Circle the Wagons

Animalism •, Protean •••, Resilience •••

Vampire the Requiem - Ancient Bloodlines

Humans are weak. It’s a sad fact, but that’s how the Shepherds see it. The Herd is dumb and fallible and frail, and must sometimes be actively protected. This Devotion helps a Watcher do that very thing, affording the Herd some measure of genuine physical protection.

Effect

Success on the roll causes the Shepherd to give off an aura of safety. This aura extends in a radius around the character equal to that character’s Resilience score in yards. Any within that area of effect (humans and Kindred alike) gain a bonus to Defense equal to the Shepherd’s own Defense, and are also able to downgrade all damage done to them while within that radius (aggravated becomes lethal, lethal becomes bashing, bashing remains bashing). The downside is, while this applies to those the Shepherd hopes to protect, it also applies to any close combatant within that area of effect, even an enemy. Worse, it does nothing to protect the character himself, though certainly the Shepherd is free to use his own Resilience as protection.

Material Components

Cost: 1 Vitae per scene

Gestures & Ritual

Dice Pool: Presence + Survival + Resilience

Related Discipline

Animalism •, Protean •••, Resilience •••

Effect Casting Time

Reflexive

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Animalism Is For People Too?

The two Devotions featured with the Shepherds both use Animalism in a way that affects humans, which is a bit odd given the Discipline’s name. Here, Animalism is meant to represent the Herd — both animals and humans give off certain “Herd signals,” such as when danger is around or when hungry, and so the Discipline can be applied in these Devotions. (In addition, make note that despite its name, Animalism is as much about the Beast within as it is about actual animals. It’s about forging a sympathetic connection between bestial intentions, not specifically about talking to or commanding animals.)

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This Devotion costs 21 experience points to learn.