Updated: 12 March 2000


Appendice 1: Arachnea

                    Arachnea is the spider-inspired Discipline and is the main reason behind the Black Widows' name. Like the other Black Widow Disciplines, this discipline is a new and secret one and as it is a so intimate part of them, no Black Widow will teach it to anyone.

Arachnea is a Discipline of spiders and Webs. To the contrary of similar Ananasi Gifts, Arachnea's power are bent on the supernatural side, giving the Black Widows not simple spider-like powers but symbolic powers attached to mythological spiders. Arachnea also enhance some Disciplines' powers, enabling the Black Widow to affect spiders through Animalism (See Spider Lace), or to recognize a Black Widow or Ananasi via their aura through Auspex. Unlike most Disciplines Arachnea has two powers for each level. The second is usually a supernatural version of the first, which is usually innofensive to anything human sized...

While True Black Widows and Caitiff Black Widows can ''choose'' the size of their tattoo, by buying the Merits and Flaws in the Character Creation chapter, Everyone else learning Arachnea will be afflicted with the Tattoo's Weakness of the Black Widow but with no Choice of location nor size. Also, most of the time, the Tattoo will be horribly transformed, depending on the condition of acquiring the Discipline (A red-hourglass scorpion instead of a black widow for a Male childe of a True Black Widow, from a degenerated insect/alien-like tattoo with a morphed sickly-green hourglass for a Discipline thief). Roll a d10 and consult the following table.

Note: ''Black Widow'' indicates the vampire while ''black widow'' means the spider.

* : Kiss of the Spider

                    The Black Widow is able to inject through her fangs a lethal poison which, if enhanced with Vitae, can even be deadly to supernatural creatures. Of course, the Black Widow must bite the victim (in combat situation, at least one damage is needed), which means that, in most cases, she needs to grapple the victim, and then bite him. if she succeeds, she can roll poison damage.

                    System: Dexterity + Medicine/Toxicology. Zero (Bashing) or one (Aggravated) Blood Point.
If the Black Widow don't use Vitae, the poison is considered Bashing Damage (furthermore, dead and undead are unaffected). Should she use a Blood Point when biting, the damage is Aggravated.

** : Web Weaving

                    The Black Widow has developed, between the nails and the fingers little spinerets. She can spin strong threads of silk, and the like. The main problem is that this silk dissolve under the light of the sun...
The Black Widow can produce webbing with or without using Vitae. Without means normal webbing. With means a strong webbing that, as written in Ananasi (p88), if correctly attached and prepared, could stop a private jet... Note that normal webbing is ''normal'' in appearance, but supernatural webbing can give the unnerving (and perhaps true!) impression the web strands were woven by a giant spider!
Weaving webs takes variable time: For little volume webs, or for a rope, it takes only one turn, but for great volumes, it can take more time to weave the silk in the desired form.
The Black Widow can, if desired, cut down the web she created: The silk will dissolve under contact with her fingers if she wants it so.

                    System: Zero or X Blood Points.
There is two ways to use this power. The first is to weave normal web (using a tiny fraction of a Blood Point, as a rule of thumb ignore it). Anything with at least 1 Strength can break free of it. The second is to use Vitae to weave supernatural web which will have supernatural strength. Usually two types of weaving are used:
1) For each Blood Point used, the Black Widow can weave a 20 meters ''silk rope'' of 9-Strength, 3-Stamina, 3-Health Levels (0, -3, -6, Cut) traits. This silk cord cannot soak Aggravated Damage, but cannot be damaged by blunt attacks. This web can also glue to anything touching it (if it was created as such: Glue Strength equal to the Black Widow's Arachnea rating). The only time limit is the time needed to ''burn'' the Vitae into silk.
2) The type of weaving is a very lenghty one, and can take as much as one Scene, or even more. For each Blood Point burnt, the Black Widow can weave a 1,5 meters sided cube of web. This mass of web is a very efficient trap, as anyone caught within will usually get entangle himself more and more as he will move and move to free himself, and thus virtually wrapping himself in really strong, glueing webbing. This web has the same traits as the ''rope'', but the geometry of the web limits its effects when someone isn't caught within it, and enhances it (by disabbling one's possibility of movement, and thus one's possibility of escaping) when the same one is caught within it. In the same way, it is more difficult to go through a web without being trapped within it (then the strength and the glueing of the web both act against the prisonner), while someone only needs to move a ''rope'' from the way.

