The Ravnos have a well-earned reputation as the masters of trickery and deceit. Beyond their cunning and wit, they have earned the reputation through their Chimerstry Discipline. Chimerstry allows the Ravnos to create compelling illusions and hallucinations that befuddle the senses of others. Basic illusions may create distractions in market squares or make a copper penny seen to turn into a gold crown. Advanced Chimerstry illusions affect their victims on a deep psychological level, such that a hallucinatory wooden stake could actually hurt a vampire and make her believe she is paralyzed. Since most people in the dark medieval period believe in magic and would not be entirely surprised to see someone conjure an item out of thin air Chimerstry powers rarely face resistance rolls. Conversely the same folk who believe in magic, have also heard tales of faerie old and other illusions; pervasive belief in magic engenders skepticism of objects offered by known magicians. When it comes to scaring a peasant lynch mob, an illusion could send superstitious mortals running or could fuel them with religious fervor against the “diabolist.” An illusion cannot be created if the vampire making it cannot sense it. A blindfolded Cainite cannot use Ignis Fatuus to create an image of a sword. However, she can use dweomer to create one in her hand because she can touch it, and other people could still see, smell, feel, taste ad smell the sword. The Ravnos believe their Chimerstry power originated from drinking the vitae from the true masters of illusion, the Fae. Every time a Ravnos sets out to learn a new Chimerstry power she must first seek out a faerie and drink its blood. The custom has led to a painful initiation ritual among Ravnos who seek to learn this discipline. It has also created mixed relationships between the Fae and Ravnos clan. Fae who have been attacked for their vitae despise the clan while other Fae have traded blood for favors. These favors are battered among different Fae lick currency, and some Ravnos end up owing debts of service for hundreds of years to faeries they have never met.
Level 1 Ignis Fatuus
Level 2 Dweomer
Level 3 Apparition
Level 4 Permanency
Level 5 Horrid Reality
Mass Horror
Fata Amria
Army of Apparitions
Mirror’s Visage
Sensory Overload
Fantasy World
These minor, static illusions affect one sense. Anyone in the area can detect the illusion with that sense, but not with any others. Note that even if an illusion can be detected by touch, it is not really there. Thus, an invisible Ignis Fatuus wall could be touched, just as an illusory slap could be felt, but the wall could not bar a person’s passage, not could an illusory bridge be used to cross a river.
System:
An illusion costs one point of Willpower to create, and lasts until the character can no longer sense it, decides to end it or it is seen through in some way. Ending an illusion takes no time or effort and occurs whenever the creator wishes.
An illusion created with this power can he detected by any or all senses, as decided by the creator of the illusion. Once again, the illusion is not really there, and tactile ones can be passed through.
System:
Like the illusions created by Ignis Fatuus, these are static and cannot be moved once created. They cost two Willpower points to create and disappear per Ignis Fatuus illusions.
This power is used in conjunction with either of the above powers. Apparition allows the illusion in question to have a foil range of motion. This motion appears perfectly natural as long as the vampire maintaining it is familiar with the proper movement of the subject.
System:
The creator spends one Blood Point to make an illusion move in one specific way; she can change or stop this motion, but only if she has done nothing save concentrate on the illusion after creating it.
This power, also used with Ignis Fatuus or Dweomer, allows an illusion to continue even when the vampire is not in its presence. Even illusions that have a range of motion through the use of Apparition can be made permanent, though the vampire must first concentrate on the illusion as it goes through the range of motion desired. The illusion then continues to follow this pattern for as long as it exists. Note that this power only affects illusions created by Chimerstry and has no effect on other Disciplines or objects.
System:
The vampire need only expend a Blood Point, and the illusion remains intact until dissolved.
This power is only effective against one person at a time. Essentially, the victim of Horrid Reality believes completely and totally that the illusion exists. A fake fire bums him, a fake wall bars him passage, and a fake arrow wounds him.
System:
A Horrid Reality costs two Willpower points to create. If the vampire attempts to damage a foe with this power, the player must roll Manipulation + Subterfuge (difficulty of the victim’s Perception + Self-Control/Instinct). Each success inflicts one Health Level of damage upon the victim, though the character can do less than the full amount if, before the dice are rolled, she announces a maximum amount of damage she wants to inflict. A person cannot actually be killed in this manner, and all injuries disappear once the victim is truly convinced that he has not been harmed (which can and will take a considerable amount of time; assume that the “dead” victim later awakens from unconsciousness to find himself perfectly healthy).
Level 6 Powers
Fatuus Mastery
The vampire may create illusions without paying the willpower costs described above. Also, all illusions created will last as long as the vampire is no more than a mile away, unless she wishes them to end before then; she need not sense them to maintain them.
Addendum:
In addition to the ability previously stated, Ravnos gain an additional benefit from mastering this level of Chimerstry, though in most cases even the wielder herself will not know it. Upon attaining Fatuus Mastery, illusions created by the character also manifest in the Penumbra and the Shadowlands, and appear convincing to anyone viewing the scene from there. However, a Ravnos who cannot peer into these locations is still unable to affect them directly.
This power causes more than one person to experience a Horrid Reality. Anyone in the same general area of the illusion senses it as if it were actually present. Thus, if an illusion of a dragon is created, the dragon can blast its fiery breath on several people.
System:
This power works exactly as Horrid Reality, except that multiple targets can be affected. A vampire can generally affect a number of individuals up to her Willpower.
Using this power, a Ravnos may place a potent curse on a target. By evoking the power in her blood, the Ravnos essentially “locks” an illusory effect to the target, which manifests from time to time. The effects of Fata Amria can range from merely annoying to potentially lethal, depending on the severity of the curse and the number of successes rolled by the Ravnos.
