| Dominate |
| This Discipline involves influencing the very thoughts and actions of othersthrough the vampire's own force of will. Use of Dominate requires that the Kindred capture his victim's eye; as such, it may be used against only one subject at a time.The extent of his control depends on the particular power being applied. While truly potent, Dominate powers can be exacting to perform. Commands must be issued verbally; after all, direct mind-to-mind contact is the purview of Auspex.Still, some simple orders may be made with signs---for example, a pointed finger and forceful expression to indicate 'Go!' If the subject doesnt understand the vampire (she doesnt speak the same language, the order doesnt make sence, she cannot hear his words), she wont comply with the direvtive, no matter how mighty the Kindred's supernatural will.Not suprisingly, Kindred who use Dominate were often willful, controlling individuals in mortal life.Indeed,it's quite possible that this is what drew the vampires' sires to them in the first place. After all, the Giovanni, Lasambra, Tremere and Ventrue clans who specialize in this Discipline concider strong will a definite benefit. |
| Levels Of Power |
| Level 1 Command- The vampire locks eyes with the subject and speaks a one-word command which must be obeyed instantly.The order must be clear and straight forward---run, cough, fall, yawn, jump, laugh, sneeze, belch, follow.If the command is at all confusing or ambiguous, the subject may respond slowly or perform the task poorly.The subject cannot be ordered to do something directly harmful to herself, so a command like 'Die' is ineffective.The command may be included in a sentence, thereby concealing the power's use from others. This effort subtlety still requires the Kindred to make eye contact at the proper moment and stress the key word slightly.An alert bystander---or even the victim---may notice the emphasis; still, unless she's conversant with supernatural powers, the individual is likely to attribute the utterance and the subsequent action as bizarre coincidence. |
| Level 2 Mesmerize- With this power, a vampire can verbally implant a false thought or hypnotic suggestion in the subject's subconscious mind. Both Kindred and target must be free from distraction, since Mesmerize requires intense concentration and precise wording to be effective. The vampire may activate the imposed thought immediately or establish a stimulus that will trigger it later.The victim must be able to understand the vampire, although the two need to maintain eye contact only as long as it takes to implant the idea.Mesmerize allows for anything from simple, precise directives (handling over an item) to complex, highly involved ones (taking notes of someone's habits and relaying that information at an appointment time). A subject can have only one suggestion implanted at any time. |
| Level 3 The Forgetful Mind- After capturing the subject's gaze, the vampire delves into the subject's memories,stealing or re-creating them at his whim.The Forgetful Mind does not allow for telepathic contact; the Kindred operates much like a hypnotist,asking direct questions and drawing out the answers from the subject.The degree of memory alteration depends on what the vampire desires.He may alter the subject's mind only slightly---quite effective for eliminating memories of the victim meeting or even being fed upon by the vampire---or utterly undo the victim's memories of her past.The degree of detail used has a direct bearing on how strongly the new memories, since the victim's subconcious mind resists the alteration the vampire imposes. A simplistic or incomplete false memory ('You went to the movies last night') crumbles much more quickly than does one with more attention to detail ('You went to the 9 O'clock showing of the new Leonardo DiCaprio movie.You though about getting some popcorn, but the line was too long so you went right into the theater.The couple next to you kept wispering through the film until someone else shushed them.You liked the movie well enough, but the plot seemed weak.You were tired after it ended, so you went home, watched a little late-night television, and went to bed')Even in its simplest applications, the Forgetful Mind requires tremendous skill and finesse. It's a relatively simple matter to rifle through a victim's psyche and rip out the memories of the previous night,without even knowing what the subject did that evening.Doing so leaves a gap in the victim's mind, though, a hole that can give rise to further problems down the road.The Kindred may describe new memories, but these recollections seldom have the same degree of realism that the subject's true thoughts held.As such, this power isnt always completely effective.The victim may remember being bitten, but believe it to be an animal attack.Greater memories may return in pieces as dreams, or through sensory triggers like a familiar odor or spoken phrase.Even so, months or years may pass before the subject regains enough of her lost memories to make sense of the fragments. A Vampire can also sense when a subject's memories were altered through use of this power, and even restore them like a hypnotist draws forth psychologically suppressed thoughts.However, the Kindred cannot use Forgetful Mind to restore his own memories if they were stolen in such a way. |
| Level 4 Conditioning- Through sustained manipulation, the vampire can make a subject more pliant to the Kindred's will.Over time, the victim becomes increasingly suseptible to the vampire's influence while simultaniously growing more resistant to the corrupting efforts of other immortals.Gaining complete control over a subjectsmind is no small task, taking weeks or even months to accomplish.Kindred often fill their retainers' heads with subtle wispers and veiled urges,therby ensuring these mortals' loyalty.Yet vampires must pay a high price for the minds they ensnare.Servants Dominated in this way lose much of their passion and individuality.They follow the vampire's orders quite literally, seldom taking initiative or showing any imagination.In the end, such retainers become like automatons or the walking dead. |
| Level 5 Possession- At this level of Dominate, the force of the Kindred's psyche is such that it can utterly supplant the mind of a mortal subject.Speaking isn't required, although the vampire must capture the victim's gaze.During the psychic struggle, the contestants' eyes are locking on one another.Once the Kindred crushes the subject's mind,the vampire moves his own conciousness into the victim's body and controls it as easily as he uses his own.The mortal falls into a mental fugue while under possession. She is aware of events only in a distorted,dreamlike fashion.In turn, the vampire's mind focuses entirely on controlling his mortal subject. His immortal body lies in a torpid state, defenseless against any actions made toward it.Vampires cannot possess one another in this fashion,as even the weakest Kindred's mind is strong enough to resist such straightforward mental dominance. Only through a blood bond can one vampire control another to this degree. |
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