Despond
Few Disciplines inspire such fear and hatred as Despond, and with good reason. The Kindred play the Danse Macabre in part to distract themselves from the horror and futility of their own existence. Despond strips away the distractions. Kindred who feel its power can no longer hide from the awful truth that they are dead and Damned, with the Beast as their personal demon to torment them — until something destroys them, or they do the job themselves.
Actually, Despond affects mortals worse than it affects vampires. The Kindred have years, decades or centuries to grow accustomed to anguish and self-loathing. The Beast rages against its own destruction, or maybe the vampires’ supernatural natures help them resist Despond. Mortals succumb all too easily to the lure of self-annihilation.
The few Kindred who choose to learn Despond fi nd the learning most unpleasant. To crush hope in others, they must explore their own despair. To set the lure of self-destruction, they must feel that lure themselves. Many among the Children of Judas — perhaps most — already walked that path as mortals, to its terrible ending. Other Kindred seldom want to touch the void, and be touched in return. Those who can resist the call of oblivion learn to make that call themselves.
For greatest effect, a user of Despond must speak to her victim. A minute is good; fi ve minutes or more are even better. Through well-chosen phrases, she can prod her victim’s regrets, self-doubts and sorrows and send the message: you should not exist. The more she knows about her victim, the greater Despond’s power. Even without killing words, however, a vampire who knows Despond can send whispers of despair into a victim’s mind. Either way, the vampire must see her victim directly. Despond has no effect over the phone or through a recording.
In most cases, a target of Despond does not immediately recognize that he was affected by a supernatural force. Once he recovers, he may wonder at the depth of his sudden despair. He might even connect his anguish to his conversation with the vampire. Mortals, however, don’t expect mind control. The very suspicion seems insane (giving the person another reason to feel depressed). The Kindred know better, so using Despond on them can be dangerous. A vampire who’s in too much of a hurry to converse with her target, but who doesn’t want the weakness of a silent attack, can simply snarl out a few cruel or menacing words to rouse the target’s grief or self-loathing — but the victim defi nitely knows the vampire tampered with his mind. Even the most skeptical or unwary mortal can’t deny he felt an alien touch in his thoughts.
Despond cannot actually force another person to attempt suicide. Despond’s lesser powers merely work on grief, Anxiety and self-loathing already present, helping these feelings overpower the conscious mind in various ways, for a limited time. For Kindred or kine already troubled by thoughts of suicide, however, one use of Despond may push the sufferer over the edge — though he might do the deed nights or weeks later. The more times a victim suffers from Despond, the more likely he will seek suicide.
Storytellers should never decree that a player’s character destroyed himself because someone else used a Discipline on him. For other characters, Storytellers may want to base their resistance to despair on their traits or roles in the story. For a simple system, you can decide that, assuming no one intervenes to prevent the suicide, a Storyteller character commits suicide within the week if a use of Despond achieves more successes than the higher of the character’s Resolve or Composure.
Despond grants the Children of Judas one small, additional power. Any Child of Judas who has at least one dot in Despond recognizes any other Child of Judas who knows the Discipline. This acts as an additional bit of information from Predator’s Taint, the Beast’s instinctive recognition of a competing predator. The Suicide Kings also instinctively recognize the mystical taint left by their special cultivation of despair.
Actually, Despond affects mortals worse than it affects vampires. The Kindred have years, decades or centuries to grow accustomed to anguish and self-loathing. The Beast rages against its own destruction, or maybe the vampires’ supernatural natures help them resist Despond. Mortals succumb all too easily to the lure of self-annihilation.
The few Kindred who choose to learn Despond fi nd the learning most unpleasant. To crush hope in others, they must explore their own despair. To set the lure of self-destruction, they must feel that lure themselves. Many among the Children of Judas — perhaps most — already walked that path as mortals, to its terrible ending. Other Kindred seldom want to touch the void, and be touched in return. Those who can resist the call of oblivion learn to make that call themselves.
For greatest effect, a user of Despond must speak to her victim. A minute is good; fi ve minutes or more are even better. Through well-chosen phrases, she can prod her victim’s regrets, self-doubts and sorrows and send the message: you should not exist. The more she knows about her victim, the greater Despond’s power. Even without killing words, however, a vampire who knows Despond can send whispers of despair into a victim’s mind. Either way, the vampire must see her victim directly. Despond has no effect over the phone or through a recording.
In most cases, a target of Despond does not immediately recognize that he was affected by a supernatural force. Once he recovers, he may wonder at the depth of his sudden despair. He might even connect his anguish to his conversation with the vampire. Mortals, however, don’t expect mind control. The very suspicion seems insane (giving the person another reason to feel depressed). The Kindred know better, so using Despond on them can be dangerous. A vampire who’s in too much of a hurry to converse with her target, but who doesn’t want the weakness of a silent attack, can simply snarl out a few cruel or menacing words to rouse the target’s grief or self-loathing — but the victim defi nitely knows the vampire tampered with his mind. Even the most skeptical or unwary mortal can’t deny he felt an alien touch in his thoughts.
Despond cannot actually force another person to attempt suicide. Despond’s lesser powers merely work on grief, Anxiety and self-loathing already present, helping these feelings overpower the conscious mind in various ways, for a limited time. For Kindred or kine already troubled by thoughts of suicide, however, one use of Despond may push the sufferer over the edge — though he might do the deed nights or weeks later. The more times a victim suffers from Despond, the more likely he will seek suicide.
Storytellers should never decree that a player’s character destroyed himself because someone else used a Discipline on him. For other characters, Storytellers may want to base their resistance to despair on their traits or roles in the story. For a simple system, you can decide that, assuming no one intervenes to prevent the suicide, a Storyteller character commits suicide within the week if a use of Despond achieves more successes than the higher of the character’s Resolve or Composure.
Despond grants the Children of Judas one small, additional power. Any Child of Judas who has at least one dot in Despond recognizes any other Child of Judas who knows the Discipline. This acts as an additional bit of information from Predator’s Taint, the Beast’s instinctive recognition of a competing predator. The Suicide Kings also instinctively recognize the mystical taint left by their special cultivation of despair.
Related Ethnicities
Modifier | Situation
+2 | Character knows both his target’s Vice and Virtue.
+2 | Target is a vampire with whom the user has a Blood Tie.
+2 | Target suffers from Melancholia or some similar, severe derangement.
+1 | Character can converse with his target for at least five minutes.
+1 | Character knows his target’s Vice or Virtue.
+1 | Character knows a signifi cant Anxiety, self-doubt, shame or perceived failure of the target.
+1 | Character knows at least one traumatic or sorrowful event from the target’s past (the Embrace doesn’t count).
+1 | Target suffers from Depression or a similar, mild derangement.
+0 | Character can speak to his target for a turn or less. Afterward, the victim knows the character tampered with her mind.
+0 | Character can speak to his target for at least a minute; afterward, the target might not realize the character tampered with her mind.
–2 | Character cannot speak to his target.