System:
Rolls: Manipulation + Intimidation, diff targets Willpower
A Fata Amria costs one Willpower point to initiate. The Ravnos verbally curses the target, then rolls Manipulation + Intimidation against a difficulty of the target’s Willpower. The number of successes determines the strength of the effect, as shown on the table below. The example effect given is simply a guideline; the way in which the Fata Amria manifests is based solely upon the nature of the curse accompanying it.
1 suc - Inconvenient effects; target loses two dice from a given Dice Pool.
2 suc - Minor effects; difficulty numbers are raised by two when in a given circumstance.
3 suc - Major effects; target automatically fails a certain action at a pinnacle moment.
4 suc - Serious effects; target automatically fails certain actions in any stressful simulation.
5 suc - Disastrous effects; target fails all actions involving a given Attribute, Ability or Discipline.
This ability allows the Ravnos to create multiple lifelike apparitions that move and behave like the real thing. This assumes that the Ravnos knows how a given object moves and behaves. A Cainite who has never witnessed a cavalry charge could not accurately reproduce one. Victims of the illusions react to them as if they were real - opponents have been known to rout from artificial cavalry charges, flee from illusory packs of hungry werewolves, or attempt to board and capture ghostly galleys.
System:
The vampire must spend a Blood Point for each moving apparition after the first. She can create a number of individual images equal to her Willpower ruling. The motion continues in the fashion dictated by the vampire until she discontinues her concentration.
Level 7 Powers
Far Fatuus
Roll: Wits + Subterfuge, difficulty variable
The vampire may create illusions at a distance. Once she has succeeded, she may use any Chimerstry power at that location. The difficulty varies with her familiarity with the area, as follows:
Dif. 6 She knows the area like her own haven.
Dif. 7 She has been there frequently.
Dif. 8 She has been there a few times.
Dif. 9 She is basing her knowledge on the detailed description of someone else, having never been there herself.
Dif. 10 She has a photograph, but has never been there herself.
This technique allows the vampire to create illusory duplicates of herself. Those hounding the Ravnos find themselves chasing three or four different copies, each capable of independent movement.
Each image mirrors the Ravnos down to the smallest detail. The Ravnos can send her likeness into potential ambushes or give the illusion of superior numbers. Sociable Ravnos can leave their duplicates to detract boring party guests while they go about their business elsewhere.
System:
The player must spend a Blood Point for each duplicate created. The counterfeits move and behave exactly as the original does. The images speak, smell and even feel like the real thing. Anyone examining multiple images cannot tell the illusions from the genuine article. The effect of this power last for one scene.
Unless otherwise controlled, the images move and talk in the exact manner of the vampire. If the character wishes to control the specific movements of an illusion, the player rolls Wits + Subterfuge (difficulty 6). The number of successes determines the complexity of action the image may perform without revealing its true nature. Failure indicates that the illusion continues to mirror the Ravnos’ every motion. If the player botches, the image discorporates. If the vampire wishes to control more than one image at a time, the player’s Dice Pool is split. The Cainite must be able to see the illusion to issue mental commands. Once out of sight, the illusion continues to follow its orders until the Ravnos allows it to fade or returns to issue new commands.
If a mirror image is attacked, the weapon passes through it. If the Ravnos is not present to command his image to respond accordingly, it does not react at all and continues whatever action it was last assigned.
Level 8 Powers
Pseudo Blindness
The vampire will always know a lie when she hears it. She also can not perceive any power of Obfuscate or Chimerstry below level nine—even if she wants to, and is incapable of either being affected by them, or realizing that they are being used.
Addendum:
In addition to the benefits previously stated for this power, a Ravnos who has mastered Pseudo-Blindness is also unmoved by the effects of the Delirium, nor is she affected by faerie seemings. The Ravnos can also see any chimerical items or animals drawn from the Dreaming as if she were enchanted.
By over stimulating all five senses; a Ravnos may physically incapacitate a target. Though the target may remain conscious, he is unable to move or speak coherently; he is effectively cut off from the outside world, save through his screams.
System:
Roll Intelligence + Occult, difficulty targets Willpower
1 suc - One turn
2 suc - One scene
3 suc - One hour
4 suc - Six hours
5 suc - One day
A Ravnos with this ability can create an illusory world in another being’s mind. The victim of this technique might he wasting away in a dungeon, but believes himself to be a mighty king or adventurous knight.
System:
The player must roll Manipulation + Empathy (difficulty 8) and spend two Willpower points. The number of successes determines the complexity of the fantasy world created, and the amount of time that it lasts. The player decides what the victim experiences, from a nightmarish world to a paradise. If the fantasy world differs inordinately from reality, the victim can make a Willpower roll (difficulty equal m the Ravnos’ Manipulation + Empathy) to detect the illusion. The more realistic the imaginary world, the less likely it is that the victim knows anything is amiss. A victim who recognizes his predicament can spend a Willpower point to shatter the fantasy. When this happens or the power’s time limit expires, the Ravnos may try to reestablish the illusion, but her difficulty increases by two.
1 success: One turn
2 successes: One hour
3 successes: One day
4 successes: One week
5 successes: One fortnight
Level 9 Powers
Sensory Deprivation
The vampire can cause her victim to lose all five senses, and all related abilities, like Auspex. This power lasts for the following time periods:
System:
Roll: Man. + Intimidation, difficulty Willpower
1 suc. One turn.
2 suc. One hour.
3 suc. One day.
4 suc. One month.
5 suc. One year.