*** : Spider Climb

                    The Black Widow can now ''glue'' to any surface. At will, she can glue with a strength equal to her Arachnea's rating, as long as her skin touch the surface. Of course few surfaces are clean enough (or paintless, or strong enough), and the Black Widow is human form will usually fall if she relies too much on this.
By using her Vitae, the Black Widow can now climb on any surface strong enough for her weight This part of the power is highly supernatural in nature, and unlike the first, the Black Widow can climb without any skin contact, and to any surface, even with painting, dirt, etc. as long as the ''skeletton'' of the structure can support her.

                    System: Zero or 1 Blood Point.
At normal use, the Black Widow decreases her difficulty to climb rolls by 1 if she climbs with her bare hands, and by 2 if she climbs with bare hands and feet.
If she uses a Blood Point, she can for a scene enhance this power to supernatural level: This power is such that the Black Widow could walk on the surface, but this is not practical when moving (slow movement). Still, she can remain ''standing''. On the wall, the Black Widow can perform any action normally possible to her, and isn't disoriented by walking or hanging upside down. For rule, purposes, the Black Widow is ''glued'' to the surface with a ''strength'' equal to her Arachnea rating, and thus can't fall in normal conditions. In conditions where a roll is needed, assume all 1s are simple failures, and do not remove successes, and that a failure on the roll means the Black Widow doesn't move.

**** : The Crawling Death

                    When reaching this level, the Black Widow's supernatural ties with spiders and Ananasi has reached a new level. She can now avoid being glued by anything.
But the most important change is that the Black Widow can assume a form similar to the one of the Ananasi Tribe (See Player Guide to Werewolf or Ananasi). It's formed by thousands of black widows spiders (the body mass remains the same). The awareness of the Black Widow is distributed among all the spiders. She can attack someone in range, and usually, the only option remaining to the victim is trying to flee! Note that the Black Widow cannot create Spider Leaders, as a normal Ananasi, and so, the options of this form are limited. But this also protects her against mental destruction (see Ananasi p 120).

                    System: Zero or 1+ Blood Points.
The Black Widow can avoid being glued. Treat this as a ''soak'' roll using her Arachnea rating.
It takes 4 - (blood points spent) turns to achieve the transformation (There is no minimum time: 4 Blood Points means instantaneous change!). No clothes nor equipement are included in the transformation through any silk material is. The body mass is the same. The Black Widow can use all her Disciplines in this form but obvious exceptions (growing claws, Thaumaturgy, etc.). Any action, including attacks, made by the Crawling Death is made normally using the stats of the Black Widow, but unless exception, Strengh is considered equal to zero for Damage purpose.
There is several difference between this form and the human form:
1) As the Black Widow can use any ''normal'' power of Arachnea, in the Crawling Death form, she can now climb at walls without risking falls because of her mass -- Any surface can hold a simple spider, or even swarms of spiders...)
2) The Black Widow can choose the form and density of the ''swarm'' of spiders (there is always one swarm of spiders -- The Black Widow isn't Ananasi!). Thus the Crawling Death attacks can't be dodged unless the victim specifically tries to flee and is faster than the Crawling Death. Parrying of Blocking is always considered failed.
3) Any local attack is ineffective (killing one spider or even 10 won't change anything), though wide area attacks works normally (As a rule of thumb, multiply the damage by the percentage of the zone attacked: If someone use a flamethrower and ''burn'' one third the Crawling Death for 7 Damage, the real damage suffered by the Black Widow is 7/3~2 Damage before soaking...). In the same way the Crawling Death can do multiple actions by dividing the ''swarm'', but must, then, divide the Dice Pools before applying possible penalties.
4) Movement is changed as well. While the Crawling Death must retain some coherence, the Black Widow can ''order'' dispersion (the spiders then flee in all directions, hiding in volumes equal or greaters than a city block!), or she can go from zone A to zone B by dispersing as each spider will go by its own way. There is no Health Level Penalties for movement, but her perception is limited. While in ''dispersion'', the Black Widow must use a Willpower Roll to concentrate in a particular room-sized zone to study without being distracted by the other stimuli perceived by all other spiders.
5) The Black Widow can revert back to human without all spiders be there to join her. The ''lost'' spiders are converted in Aggravated Damage as if they have been destroyed (which they are), as the Black Widow reforms.
6) Of course, the swarm is unable to use coherent strength (so any attack of the swarm must rely on poison or fear), and most uses of strengh (for pushing, opening, but not rending or cuting) will be failed.
7) The damages are changed as well, as any Damage suffered in this form will be considered Aggravated for Healing purposes. Note, too, that only one spider needs to survive for the Black Widow to survive. However, if reduced to a few spiders (i.e.: damaged beyond incapacited but not wholly anihilated) the Black Widow must heal an aggravated point of damage before being able to return to human form and even then she will be considered incapacitated. The good side is that this spider retains most the powers of the Black Widow and that she have some hope of finding Blood enough to feed and grow before falling in Torpor: A sleeping victim won't wake until too late...

