Diablerie

We are demons who walk the earth. And sometimes something worse than demons.

There was a lake of fire. Some statues. Someone killed me, but it wasn't real. There was a pigsticker of inferior or infernal manufacture. Something came out of the cavern roof and woke her up. Very thin. Too much sleeping. Not enough exercise. Just as well really. Not a fair fight, but almost . . . almost. Then, tired and thirsty, still fighting the urge to sleep. Drank and didn't stop. Couldn't stop. Dreams again. World of time past flowing in me. Flying amongst the stalactites. Ballet is for those in tights. Still on the sun shone. I did get to sleep at last. She is nothing but ashes, and me, of course.

I guess diablerie can be a bit nasty.

- Handel 

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A M A R A N T H A : horror and power

by Yann Golanski

DIABLERIE: the cannibalistic behavior common among kindred, involving the consumption of the blood of another vampire. The elders do so out of need, the anarchs do so out of desire for power. Cf Amarantha (V:tM page 54).

ROGUE: a kindred who feeds upon kindred either out of need or perversion. Vide Diablerie. (V:tM page 55 ).

" When a kindred drinks from another untill all her blood is drained away, and continues to drink until she extinguished (she lost all Health levels) the very essence of the vessel is transmitted. Not only the vessel is killed, but the life force is passed along to the slayer." (page 188 V:tM)

These are new rules on the Amarantha.

When a vessel is drained of all her health levels, she enters final death and her essence (or avatar, life-essence, soul... whatever you call it) is transferred to the rogue. To do so the rogue must roll his strength (+ Potence, if any) against a 9. Every success makes the vessel lose a health level. For the vessel this is true agony, as her very soul is sucked away form her. If by any chance, the vessel is not killed, she will gain a derangment (permanent).

Now the rogue has gained the powers of the vessel. They are:

Advance in generation:

The rogue lowers his generation to ((the generation of the vessel + the rogue's generation) divided by 2) - 1. (To the lowest generation, and not under the generation of the vessel).

Eg: A 13th gene diableries a 4th. The new generation of the rogue is (13+4)/2 = 17/2 = 8.5 -1 = 7th generation.

Gain in Disciplines:

The rogue gets a gain in disciplines, if the vessel is of the same clan (or bloodline) as the rogue. The gain is +1 in any disciplines that the rogues had lower than the vessel. This only works for clan disciplines.

If the vessel was of another clan, the rogue can now learn the major (only one) Discipline of the clan, without the need for a teacher. Of course this is not applicable if the vessel is of the same clan... Major disciplines are as follows:

  • Assamites: Quietus.
  • Caitiff: none, too bad, eh!
  • Brujah: Potence or Presence (depending on age).
  • Followers of Set: Serpentis.
  • Gangrel: Protean.
  • Giovanni: Necromancy.
  • Lasombra: Obtenebration.
  • Malkavian: God only (might) know!
  • Nosferatu: Obfuscate.
  • Ravnos: Chimestry.
  • Toreador: Presence (for poseurs), Auspex (for artistes).
  • Tremere: Thaumaturgy (only blood magic, no paths).
  • Tzimisce: Vicissitude.
  • Ventrue: Dominate.
  • (Salubri: Obeah.)
  • Bloodlines: the bloodline special Discipline (if any).

Eg: A Brujah diablerises a Brujah. The rogue has 3 in all the clan disciplines, the vessel had 5 in Presence, and Potence, but only 1 in Celerity. The rogue will get + 1 in both Potence and Presence but will not increase his Celerity.

Eg: A Ventrue diablerises a Ravnos, the Ventrue can now spend 10 exps (if he has them) to get Chimestry of 1, without having to see a teacher; the Discipline is in his blood...

However the Amarantha has some side effects, generaly unknown by those who practice it, until it is too late. These are:

Humanity loss:

The rogue must make a Conscience check (unless Humanity of 0), against an 8.

__________Roll ____________________ Effects.

3 or more successes _______ No Humanity lost (you feel horrible)
2 successes ______________ 1 Humanity lost.
1 success ________________ 1 Humanity and a Conscience lost.
0 successes ______________ 2 Humanity and a Conscience lost.
Botch ___________________ 2 Humanity and a Conscience lost, plus a derangment of some sort.

