Character and Traits

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Choosing a New Menu

A Ventrue who simply cannot find any blood that fits within her feeding restriction can attempt to “retrain” her restriction, but it is dangerous and difficult. The easiest way is to go into torpor after a hunger frenzy and lack of blood. Once the Ventrue is reawakened, her first hunt will determine her new feeding restriction. Alternatively, the Ventrue can try to shortcut the process. First, she needs to have no blood in her body (zero blood points). The Ventrue must then go an entire night from waking until sleep without feeding, making Self-Control checks for hunger frenzy (V20, pp. 297-299) as necessary. If the Ventrue frenzies and attacks someone for blood, others can restrain her, but as soon as blood enters her mouth, the process has failed, even if the blood ingested gives her no sustenance. Once the Ventrue has gone an entire night without any blood whatsoever, she can spend a permanent Willpower dot. Her next hunt will then determine her new feeding restriction.

Concepts

Blackmail Victim
You have always prided yourself on your rigid self-control and your impeccable sense of decorum. Your reputation for grace under pressure has made you respected among the peerage. Two months ago, you dropped by one of the newer grad students to join your herd for a quick bite. You had no idea that he’d taken a hit of LSD about twenty minutes before you arrived. You woke up the next evening with no memories of what had happened, some mysterious vandalism to your car, and minor injuries among members of your herd. 

A week later, the first photo showed up. None of the Ventrue have hinted as to any knowledge of what happened, and the few Kindred you actually trust to ask about it don’t know anything either. You’re terrified at the thought of more pictures coming. You’re even more terrified about what will happen when the pictures stop coming, and the demands start.

 

Coward
He came to you in the night, begging for help. A Sabbat pack was after him. He had no clue as to why, but he’d been attacked three times in a week and had barely gotten away. He said the right words to invoke the Ethic of Succor… and you slammed the door in his face and locked it. The thought that he might have actually led the Sabbat right to your door filed you with as much rage as it did terror. He died two nights later, but not before telling others that you denied him. At the next Board meeting, you were the very first item on the agenda, and you weren’t allowed to stay long enough to find out what was second. You were cast out. Your business ventures systematically ruined. Your haven condemned by the city. Your herd meets mysterious “accidents.” As everything you’ve ever built gets stripped away, you regret not helping him. A quick death would be better than this. 

 

Pledge Master
You were always a bit of a sadist. That’s why your old frat put you in charge of coming up with some entertaining games for the pledges to play for the brothers’ amusement. It was all in good fun. It certainly wasn’t your fault that time one of the frosh choked to death on a live goldfish. Luckily, your future sire fixed things for you. As it happened, she preferred to feed on members of Greek fraternities and needed someone to look after her herd. Eventually, your loyalty and efficiency earned the Embrace, and you were strangely delighted to learn that you could only feed on victims of hazing. Your sire insists (properly, you agree) that there should be no fatalities, no serious injuries, and no scandals with the administration. Beyond that, it’s anything goes, and you’re having so much damned fun. You don’t even need to use Disciplines most of the time. It is astounding just how far insecure freshmen will go to utterly debase themselves just to get into the right frat.

 

Rapunzel
You have no idea why your sire picked you. You were a college student, not that good looking, not that smart, not that rich. But for some reason, he picked you and then stuck you in a room on the top floor of a skyscraper. And you don’t get to leave until you get a perfect score on his weekly exams. After three years, your highest score is 65%. He doesn’t get mad though. He just pats you on your head and reassures you. After all, he didn’t get out of his room for almost twenty years before his sire was satisfied. He’s sure you’ll get out in half that time. 

 

Re-Made Man
You spent years climbing the greased poll that was the Mafia. You worked for a local bookie at the age of 11. You started running drugs at 15. You whacked your first guy (a loser who wouldn’t pay his debts) at 19. You were finally “made” at 23. Then, at 25, the Ventrue who really ran the syndicate decided that you had enough potential to join La Familia Morte and take over the operation of his criminal activities. It shouldn’t take you more than twenty years to win your sire’s acceptance and be freed to run the Family your way. Yeah, like you’re seriously planning on waiting that long.

