves, Vitae from this source is no different than from that drawn from blood. Ectoplasm must be converted to Vitae at the moment it is consumed. Stored Ectoplasm cannot later be transmuted into Vitae.
- The character can transform three Ectoplasm into one point of Willpower. This power does not allow a character’s Willpower points to exceed her Willpower dots. Ectoplasm must be converted into Willpower at the moment it is consumed. Stored Ectoplasm cannot later be transmuted into Willpower.
- The character can retain Ectoplasm in her undead body indefinitely. It can then be used to fuel other powers of Essentiaphagia. The player must keep track of her character’s stored Ectoplasm as she does Vitae or Willpower.
Dragolescu’s Theory: “We have seen the residue left by ghostly visitations, and seen this so-called ectoplasm drip from the mouth, nose and eyes of mediums during states of possession, automatic writing and trance. Mortal spiritualists have their theories, of course, but I hypothesize that this substance is a kind of ‘waste essentia.’ Thus it is no more pure, for our purposes, than human Vitae, but might have other uses. A strigoi who knew nothing of the Coils would very likely have no facility for metabolizing ectoplasm, but I, as a Scholar of Hunger, should find this no challenge.”
Material Components
Cost: —
Gestures & Ritual
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult + Essentiaphagia versus the subject’s Power + Resistance (for ghosts) or Resolve + Composure (for mediums)
Related Discipline
Effect Casting Time
Contested; resistance is reflexive
Level
2
Applied Restriction
Modifier | Situation
+3 | The ghost is a willing participant. (The contested roll is still necessary, however, as this power forces Essence to take physical form through means not natural to the ephemeral stuff of the ghost.)
+2 | The medium is a willing participant. (The contested roll is still necessary, however, as the medium’s body cannot be so easily persuaded.)
— | The power is turned on an unwitting ghost or medium.
–2 | The power is turned on a ghost (or a medium channel ing a ghost) within 2 yards per Power of its anchor.
+3 | The ghost is a willing participant. (The contested roll is still necessary, however, as this power forces Essence to take physical form through means not natural to the ephemeral stuff of the ghost.)
+2 | The medium is a willing participant. (The contested roll is still necessary, however, as the medium’s body cannot be so easily persuaded.)
— | The power is turned on an unwitting ghost or medium.
–2 | The power is turned on a ghost (or a medium channel ing a ghost) within 2 yards per Power of its anchor.