•••• Mnemophagia
This vile power allows a vampire to steal knowledge and memories from a ghost. A Kindred can temporarily become an expert in various fields of knowledge in this manner, but the skill she accrues fades from memory quickly, often within moments. The damage inflicted upon the ghost “donors,” however, may be irreparable. As such, Dragolescu rarely use this power except in dire situations, and only upon ghosts that they do not wish to have any further contact with. A ghost subjected to this power certainly regards the vampire as a dire enemy from that point on.
Effect
Dramatic Failure: The Kindred inadvertently opens her mind to the ghost. The ghost may possess the vampire automatically if it has the Possession Numen (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 212). If not, the vampire loses one Willpower point per success on the ghost’s roll, and the ghost gains a like amount of Essence.
Failure: The character loses or ties the contested roll. The ghost understands that the character has attacked it in some way and may flee or counterattack as it sees fit.
Success: The character wins the contested roll. The vampire gains temporary dots in one or more Skills as described below.
Exceptional Success: The character wins the contested roll. There is no further effect beyond the benefits that come with a greater number of successes.
Failure: The character loses or ties the contested roll. The ghost understands that the character has attacked it in some way and may flee or counterattack as it sees fit.
Success: The character wins the contested roll. The vampire gains temporary dots in one or more Skills as described below.
Exceptional Success: The character wins the contested roll. There is no further effect beyond the benefits that come with a greater number of successes.
Side/Secondary Effects
For every success, the vampire gains one dot of a Skill. This Skill must be one that the ghost knew in life. The vampire can choose, in general terms, which memories she consumes, but has no way to know what specific knowledge these memories impart. In game terms, the Storyteller chooses what Skills gain temporary dots.
The vampire cannot absorb information the ghost does not know. As such, absorbing information from the ghost of a doctor who died in 1950 yields very different information than one who died in 1999, although they can both grant temporary dots in Medicine.
Example: A Dragolescu vampire consumes the ghost of a soldier, looking for skills to help her fight. The dead soldier in question probably had some facility in Brawl and Weaponry, so the Storyteller divides successes up among those three Skills. If she is generous, she may ask the player if his character seeks specific memories (an image of bloodshed and shining steel, the remembered report of a rifle shot) that would narrow the choice down.
Alternately, the vampire can opt to learn specific memories instead of Skills, sifting through the ghost’s memories and consuming images and information pertinent to a given topic. The vampire adds the ghost’s Power as a bonus to any Intelligence-based dice pools involving the recollection of memories or information the ghost might have known.
Whatever information or Skills a vampire takes, it fades at the next sunrise. The vampire can take notes before then, but should take care to write down everything she needs to know, including any context required for the memory to make sense.
The character must choose whether she seeks temporary Skill dots or the ghost’s Power when this power is first activated. Once a ghost has been subjected to this power, it cannot be subjected to it again until the next night. This power unravels a ghost’s mind, causing it permanent damage as memories fade and experiences are confused. A ghost stolen from in this way has its Power trait reduced by one.
The vampire cannot absorb information the ghost does not know. As such, absorbing information from the ghost of a doctor who died in 1950 yields very different information than one who died in 1999, although they can both grant temporary dots in Medicine.
Example: A Dragolescu vampire consumes the ghost of a soldier, looking for skills to help her fight. The dead soldier in question probably had some facility in Brawl and Weaponry, so the Storyteller divides successes up among those three Skills. If she is generous, she may ask the player if his character seeks specific memories (an image of bloodshed and shining steel, the remembered report of a rifle shot) that would narrow the choice down.
Alternately, the vampire can opt to learn specific memories instead of Skills, sifting through the ghost’s memories and consuming images and information pertinent to a given topic. The vampire adds the ghost’s Power as a bonus to any Intelligence-based dice pools involving the recollection of memories or information the ghost might have known.
Whatever information or Skills a vampire takes, it fades at the next sunrise. The vampire can take notes before then, but should take care to write down everything she needs to know, including any context required for the memory to make sense.
The character must choose whether she seeks temporary Skill dots or the ghost’s Power when this power is first activated. Once a ghost has been subjected to this power, it cannot be subjected to it again until the next night. This power unravels a ghost’s mind, causing it permanent damage as memories fade and experiences are confused. A ghost stolen from in this way has its Power trait reduced by one.
Dragolescu’s Theory: “Cognito, ergo sum, as the saying goes. Where ghosts are concerned, this statement takes on literal truth. A ghost is often nothing more than an echo of cognition, and even more powerful ghosts are best defined by their knowledge, belief and desire than anything else. If it is true that a ghost’s essentia is its knowledge, by consuming that essentia it should be possible to consume knowledge. Always present, of course, is the risk of learning things that one does know truly wish to know, but as a creature of science, I will take that risk.”
Material Components
Cost: 4 Ectoplasm plus 1 Willpower
Gestures & Ritual
Dice Pool: Resolve + Occult + Essentiaphagia – subject’s Resistance
Related Discipline
Effect Casting Time
Contested
Level
4
Applied Restriction
As with Draw Ectoplasm, use of Mnemophagia requires that the character be able to see the ghost, and that it is within 10 feet of the vampire. The Ectoplasm used to fuel this power does not have to come from the ghost being targeted.
Modifier | Situation
+2 | The Ectoplasm used to fuel this power came from the target ghost.
-1 | Each anchor the ghost has makes it more difficult to consume.
-1 to –5 | This power has been turned on the subject ghost before.
Modifier | Situation
+2 | The Ectoplasm used to fuel this power came from the target ghost.
-1 | Each anchor the ghost has makes it more difficult to consume.
-1 to –5 | This power has been turned on the subject ghost before.