 

Rebellious Wannabe
You have spent your whole unlife as a Ventrue Anarch. You’ve picked up a few details about the main Clan — enough to make you want to heave. Arrogant, snotty rich frat boy douchebags. You regret the hell out of the fact that your sire picked you to join his Clan instead of introducing you to some Brujah. That’s where it’s at. The freedom to do what you want when you want. Not of that “dignitas” crap, whatever the hell that is. You may not be a real Brujah, but you’ll win their respect somehow. Even if you have to kick all of their asses to do it.

 

Reluctant Daeva Theorist
You never believed that the Secret Masters were anything more mysterious and sinister than any other vampires. Then, a respected Ventrue peer showed up at your haven last week babbling like a maniac about the Daeva, and about the Black Shepherd who comes to cull the flock. Then he laughed and thrust a satchel full of papers into your hands before he… died. No, that’s not quite right. He melted, right in front of you, into a puddle of goo that left a green stain in your carpet that you still can’t get rid of. The papers were nonsense scribblings in languages you don’t read. But every night since your visitor turned into guacamole, you have been followed every time you leave your haven by mysterious figures who slip away in the shadows when you try to confront them. It’s probably your imagination, but you could swear that they all have three eyes. 

 

Sabbat Crusader
When you were a child, you read stories about the Knights of the Round Table, about honor and chivalry and sacrifice, about noble men and the courage they showed when fighting for what they believed in. When you became a childe, you were honored to have joined a band of modern-day knights who, like you, understand the majesty of an earlier, more dignified era. You are disgusted that the Ventrue once had such a pedigree and they threw it all away for stock options. You understand that your fellow Sabbat cannot truly trust you because of the taint of the Clan from which your line originated. That’s okay. You’ll earn their trust — one dead Camarilla Ventrue at a time.

 

Secret Tribune
You are an agent for the Ephorate, which would be impressive if you weren’t the only Ventrue in a smaller Midwestern city dominated by Brujah, Gangrel, and Malkavians. You don’t get much in the way of respect — in fact, you’re frequently the butt of jokes and pranks. If only they knew that you made nightly reports to a lictor in the next city over, the one who’s making plans to fix what ails your hometown. After the hammer falls, you’ll be poised to become a major player... provided the Anarch wannabes around here don’t find out what you’re planning and strike first.

 

Sommelier
Normally, Ventrue are reticent about revealing their feeding restrictions. With you, they make an exception. You are connected, resourceful, and for the right price, you can provide any type of vessel your clients need. You even offer special services — for a little bit extra, you can not only provide an important Ventrue with some “underage Latinas” to feed from, you can even ensure that they’re pumped full of his drug or liquor of choice. Sometimes you feel kind of dirty that you’ve added “pusher” to “pimp” on your resume. When that happens, you console yourself by rolling around in a bed of cash provided by your clients. 

 

Merits and Flaws
 

Connoisseur (2pt. Merit)
Your study of the Auspex Discipline, combined with your rarified tastes, allows you an uncanny empathy and connection to a victim, giving you powerful insights into the character of any whose blood you taste. 
System: The character tastes another’s blood (potentially risking a blood bond), and player rolls Perception + Empathy (difficulty 6 for mortals or 8 for Kindred). If the blood came from a mortal, each success allows him to learn one of the following: the mortal’s Nature, her Demeanor, any Derangements she may possess, whether she is blood bonded, and whether she carries any blood-borne diseases. If the vitae came from a vampire, he can learn all of the previous information, plus anything discoverable with the first level of the Path of Blood (see V20, p. 213). The Ventrue may taste the blood of a mortal who does not fit within his feeding restriction long enough to use this ability, but he must immediately spit it out afterward. Vampires that do not have Auspex •• cannot take this Merit.

