Crimson Dusk - Dominate
Dominate
Some Kindred are capable of overwhelming the minds of others with their own force of will, influencing actions and even thoughts. Use of Dominate requires a character to capture a victim’s gaze. The Discipline can therefore be used on only one subject at a time, and is useless if eye contact is not possible. Dominate requires a vampire make eye contact with his victims in order to issue commands. That contact is one-way — the victim needs to see the vampire’s eyes, but not vice versa. This contact is possible through simple barriers like sunglasses (even mirrored) or tinted windows, but does not work when looking at a video feed rather than the vampire himself.
Dominate does not grant the ability to make oneself understood or to communicate mentally. Commands must be issued verbally, though certain simple commands (such as “Go over there!” indicated with a pointed finger and a forceful expression) may be conveyed by signs at the Storyteller’s discretion. No matter how powerful a vampire is, he cannot force his victim to obey if he cannot make himself understood — if, for example, the victim doesn’t speak the same language, he cannot hear or the orders simply make no sense.
Note that victims of Dominate might realize what’s been done to them. That is, they do not automatically sense that they are being controlled, but they might subsequently wonder why they suddenly acted as they did. Wise Kindred, especially those familiar with Dominate, are likely to figure it out in the moment, and few vampires take kindly to being manipulated in such a fashion. Most Kindred who develop Dominate are forceful, controlling personalities, and they can make a reputation for themselves if they use this Discipline wantonly.
In all cases, a dramatic failure while attempting to Dominate a victim renders the would-be victim immune to the character’s Dominate until the next sunset.
Dominate is far more effective against mortals than it is against other Kindred. Most Dominate abilities described here allow the victim to struggle against the effects; that is, a contested roll is made against the Dominator’s player. As no mortal has Blood Potency, the vast majority of humans are at a disadvantage when dealing with the Discipline.
Dominate is also more effective against those whom the user has subjected to a Vinculum. A regnant may use Dominate powers (with the exception of Conditioning) on a thrall without the need for eye contact; the thrall merely has to hear the regnant’s voice.
Other sentient, supernatural beings such as shapechangers who have animal form or who can assume animal form are affected by Dominate rather than by Animalism. A vampire can therefore try to ply his will on a werewolf — even a werewolf in wolf form — by using Dominate. Similarly, Animalism is useless against another vampire who assumes wolf or another bestial form. Animalism is of no avail to the vampire in regard to such intelligent beings.
Note that any Dominate power requiring eye contact is made more difficult if the subject is not standing still or otherwise immobilized. If the target moves about, the roll to initiate the relevant power suffers a -1 penalty in addition to all others listed.
Command
Cost: 5
Once he has established eye contact, the vampire issues a single, one-word command that must be obeyed instantly. The order must be clear and straightforward — freeze, jump, run, stop, fall, cough, blink and so forth. If the command is ambiguous or confusing, the subject might respond slowly or perform the task poorly. Further, commands are always interpreted (within reason) in the subject’s best interests. For example, if the victim stands on the edge of a roof and the character commands “Jump!” the victim might jump up and down, rather than leap off the roof. Of course, the victim would probably not leap off the roof even if the character could find a way to order it. Subjects of Command cannot be made to directly harm themselves, so an obviously suicidal order such as “Die!” is ineffective. “Sleep” and the like causes the subject to follow the order only if he does not believe himself to be in any mortal danger. A character seduced by a Kindred might sleep if so instructed, but one in the middle of a combat or interrogation certainly does not. In such situations, the character merely falls senseless, but only for a turn.
The vampire may include the command word in a sentence, in order to conceal his use of the power from others. The command itself must be stressed, and the character must make eye contact precisely when that word is spoken. Observers may notice the unusual emphasis, but only the most alert — and those familiar with the Discipline — are likely to realize what has occurred.
Activation Cost:—
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Intimidation + Dominate versus Resolve + Blood Potency
Action: Contested; resistance is reflexive
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The subject does not obey and is immune to the character’s Dominate until the next sunset.
Failure: The character loses or ties the contested roll and the subject does not obey.
Success: The character wins the contested roll by getting the most successes, and the victim obeys literally and with appreciable self-preservation.
Exceptional Success: The character wins the contested roll with five or more successes, and the victim not only obeys but rationalizes what he does as his own decision until and unless someone questions him about it in depth. The victim also gains the mesmerized condition.
Assuming the commanded action is one that can carried out for some time, such as “wait” or “sleep,” the subject obeys for a number of turns equal to the successes obtained on the Command roll.
If this power is turned on a vampire with whom the user has a blood tie (see p. 162), a +2 bonus applies to the user’s roll.
Mesmerize
Cost: 5
All a vampire has to do is meet his victim’s eye to catch him in his thrall. His control isn’t obvious; he just asks him to do something and the victim acquiesces. He could unlock a door, pass a gun — or forget ever meeting him. Some cruel vampires mesmerize passers-by just to take the rap for their crimes.
