Investigation
Charms
Excellent Inquisitor
Attitude
Cost: 1 mote per die
Duration: Until relaxed
Type: Supplementary
Minimum
Investigation: 1
Minimum Essence: 1
Prerequisite
Charms: None
The character grows cold and detached,
studying the world with heartless scrutiny. For each mote of Essence spent, the
player may add 1 die to an Investigation roll, but the number of bonus dice
cannot more than double the character's base Attribute + Ability pool. This
bonus may be maintained for extended investigations, research or interrogation
sessions. However, the bonus only applies to a single specific task that can
last no longer than a scene. This Charm can only enhance one task at a time.
For Example: Prince of Shadows has a prisoner brought before him. He uses
Excellent Inquisitor Attitude for the purpose of interrogating her, spending 4
motes to gain four bonus dice. Since he plans to spend the full scene torturing
his captive, this bonus applies to all related Investigation rolls for the
scene. However, he receives no bonus to search the prisoner's belongings or to
notice clues evident in her dress or accent, since these tasks are unrelated to
interrogation.
Deception-Piercing
Stare
Cost: 6 motes
Duration: One scene
Type: Reflexive
Minimum
Investigation: 2
Minimum Essence: 1
Prerequisite
Charms: Excellent Inquisitor
Attitude
This Charm allows a character to look at
an individual and perceive the slight taint of unrighteousness left by
deliberate lies. This Charm is infallible within its limits, but only detects
deliberate falsehoods. Characters who sincerely believe a falsehood do not register
as having lied, nor do characters who answer in an
unclear manner or withhold information (including those who refuse to answer at
all). Deception-Piercing Stare cannot compel or discern truth.
Unsurpassed Interrogation
Method
Cost: 5 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum
Investigation: 4
Minimum Essence:
2
Prerequisite
Charms: Deception-Piercing
Stare
With this Charm, an Abyssal inflicts
terrible pain on anyone who disrespectfully answers her questions with lies or
silence. This Charm only applies to the extended interrogation of one
individual whose Willpower + Essence is less than the Exalt's Manipulation +
Investigation.
The player of an affected character must
reflexively roll Willpower against a difficulty of the Exalt's permanent Essence
whenever he attempts to lie or withhold relevant information. If the roll
succeeds, the character can answer or remain silent as he wishes, although the
Exalt can repeat the question on the following turn if she is dissatisfied with
the response. If the roll fails, the victim suffers one unsoakable level of
bashing damage and spends the rest of the turn in agony. The Abyssal may not
control or lessen this damage after invoking Unsurpassed Interrogation Method
except by prematurely ending the Charm. It is possible for victims to kill
themselves with repeated lies, although they are not punished for speaking
falsehoods they sincerely believe. The Abyssal can normally ask one question
per turn, though complicated questions may require additional turns to phrase
or answer. This Charm can only be used on a given target once per week.
Incomparable Agony
Technique
Cost: 6 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Minimum
Investigation: 5
Minimum Essence:
3
Prerequisite
Charms: Unsurpassed
Interrogation Method
Building on the principle of Unsurpassed
Interrogation Method, this Charm allows a character to torture victims with the
force of her preternatural will. The Exalt's player must make a Conviction +
Essence roll, resisted by the victim's Willpower + Essence. For every success
rolled beyond the victim's, the Abyssal can psychically inflict one level of
unsoakable bashing or lethal damage or remove one point of temporary
Willpower from the victim's pool. If so desired, the Abyssal's player can apply
fewer successes than he actually rolled. Characters reduced below zero
temporary Willpower with this Charm gain a derangement chosen by the
Storyteller and fall catatonic for the remainder of the scene. Wounds inflicted
by this Charm take whatever form the Abyssal desires, although stigmata and
artistically broken bones are common motifs. The Charm only affects a single
restrained or willingly motionless victim within 5 yards of the Exalt, severely
limiting its combat application. Additionally, the Charm has no effect on
characters with a higher permanent Essence than the Abyssal.
Cunning Scrutiny
Style
Cost: 5 motes
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Minimum
Investigation: 3
Minimum Essence:
1
Prerequisite
Charms: Excellent Inquisitor
Attitude
Through careful examination of undisturbed
physical evidence at a scene, the character can mentally reconstruct the
process that led to that evidence. For example, characters finding a dead body
may analyze its wounds to determine the angle of attack, the type of weapon
used, etc. Although primarily employed for forensic purposes, this Charm may
just as easily reconstruct the evidence left by liaisons or the details of an
abandoned campsite.
This Charm functions automatically only so
long as there is abundant physical evidence. Where evidence is lacking—or has
been disturbed — the player must instead roll Perception + Investigation at a
difficulty determined by the amount of tampering. Success allows the character to
reconstruct events normally.
Corpse Questioning
Technique
Cost: 6 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: One scene
Type: Simple
Minimum
Investigation: 5
Minimum Essence:
3
Prerequisite
Charms: Unsurpassed
Interrogation Method, Cunning Scrutiny Style
Potent memories linger in the flesh, even
after death. This Charm allows an Abyssal to extract those memories, partially
animating a corpse or disembodied head to answer her questions. Cadavers ensorcelled by this Charm open their mouths and
speak in whispering monotones but have no personality of their own. Although
corpses cannot lie, either directly or by significant omission, their memories rot
along with their flesh. For every full week a body has been dead, its
Intelligence is reduced by one dot, to a minimum rating of 1. Corpses can only
understand and speak languages known in life and remain silent if asked questions
they do not understand. Unearthed skulls can barely whisper "yes" or
"no" to the simplest queries, while freshly slain cadavers may answer
virtually any question put to them. Magic that forestalls physical rot also preserves
the Intelligence of a corpse.
Lingering Echo Meditation
Cost: 10 motes, 1 Willpower
Duration: Instant
Type: Simple
Minimum
Investigation: 5
Minimum Essence:
3
Prerequisite
Charms: Corpse Questioning
Technique
Important or emotionally charged events
leave a psychic imprint on the location and objects involved. Such imprints can
last for years or even centuries, depending on their potency. By touching such
a marked place or object and attuning his mind to its passion, an Abyssal with
this Charm may induce a vivid flashback of the events leading to the imprint. If
the scrutinized object has multiple associations, the strongest passion usually
prevails — but not always. Visions triggered by this Charm affect all senses —
in effect, the character is mentally transported to
the time and place of the imprinted passion. Though flashbacks only last a few
seconds in reality, they can appear to take minutes or even hours depending on
their content and intensity. Visions are always colored by their dominant passion.
A violent murder scene may have a slight red tint or a frenetic jerkiness.
Similarly, a couple shown at their wedding might appear softer and more
beautiful — almost ethereal. In no case can a character take any action in a vision
or even choose his vantage point.
As an optional rule, a Storyteller can
trigger this Charm reflexively whenever a character touches an object sufficiently
charged with emotional energy. In such cases, the Essence cost remains the
same, but the Willpower requirement is waived since the resulting vision is not
an act of will. Such flashbacks should enhance mood and move a plot forward.
They should never be used frivolously or as an excuse to drain a character's
Essence.