••••• Tabula Rasa
This is arguably the most fearsome power an Usiri, or any Kindred for that matter, can summon forth. It has the capability of completely wiping the mind of the intended target clean, erasing all memories of who and what the Kindred has been and still is, essentially creating a blank slate to be molded by the caster’s will. The target is usually an unaware Kindred in Torpor, but this can also be attempted against a waking target (willing or unwilling), provided the caster wishes to take the risk of destroying his own mind. This ability is invasive, to say the least, and few would ever willingly subject themselves to it, although one never knows what a paranoid Kindred might do to protect himself long-term.
If a player decides to use this power against an unwilling target, he must make a successful degeneration roll if his character’s Humanity is above 4 (roll three dice). Unlike other Hypnagogia powers, Tabula Rasa can be used against waking targets as well as sleeping ones. In this case, the target must be in the attacker’s line of sight.
If a player decides to use this power against an unwilling target, he must make a successful degeneration roll if his character’s Humanity is above 4 (roll three dice). Unlike other Hypnagogia powers, Tabula Rasa can be used against waking targets as well as sleeping ones. In this case, the target must be in the attacker’s line of sight.
Effect
Dramatic Failure: The vampire and the target are both subjected to surreal, terrifying nightmares. The attacker’s player must succeed on a Resolve + Composure roll, or else the Usiri gains a severe derangement (paranoia is a good choice).
Also, regardless of whether the victim is willing or unwilling, the player must make a successful roll against degeneration.
Failure: The target’s memories remain secure and intact. Further, the player of the Usiri must make a successful degeneration roll for his character regardless of whether the victim was willing or unwilling.
Success: The victim loses all short-term memories, from the present moment back to the beginning of the story. All Skills or Disciplines learned during this time are lost and must be relearned, but at half cost.
Exceptional Success: The victim of Tabula Rasa loses all memory of his identity. He is unaware of his vampiric condition and knows nothing of who he is, where he is or what has happened to him. He is a true blank slate, in the most complete meaning of the term.
Also, regardless of whether the victim is willing or unwilling, the player must make a successful roll against degeneration.
Failure: The target’s memories remain secure and intact. Further, the player of the Usiri must make a successful degeneration roll for his character regardless of whether the victim was willing or unwilling.
Success: The victim loses all short-term memories, from the present moment back to the beginning of the story. All Skills or Disciplines learned during this time are lost and must be relearned, but at half cost.
Exceptional Success: The victim of Tabula Rasa loses all memory of his identity. He is unaware of his vampiric condition and knows nothing of who he is, where he is or what has happened to him. He is a true blank slate, in the most complete meaning of the term.
The Ramification of Tabula Rasa
This is a truly devastating use of the Hypnagogia Discipline. The Storyteller needs to seriously consider the ramifications of what this power can do in the context of a game setting. Think about it: what if a character actually succeeds in erasing the mind of some unsuspecting elder? She no longer knows who or what she even is. It then becomes the job of the players and the Storyteller to incorporate this turn of events into their overall chronicle. What will become of the blanked Kindred’s place in the power structure? What will her sire or her childer do when she is discovered as nothing more than a neonate? What will her covenant leaders do? Retrain her? Destroy her outright? Mold her into the perfect drone? Let her go to fend for herself?Also, Tabula Rasa isn’t the sort of power that the Storyteller should spring on players without some attention to whether they’d find sudden revocation of purchased traits and character memories entertaining. It might be wise to build some way for the memories to return into the story. Perhaps if the character confronts the Usiri who did this to her in the dreamscape, she can battle him and take back her unlife. But then, that raises the question of whether she wanted to lose those memories in the first place…
Material Components
Cost: 1 Vitae + 1 Willpower
Gestures & Ritual
Dice Pool: Presence + Persuasion + Hypnagogia versus Resolve + Blood Potency (willing subject or in torpor) or Manipulation + Intimidation + Hypnagogia versus Resolve + Composure + Blood Potency (if the victim is awake and unwilling)
Related Discipline
Effect Casting Time
Instant and contested (regardless of whether the subject is in torpor, is willing or unwilling, as the mind does not easily give itself to a foreign presence; resistance is reflexive)
Level
5
Applied Restriction
Modifier | Situation
+1 | Power is focused on, or applies to, a vampire with whom the user has a blood tie.
+1 | Power is focused on, or applies to, a vampire with whom the user has a blood tie.