There is no excuse for diablerie, therefore Humanity is always lost! (As a Storyteller it is your prerogative to say if something exceptional will avoid making a Humanity roll, but there is always another way...)

Of course this does not apply to the Sabbat, since they have a Humanity of zero (they ARE the beast, even with the paths, who are just a way to ride the wave, NOT to resist it). BUT a path roll could be made for the following (in brackets is the min of sin):

Path of Death and soul (9) they condone the soul not to be free.
Path of Evil Revelation (0) gain one point for that, unless all ready above 3....
Path of Harmony (5) they are the only not-as-bad-as-the-rest...
Path of Honourable accord (1) if they had any agreement with the vessel.
Others (X) insert your own paths...

The Life-essence:

This was the end of more than one rogue. The soul (avatar, life-essence, force....) of the vessel takes possession over the soul of the rogue! Both the generation gap and the Willpower of both the rogue and vessel affect this process. Both the vessel and the rogue roll their Willpower against a diff of 16 - generation of the other. Do not forget that torturing a Cainite will lower her Willpower, but will make the rogue lose even more Humanity!

See the table:

Diff between _______________Effects on the rogue

(vessel - rogue)
successes.

9 or above ___________ The vessel destroys the avatar of the rogue, who explodes in a burst of flames. The avatar of the vessel is free to rest in peace, or be return to a (very) dammaged body. (he regained1 health level.)

8 and 9 _____________ The vessel is reborn as the rogue. The avatar of the rogue is expelled from his body, to the void (could come back, but it is VERY HARD).

6 and 7 _____________ The vessel is reborn as the rogue, but the original avatar manifests herself as a change in demeanor.

3 and 5 _____________ The vessel is reborn, but both her nature and demeanor are those of the original avatar.

2 and -2 ____________ The rogue remains in control, but her nature and demeanor are those of the vessel's avatar.

-3 and -5 ____________ The rogue remains in control, but her demeanor is that of the vessel.

-6 and -7 ____________ The rogue remains in control, but the vessel's avatar manifests itself as a change in demeanor.

-8 or -9 _____________ The vessel's avatar is cast in the void. (She could come back as a wraith...but it will take her a hell of a lot of time.)

-10 or less ___________ The avatar is utterly destroyed. Nothing (except God?) can make her come back to (un)life.

Eg: Tommy a 9th generation (Willpower of 7) consumes Orlando a 5th generation (Willpower of 8). Tommy rolls 7 dice against a diff of 15-5 = 9+1, he gets 3 successes (in fact he get 4, but one of them cancels the +1 diff). Orlando rolls 8 dice against 15-9 = 6, he gets 7 successes! The difference is 7-3 = 4! Poor Orlando's avatar is now in the body of a 6th generation, and with the nature and demeanor of Tommy! Tommy should have listened to his Mum when she said that crime doesn't pay!

Eg: Same as above but with different successes: Tommy gets 5 and Orlando -1! Difference is -6: Tommy laughs as the blood rushes in his veins! But he will act like a gallant most of the time....Strange, he used to be such a prat with women........(Orlando was Gallant).

Eg: Tremere (4th generation) diabolises an Antediluvian (named Saulot). Up to you (as a Storyteller) to say what happened. For me it is "wave goodbye Tremere!" (but rules for that level are stupid, so your view is as good as mine).

The rogue will also end up with any trait you want him to have picked up, or with nothing - up to your devious mind!

Eg: Diablerise a Ravnos, you become kleptomaniac.

Diablerise a Tzimecse, you start being an alien.

Diablerise a Malkavian...NA you DON'T want to do that!

Diablerise a Malkavian Antitribu....Oh Boy!!!!!............

Addiction to the Rebrith

The act of sucking the life force of another of its kind is very addictive. The rogue must roll her Stamina (+ Fortitude) against a diff set by the Storyteller (it depends on how long she's been a rogue.....) or gain a derangement to that effect - getting worse as time goes on.

Aura and effect on "souls"

The rogue will still have nice black veins in his aura for some time (depending on the generation of the vessel). These are the same rules as in Diablerie Mexico (which is only good for that!). I consider that the aura will disappear after a one month per point of generation gained (ie 5 generations gained, 5 months of nice black spirals in aura!!!!!!).

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