 

Prayer to St. Gustav
To the Ventrue antitribu, the Presence discipline (while useful) is often viewed as decadent and unworthy of the martial heritage they imagine for themselves. In contrast, the Auspex discipline is prized for its power to grant insights and to see through deceptions. This ignobilis ritus allows a Ventrue antitribu to replace Presence with Auspex as a Clan Discipline. The ritus requires a group consisting solely of Ventrue antitribu to participate in a Vaulderie while wearing ceremonial armor and singing the praises of St. Gustav Mallenhaus, the founder of the Sabbat Inquisition. The player of any crusader present who has not yet acquired any dots in Presence may roll Intelligence + Occult (difficulty 7), and if the roll succeeds, she may replace Presence with Auspex as a Clan Discipline. With five or more successes, the Storyteller may decide to award the Blessed by St. Gustav Merit. A character who has already started learning Presence may attempt this ritus, but may not swap out his Presence for Auspex — instead his Presence immediately becomes outof-Clan, and the player must pay the difference in experience points between what the Presence cost before and what it costs now.  

 

Blessed by St. Gustav (4pt. Merit)
Many Ventrue antitribu replace their traditional affinity for Presence with an aptitude for Auspex by means of the ignobilis ritus known as the Prayer to St. Gustav (see sidebar). For your piety and devotion to the Sabbat cause, you have been especially blessed and have an affinity for both Disciplines. System: This Merit is identical to Additional Discipline Merit found on V20, p. 494, except that it can only be used to add Auspex as a fourth in-Clan discipline. Only Ventrue antitribu can take this Merit. Uncommon Vitae Preference (2pt. Flaw) Your preferred source for vitae is rarified even by the standards of your Clan, such as “only Korean War vets,” “only Federal Court Judges,” or “only virgins over the age of 40.” The difficulty of all hunting rolls for your character is increased by +2, to a maximum of 9.

 

Elder Discipline Powers
 

Fealty (Dominate ••••• •)
This power allows the Ventrue to sanctify an oath or promise freely given (and even one falsely given) so that the oath-giver is incapable of going back on his word or refusing to fulfill his promise. This power will not function if the target was compelled to give the oath, but it will work if the oath-giver is tricked into making it. System: The player rolls Charisma + Politics (difficulty is the oath-giver’s current Willpower). The number of successes determines the duration during which the oath-giver is bound. While the effect lasts, the oath-giver must spend a Willpower point prior to each action he attempts which violates his promise, and he suffers one level of bashing damage during each scene in which he is conscious and yet not actively doing something to fulfill the oath. If the oath was for a specific action, the duration ends once it is accomplished.

Successes     Duration
     1                   One day
     2                  One week
     3                  One month
     4                  One year
     5                  Ten years

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Curse the Laurel (Fortitude ••••• •)
An unusual application of Fortitude, this power allows a Ventrue who has been successfully staked to slowly restructure her very heart around the offending stake so that it ceases to paralyze the Ventrue. System: The player spends a Willpower point and rolls Stamina + Survival (difficulty 9). The number of successes determines how quickly the stake can be negated, according to the chart below. Each use of this power affects a single stake. On a failed roll, the player can spend another Willpower and roll again, but he cannot combine successes from multiple rolls. Only the roll with the most successes applies. On a botch, the vampire may not attempt to neutralize the stake again. 

Successes      Time until the stake is neutralized
     1                    One month
     2                   One week
     3+                  Immediate
 

The power only removes the stake from the heart, not from the body. It will remain trapped in the Ventrue’s dead flesh until removed. 

 

Combination Disciplines
 

Command from Afar (Auspex ••••, Presence ••••)
This power has lost much of its former value since the advent of the cellphone, but many Ventrue (in both Sects) still swear by it for its impeccable security. By combining the long range effects of Summoning with the communicative benefits of Telepathy, the Ventrue can give complicated instructions over nearly any distance to any individual who is blood bonded to her or that she shares Vinculum with. 
System: The player must spend a Willpower point to activate this power, and then roll the character’s Charisma + Expression. For each success, the Ventrue can communicate up to five words to a single ghoul, blood-bound vampire, or packmate with Vinculum over any distance, so long as it is night where both of them are. The target will intuitively know whom the mental message comes from. The target is under no particular compulsion to obey, beyond any the compulsion normally attached to the bond or Vinculum. This power costs 24 experience points to learn.