***** : Death Caress

                    The Black Widow can kill now with only one touch. Any one touching her (skin to skin) will be affected by the venom. This power is effective against anyone (Alive, Dead or Undead) who attack her and touch her, or any character she touches, even if it is an attack. Should a Gangrel attack a Black Widow with his claws, he would have to soak aggravated damage equal to Virulence. If the Black Widow attacks the same Gangrel with her own Protean Claws, the Gangrel would have to soak damage for the claws, and then for the Virulence (nasty!). Creatures killed by this power don't decay, and don't evolve with time, mummifying with time as water evaporate. Some Ananasi see in this power the influence of the Weaver...
While under the effects of this power, Black Widows shows a nasty resistance to poisons...

                    System: 3 Blood Points. Virulence = (Willpower, Diff:6)
The Black Widow must use 3 Blood points and make a Willpower Roll (difficulty: 6). the number of successes is the ''Virulence'' of her deadly touch. Any one touching her or being touched by her, be it dead or alive, mortal or awakened, will take X Aggravated Damage (X = the Virulence of the Death Caress). She is imune to her own power, and while this power is active, to any Death Caress of another Black Widow.
The player can use the power several times, but only the greater Virulence will be kept. Also, the power lasts for 1 Scene unless the Black Widow wants it to end before, and succeed in a extended Willpower roll (each success decrease the Virulence by one).
This power can be active when in any other form with exeptions: It doesn't work in Mist Form (Protean *****), Shadow Form (Obtenebration *****) but still works in Blood Form (Vicissitude *****) or Crawling Death form (Arachnea ****).
People killed by this power won't decay, as if the victim had been poisonned by Arsenic. Anyone --But the Black Widow-- ingesting the poisoned flesh or Blood (which is worthless anyway, even for the Black Widow) will take Lethal Damage.
While this power is active, the Black Widow can soak any poison/venom/etc. damage (even supernatural or aggravated) with her Arachnea rating.

***** * : Death Web

                    The Black Widow can now control her webs as if it was bonus appendices (treat them like the appendices created by Obtenebration ***). She needs to keep contact with it, throught. This power doesn't use blood but the blood used by the 3rd Level Arachnid's Web. Another use of this power is to transform herself in web, and remain the time she wants in this form.

                    System: See Arachnea ***
Moving tendril of web doesn't cost anything, even if the Web moves itself at a speed equal, more or less, to 1 meter per turn. The powers of the Black Widow extend to the web controled by her, if it's not absurd (like the Gleam of the Red Eyes would be). The only sense available to the web is the touch, but as it's very sensible, decrease all difficulty to tactile sense by the web by 2. (Remember that vibrations like sounds and air displacement can be detected).
The Black Widow can transform herself in web (minimum a cube with a 3 meters side). It costs 3 Bloodpoints, and all the remaining Blood Points and Health Levels (consider them as Blood Points) are put in the web (see 3rd level). The Black Widow is then immune to Bashing Damage, take half Lethal Damage and can soak any damage (including Aggravated) done to her (the web would be torn but would reattach itself). Note that as the ''Health Levels'' of the Black Widow are distributed in all the volume, destroying a tiny parcel would do nothing...

***** * : Web of the Unwary

                    By spending her Vitae, a Black Widow can give to her web powers similar to Obfuscate effects. An invisible web can be dangerous indeed!

                    System: 1 Blood Point per level of the Obfuscate power used, plus the normal roll
The Black Widow must master the Obfuscate power she wants to use. While weaving her web, she must use as much Blood Points as necessary for her web, plus as much blood points as the Obfuscate power(s) has (have) levels, and succeed in any other requirement needed by said Obfuscate power(s). The web (and almost anything caught within it) is then considered Obfuscated.

***** ** : Arachnea Form

                    Despite its name, this power is not another transformation into an Arachnid's form. The form of Arachnea is the actual form of the Kindred, but with the Death Caress as permanent. The Kindred can remove the weakness, but only for a scene.

                    System: Automatic
The Virulence is equal to the Vampire Medicine or Toxicology rating, whichever is higher.
If the Black Widow want to de-activate the power (to feed a Ghoul, for example), she must roll Willpower, Diff: 7. She can re-activate the Virulence at will.

