••••• Possession
By this point, the Kindred need not rely on spoken commands and limited understanding. With the mere locking of the victim’s gaze, the vampire can utterly supplant the subject’s own psyche with her own, possessing the subject like a malevolent spirit.
Once the Kindred has crushed the victim’s will, she literally takes over the body, inhabiting it and controlling it as easily as she does her own. The mortal enters something of a fugue state while possessed, and he is aware of events only in a dreamlike, distorted fashion. The Kindred suffers the opposite effect. Her mind now resides within the victim, and her own body falls into a torpor-like state, becoming indistinguishable from a true corpse. The vampire may choose to break the possession and return to her body at any time, over any distance, but until and unless she does so, her true physical form is utterly helpless.
Kindred cannot possess other Kindred in this fashion, regardless of force of will or differences in Blood Potency. Mortals alone are subject to possession, although whispers of possessed Lupines and mages sometimes circulate.
Once the Kindred has crushed the victim’s will, she literally takes over the body, inhabiting it and controlling it as easily as she does her own. The mortal enters something of a fugue state while possessed, and he is aware of events only in a dreamlike, distorted fashion. The Kindred suffers the opposite effect. Her mind now resides within the victim, and her own body falls into a torpor-like state, becoming indistinguishable from a true corpse. The vampire may choose to break the possession and return to her body at any time, over any distance, but until and unless she does so, her true physical form is utterly helpless.
Kindred cannot possess other Kindred in this fashion, regardless of force of will or differences in Blood Potency. Mortals alone are subject to possession, although whispers of possessed Lupines and mages sometimes circulate.
Effect
The vampire locks eyes with the victim and begins the process of utterly stripping away the subject’s Willpower. The vampire must obtain a number of successes in excess of the victim’s Willpower. The victim is held, trapped in this psychic struggle, as long as the vampire’s player continues to win each contested roll. Each roll occupies a turn’s time.
Dramatic Failure: The attempt is over and the victim is immune to that vampire’s Dominate until the next sunset. All previously accumulated successes are lost.
Failure: In any turn in which the vampire loses or ties a contested roll, the victim may attempt to escape. If the vampire succeeds in restarting the process during the same scene, the contest picks up from where it left off.
Success: The character wins a contested roll and accumulates successes in her attempt to exert ultimate control over her subject.
Exceptional Success: The character wins a contested roll with five or more successes in her attempt to exert ultimate control over her subject.
Once the character has exceeded the victim’s Willpower in number of successes, she may take control of his body. The character may take any actions she chooses, travel as far from her own body as she wishes, and is unharmed by daylight while possessing the subject, but she must still force herself to stay awake during the day (see Humanity on p. 184). The vampire may choose to end the possession and return to her body at any time, regardless of distance. This occurs automatically if the vampire fails to remain awake. Any injuries inflicted on the subject also affect the vampire’s body. If the subject dies while the vampire is still present, the Kindred falls into torpor immediately. (Some believe the soul attempts to find its way back to its own body during this time.) If the Kindred’s physical form is destroyed, she remains trapped in the mortal body until she finally fails to remain awake, at which point her psyche is lost to oblivion and is unrecoverable. Any attempt to “re-Embrace” a vampire’s spirit trapped in a host body results only in Final Death.
When finally freed of vampiric possession, some mortals recover immediately, while others lie comatose or suffer trauma-induced psychoses for days or even weeks before recovering.
Because a vampire experiences everything her physical body does — tasting food, soaking up the sun — many become addicted to the sensations and spend more time possessing mortals than inhabiting their own bodies. It is possible, though uncommon, for a vampire to neglect her physical body long enough for it to starve into torpor while she’s “out.” If a vampire’s dormant body slips or is forced into torpor, the vampire’s spirit automatically returns to its body.
Dramatic Failure: The attempt is over and the victim is immune to that vampire’s Dominate until the next sunset. All previously accumulated successes are lost.
Failure: In any turn in which the vampire loses or ties a contested roll, the victim may attempt to escape. If the vampire succeeds in restarting the process during the same scene, the contest picks up from where it left off.
Success: The character wins a contested roll and accumulates successes in her attempt to exert ultimate control over her subject.
Exceptional Success: The character wins a contested roll with five or more successes in her attempt to exert ultimate control over her subject.
Once the character has exceeded the victim’s Willpower in number of successes, she may take control of his body. The character may take any actions she chooses, travel as far from her own body as she wishes, and is unharmed by daylight while possessing the subject, but she must still force herself to stay awake during the day (see Humanity on p. 184). The vampire may choose to end the possession and return to her body at any time, regardless of distance. This occurs automatically if the vampire fails to remain awake. Any injuries inflicted on the subject also affect the vampire’s body. If the subject dies while the vampire is still present, the Kindred falls into torpor immediately. (Some believe the soul attempts to find its way back to its own body during this time.) If the Kindred’s physical form is destroyed, she remains trapped in the mortal body until she finally fails to remain awake, at which point her psyche is lost to oblivion and is unrecoverable. Any attempt to “re-Embrace” a vampire’s spirit trapped in a host body results only in Final Death.
When finally freed of vampiric possession, some mortals recover immediately, while others lie comatose or suffer trauma-induced psychoses for days or even weeks before recovering.
Because a vampire experiences everything her physical body does — tasting food, soaking up the sun — many become addicted to the sensations and spend more time possessing mortals than inhabiting their own bodies. It is possible, though uncommon, for a vampire to neglect her physical body long enough for it to starve into torpor while she’s “out.” If a vampire’s dormant body slips or is forced into torpor, the vampire’s spirit automatically returns to its body.
Material Components
Cost: 1 Willpower
Gestures & Ritual
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Intimidation + Dominate versus Resolve
Related Discipline
Effect Casting Time
Contested and Extended (see below resistance is reflexive
Level
5
Applied Restriction
If this power is turned on a vampire with whom the user has a blood tie (see p. 162), a +2 bonus applies.