Fragrant Devotions

Ortam •, varies

Vampire the Requiem - Bloodlines the Legendary

Ortam may also augment another Discipline, effectively enabling the Perfumer to create a multitude of Fragrant Devotions. Ortam becomes the vector by which a Gulikan may deliver a Discipline’s effects. By investing a Discipline with a conjunctional knowledge of Ortam, the Gulikan may activate Disciplines based on the subject’s inhaling of the Gulikan’s scent, rather than seeing her or otherwise imposing a physical presence.
Not all Disciplines can be matched with Ortam effectively. Only those Disciplines that amplify or otherwise augment the Gulikan’s own innate ability to infl uence the thoughts and feelings of others can be used in this way. Any character who smells the Gulikan’s scent becomes susceptible to the effect.
Majesty is perfectly suited for this marriage of supernatural Disciplines. A victim may walk into a chamber smoky with incense, only to fi nd herself Entranced by the absent Gulikan. Celerity, for example, could be used with Ortam to any effect — the resulting fragrance would have no effect on those who smell it. Dominate, likewise, doesn’t work, because it requires eye contact (though Gulikan who have Conditioned their thralls suitably might make use of a Fragrant Dominate Devotion; see p. 127 of Vampire: The Requiem).
The Disciplines that make the basis of a given Fragrant Devotion must also be ones that the Perfumer using Ortam knows. Making a scented lotion that conveys the full power of Dread, for example, is possible only if the Perfumer has already mastered the second level of Nightmare.
Making a Discipline power or Devotion into a Fragrant Devotion adds one Vitae to the cost of that power. This does not change the action type of the Discipline or Devotion or have the effects of the Essence Vitale Absolue. All Fragrant Devotions do is change the method by which the Discipline power takes effect.

Related Discipline

Ortam •, varies

Learning a Fragrant Devotion costs a flat three experience points. This grants access only to that single Discipline power in the form of the scentbased vector, however. Additional Discipline powers and effects will cost an additional three experience points per Fragrant Devotion. Existing Devotions may be made into Fragrant Devotions as well, at the standard three-experience-point cost after purchasing the base Devotion.