Of course, anything or anyone touching her will suffer the full effect of Death Caress, so it effectively prevent Diablerie (unless the Diabolist has enough Fortitude to soak this Damage: In the case of a Diablerie, the contact is so intimate -- The Diabolist drinks highly toxic Vitae, after all -- that the difficulty to Soak is 9). Note that, too, every organic material touching her (but not spider webs or silk material!) will die and slowly disintegrate, so the Black Widow in Torpor will probably awaken without any clothes, nor stakes...

***** ** : Lilian Form

                    This power enable the Black Widow to take a form similar to the Ananasi Lilian Form. But this one ressemble the Black Widow WITH the red hourglass, and she will keep her human torso, her lower parts being a gigantic version of the black widow spider. She is around five feet high and five feet long in this form. Despite her upper torso's human form, she still have eight legs. Some Lillins (Followers of Lillith) believe this is the true form of their Lillith, and that this is the proof that Black Widows are favored by Lillith.

                    System: 3 Blood Points.
The Black Widow must use 3 blood points to take this form, and she need 3 Turns to change. The equipement and clothes are not included by the transformation (the lower clothes will probably be torn out...) unless made of silk. Because of this high similarity with the Ananasi Lilian Form, the Black Widow in Lilian Form provokes Delirium. Here are the bonuses/maluses:
Str+3, Dex+3, Sta+2, Man-1, App-1.
Biting: Strength Aggravated Damage.

***** ** : Pithus Form

                    This power enable the Black Widow to take the same Pithus form of the Ananasi werespider. But this one ressemble the Black Widow WITH the red hourglass. She is around five feet high and five feet long in this form, with glowing eyes. They have eight legs and their jaws become huge and capable of great damage.

                    System: 3 Blood Points.
The Black Widow must use 3 blood points to take this form, and she need 3 Turns to change. The equipement and clothes are not included by the transformation (the clothes will probably be torn out...) unless thoe made of silk. Because of this high similarity with the Ananasi Pithus Form, the Black Widow in Pithus Form provokes Delirium. Here are the bonuses/maluses:
Str+4, Dex+2, Sta+3, Man-3, App-2.
Biting: Strengh+2 Aggravated Damage.

***** ** : Vampiric Web

                    The Black Widow can now put victims in cocoons (similar to the Special Power) and feed at will from them at distance, the blood "moving" in an "Auspex 5" state from the web to the black Widow's navel. No physical barrier can stop it if it can't stop an Auspex 5-type form (or a Wraith). The problem is that Wraiths could intercept this "channel" of "spiritual blood" and feed from it. Also, anyone who can see Wraiths can see the tendril of spiritual blood.

                    System: See Arachnea 3 for the web weaving
The victim(s) must be caught in a cocoon. They will be drained of their blood by osmose (like the Special Power Blood Cocoon). Mortal will never live very long, but a staked vampire can be a good source of blood, if the Black Widow doesn't fear bloodbonds. Diablerie is impossible by this mean.

***** *** : Ethereal Web

                    This slow power enable the Black Widow to send tendrils of Ethereal silk through the dimensions of Reality, like the Arachnea ***** ** power Vampiric Web, and link herself to other creatures. Most people able affected by this power are Caitiffs or true Black Widows. The Ethereal Tendril links the Caitiff to the Methuselah, enabling the Vampire to inspire the Caitiff, for example, in creating Black Widow's Discipline...

                    System: See after.
This is a role-playing effect only, having to real effect in normal gametime (it can takes year to find a suitable subject).
Once a Caitiff started create the Disciplines, the Ethereal link will mingle her Vitae with the Methuselah's vitae. Each extra level will increase the link until the transformation is complete: Make a Roll with one Dice, Difficulty 13 minus the added level in Arachnea, Furie and Sensualis. Should the roll be a success, an alchemical transformation occurs: The Caitiff is now a Black Widow. She loses any Caitiff bonus/malus, and wins any clan Vampire Bonus (i.e.: Clan Discipline cost, Non-Clan Discipline cost, loss of the power to create new Disciplines, etc.). The Roll can be made only if the Black Widow has at least 1 level in Arachnea, Furie and Sensualis, and is done each time she increases one of those Disciplines.
Blood tests while the Caitiff is transforming will show some kind of Vinculum, and will see the tries to determine her Sire become more and more difficult. After the transformation occured, the Caitiff is not Caitiff anymore. Blood Test will show she is a Bloodline Kindred (Of unknown Bloodline, or for those who know, Black Widow), and that she has no Sire (throught great successes could, perhaps determine who is the Founder of the Bloodline...)

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