 

Denial of Aphrodite’s Kiss (Dominate •••, Presence •••) It is an insult to the Ventrue’s dignitas that he may be victimized by a lesser Kindred’s use of one of the signature disciplines of his Clan. This power allows the Ventrue to apply the immunity to Dominate attempts by vampires of higher Generation to Presence attempts instead. 
System: Once learned, this power is always active. Any use of Presence Levels One, Two, or Three against the Ventrue by another vampire will be ineffective if that vampire’s Generation is higher than that of the Ventrue. This power costs 18 experience points to learn. 

 

Divine Aura (Auspex ••, Presence •••)
This power is commonly used by those Ventrue antitribu who also study Auspex. It allows the antitribu to instill the power of her Entrancement into her own aura so that anyone who attempts to study that aura risks bowing before her.
System: The antitribu must spend one blood point to activate Divine Aura for the night. Until the sun rises, if any other Kindred attempt to inspect the antitribu’s aura, she may make a single reflexive Entrancement attack against him. The player makes the roll for the antitribu as normal, but the Cainite need not focus her attention on the target. Indeed, it is not even necessary for the antitribu to know that the aura reading attempt was made. This power costs 15 experience points to learn.

 

Impeccable Manners (Auspex ••, Presence •)
The Ventrue intuitively senses the mood of another person through an unconscious awareness of her aura. Then, he instinctively modifies his actions so as to shy away from offensive conduct while effortlessly doing things that appeal to the subject. 
System: While the Ventrue is interacting socially with another person, the player must roll Perception + Etiquette (difficulty 6 for mortals or 8 for supernatural beings). Each success on this roll reduces the difficulty of all mundane Etiquette or Persuasion rolls made against the same target by -1 for the rest of the scene. This benefit does not modify Discipline rolls. This power costs 9 experience points to learn.

 

Rescue Beacon (Fortitude •, Presence ••••)
Fortitude will not defend against all attacks. The wise Ventrue is prepared for the night his luck runs out and his skill is insufficient. One always needs a backup plan. This power automatically activates a Summoning to the nearest individual who has tasted the Ventrue’s blood in the event he is either forced into torpor or paralyzed via staking. 
System: If the vampire either falls into torpor or is successfully staked, this power activates automatically. The player spends a blood point and rolls Charisma + Subterfuge (difficulty 4); this power is an explicit exception to the general rule that a vampire cannot spend blood while staked. The vampire can only use this power to Summon someone who has tasted the Ventrue’s blood (ghouls, blood-bound vampires, packmates with Vinculum, etc.). Otherwise, the power works as Summon (V20, pp. 195-196). This power costs 15 experience points to learn.

 

Retaliatory Terror (Fortitude •, Presence ••)
Those who dare to attack the Ventrue are soon taught the error of their ways. When an attacker successfully inflicts damage on the Ventrue, the terrifying power associated with her Dread Gaze strikes out at the offender, seemingly straight out of the wound. 
System: Whenever the Ventrue takes damage from a Brawl or Melee attack, the player can choose to spend one blood point and make a reflexive Charisma + Intimidation roll (difficulty equal to the victim’s Wits + Courage). However, the difficulty is reduced by the number of health levels of damage the attacker inflicted on the Ventrue, to a minimum of 4. If successful, the effects are as per Dread Gaze (V20, pp. 194-195). The power cannot be used to retaliate to a successful attempt to stake the Ventrue, as he will be unable to spend blood to activate it. This power costs 9 experience points to learn.

 

Telepathic Command (Auspex ••••, Dominate •)
Generally, the Auspex power of Telepathy cannot be used as a means to silently Dominate another, as both powers require concentration from the vampire. A Ventrue with this power overcomes that limitation. 
System: The vampire must still make eye contact with the target (V20, p. 152). If he does so, he can use Command via telepathic means so that the order is not audible to others nearby. The power cannot affect vampires of lower Generation. This power costs 15 experience points to learn.