•••• Penalty of Discourtesy
Many Kindred, particularly outside the Invictus, fail to appreciate the importance of courtesy. They seem to believe that being rude to their opponents makes them seem somehow more formidable or increases their chances of victory over a rattled foe. Spina with this level of control over Courtoisie are most able to show such Kindred the error of their ways, for being rude to such a vampire makes you very likely to lose a fight.
Attempting to dismember someone cannot, in itself, be considered impolite for the purposes of this power since such an action is intended to work primarily in combat. A statement of disgust or disapproval regarding the vampire’s actions, Allies or fashion cannot necessarily be considered rude wither. Using foul language, however, or simply slinging insults does qualify as rude. If you wish to criticize a Spina without risking the invocation of this power, you must choose your words extremely carefully.
Formally, a Spina can choose to regard a criticism as an insult and demand an apology for the slander. If the apology is not forthcoming, the criticism becomes an act of discourtesy. An apology in this context can be quite brief, however, and does not need to be sincere.
Attempting to dismember someone cannot, in itself, be considered impolite for the purposes of this power since such an action is intended to work primarily in combat. A statement of disgust or disapproval regarding the vampire’s actions, Allies or fashion cannot necessarily be considered rude wither. Using foul language, however, or simply slinging insults does qualify as rude. If you wish to criticize a Spina without risking the invocation of this power, you must choose your words extremely carefully.
Formally, a Spina can choose to regard a criticism as an insult and demand an apology for the slander. If the apology is not forthcoming, the criticism becomes an act of discourtesy. An apology in this context can be quite brief, however, and does not need to be sincere.
Effect
Dramatic Failure: The Spina gains no benefit from the power, and takes a –3 penalty to his next action, as his opponent’s insult surprisingly rattles the Knight.
Failure: The Spina fails to muster the righteous mystic verve necessary to activate this power.
Success: The Spina achieves more successes on the activation roll than the provocateur did on his attempt to goad, frighten or humiliate the Spina. The Spina immediately regains one Willpower point, and his opponent immediately loses one. This power does not allow a Spina to store more Willpower points than his Willpower score would normally allow. In the event that a Knight uses this power while he still has all of his Willpower points, he instead enjoys a +2 bonus to Defense for one turn.
Exceptional Success: The Spina wins the contest against the provocateur and achieves at least five successes in the process. The result is the same as above, but the provoker loses two Willpower points and the Spina gains two. If the Spina is unable to regain either of the Willpower points, he instead enjoys a +2 bonus to Defense for one turn per excess Willpower won.
Failure: The Spina fails to muster the righteous mystic verve necessary to activate this power.
Success: The Spina achieves more successes on the activation roll than the provocateur did on his attempt to goad, frighten or humiliate the Spina. The Spina immediately regains one Willpower point, and his opponent immediately loses one. This power does not allow a Spina to store more Willpower points than his Willpower score would normally allow. In the event that a Knight uses this power while he still has all of his Willpower points, he instead enjoys a +2 bonus to Defense for one turn.
Exceptional Success: The Spina wins the contest against the provocateur and achieves at least five successes in the process. The result is the same as above, but the provoker loses two Willpower points and the Spina gains two. If the Spina is unable to regain either of the Willpower points, he instead enjoys a +2 bonus to Defense for one turn per excess Willpower won.
Material Components
Cost: —
Gestures & Ritual
Dice Pool: Resolve + Composure + Courtoisie versus a variety of contesting dice pools
Related Discipline
Effect Casting Time
Reflexive and contested.
Level
4
Applied Restriction
This power is rolled automatically in response to the actions of an enemy to provoke, taunt or intimidate the Spina, in place of any other dice pool that might normally be used to contest the opponent’s action. This power can even be used to combat attempts to terrify or undermine the Knight using Dominate, Majesty or Nightmare. For example, if an enemy attempts to goad the Knight’s Beast using the Intimidation Skill, the Knight may activate this power as a reflexive action to show his opponent the penalty for discourtesy.
If the action targeting the Spina does not allow for a contested resistance, then a Spina with this power may choose to substitute his dots in Courtoisie for either Resolve or Composure with subtracting dice from an opponent’s dice pools.
This power can only be employed when the Spina is directly involved in a fight. The enemy who provokes this power does not have to be directly involved in the fighting, however.
If the action targeting the Spina does not allow for a contested resistance, then a Spina with this power may choose to substitute his dots in Courtoisie for either Resolve or Composure with subtracting dice from an opponent’s dice pools.
This power can only be employed when the Spina is directly involved in a fight. The enemy who provokes this power does not have to be directly involved in the fighting, however.