Sanguinary Animism

Mild only

Only Kindred can suffer from this special derangement. This delusion grows out of a vampire’s fundamental awareness of guilt about feeding on mortals. Kindred with this delusion believe they take part of victims’ minds or souls along with their blood. For hours after feeding, the Kindred hears a victim’s voice in his head, berating him, begging for mercy or making demands. The vampire even experiences ersatz memories from his victim’s life, all concocted by the vampire’s unconscious mind, but seeming very real. Weak-willed or especially guilt-stricken Kindred might even carry out actions on behalf of their victims. Whenever a sanguinary animist feeds on a mortal, the player makes an Intelligence + Composure roll. If the roll succeeds, the imaginary voice and memories of the victim torment the character for the rest of the night, but the character can function adequately. If the roll fails, the images in the character’s mind are so strong that the other personality can influence the vampire’s actions. The angry victim-personality usually means to harm the character, but the vampire might silence the victim’s voice by doing something he imagines the victim would like. If the player cannot roleplay the possessing victim’s personality, control of the character can pass to the Storyteller for short times. Control automatically reverts to the vampire just before dawn. For all the anguish that sanguinary animism causes, it illustrates how derangements work (badly) to relieve guilt and stress. As long as the victim’s voice continues, she isn’t really dead — or so it seems— while the vampire supplies her own punishment.

Symptoms

Sanguinary animism becomes particularly severe when a vampire kills his vessel. In this case, the Intelligence + Composure roll is at -3 dice. A dramatic failure means that the ersatz personality of the victim becomes a permanent fixture in the vampire’s mind. Under stress, the victim’s voice becomes more insistent. The Kindred might distractedly respond aloud to the voices in his head. Further shocks could drive the vampire into multiple-personality disorder, with the Kindred taking on the fantasized personalities of victims. Diablerie is an especially bad idea for sufferers of this derangement!