Activation Cost: None
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Expression + Dominate vs. Resolve + Blood Potency
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The victim sees through the vampire’s attempt to control his mind; emboldened, he gains the Steadfast Condition (p. 306).
Failure: The vampire’s victim proves stronger-willed than he’d thought.
Success: The vampire holds his victim’s gaze for just a second, but it’s enough to inflict the Mesmerized Condition (p. 305).
Exceptional Success: The vampire’s control flows over the victim’s brain like water. They want to do whatever the vampire says. The vampire can issue a command in the same action as mesmerizing the victim.
Once he has inflicted the Mesmerized Condition, the vampire can command the victim as an instant action. His commands can’t be longer than three or four words, and he has to be direct — his control doesn’t extend to issuing vague commands. “Follow me,” “Shoot your husband,” and “Repeat after me…” are all suitable commands, while “Forget,” “Submit,” and “Do my bidding” have too much room for interpretation. He can even mess with the victim’s memory, making one statement about the current scene that victim will remember as truth. While he can still only use simple and unambiguous commands, he can pack a lot of changes into four words: “You killed that man” and “I was not here” combine to frame the victim for murder.
Iron Edict
Cost: 10
Once he’s got a hotline into his victim’s mind, the vampire can take some time to play with his thoughts and memories. While it takes more of his power to relay complex commands, he goes from jerking his victim’s strings to controlling him like a puppeteer, making his every movement dance to his tune.
Activation Cost: 1 Vitae; none if victim is in Vinculum with the vampire
Dice Pool: None
Requirement: The vampire must have inflicted the Mesmerized Condition on the victim
Action: Instant
The vampire can issue a longer command to a Mesmerized victim. This edict can be up to three sentences long, and can include a successive series of actions. The command takes two turns per sentence to convey. As with Mesmerize, the vampire’s control doesn’t extend to commands that rely on the victim’s interpretation. The victim takes the Dominated Condition (p. 302) and will follow the vampire’s commands as soon as he finishes speaking them. He continues to follow the order until he has completed his task, or the sun rises. Many Kindred use Iron Edict to issue a simple command, such as “Obey my direct instructions when I give them to you,” which effectively gives them control over the minion until the sun comes up — though it doesn’t extend the duration of the Mesmerized Condition.
Program
Cost: 10
The source of many legends of the vampire’s hypnotic gaze, Mesmerize allows the Kindred to implant a false thought or suggestion into the subject’s subconscious mind. The power requires not only eye contact but intense concentration and precise wording, so both the character and the subject must be free from distraction. The Kindred may activate the imposed thought or command immediately —“Walk over here and open the door” — or he may establish a stimulus that activates the suggestion at a later date — “When you see a man in a blue suit with a red rose in his lapel, you will spill your drink on him.” The victim must be able to understand the vampire. The Kindred must maintain eye contact only as long as it takes to implant the suggestion or idea. Mesmerize can deliver truly complex and long-term commands, such as following someone, taking notes on his activities and reporting back on the first of the next month. A subject can have only one suggestion implanted at any given time.
Activation Cost:—
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Expression + Dominate versus Resolve + Blood Potency
Action: Contested; resistance is reflexive
If this power is turned on a vampire with whom the user has a blood tie (see p. 162), a +2 bonus applies.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The subject does not obey and is immune to the character’s Dominate until the next sunset.
Failure: The character loses or ties the contested roll and the subject does not obey.
Success: The character wins the contested roll by getting the most successes, and the victim obeys to the best of his ability.
Exceptional Success: The character wins the contested roll with five or more successes. The victim not only obeys, but rationalizes what he does as his own decision until and unless someone questions her about it in depth.
This power lasts for as long as it takes the subject to carry out the required task, or until the character is destroyed or enters torpor. Impossible actions such as, “Count every grain of sand on this beach,” automatically fail to take root in the subject’s mind. If, during the course of carrying out the implanted suggestion, the victim realizes he puts himself in danger or acts completely contrary to his normal moral code, a Resolve roll may be made to shake off the compulsion. This is a contested roll. Successes rolled must exceed the number of successes obtained for the dominating character when the individual was first mesmerized.
Dramatic Failure: Not only must the subject continue to carry out the command, no more Resolve rolls may be made to shake the dominator’s control, no matter what the subject is forced to do.
Failure: The victim must continue to carry out the command as ordered.
Success: The victim escapes the suggestion.
Exceptional Success: The victim defies the suggestion, and the dominator incurs a -1 penalty to future attempts to Dominate him until the next night.
No matter how strong the dominator’s will is or how many successes he obtains, he cannot make a subject harm himself directly. Any command to commit suicide is therefore ignored, although commands that are likely to lead to harm — such as, “Walk into that crack house and shoot the man in the red shirt” — are enforceable, subject to the Resolve rolls discussed above.
If a vampire attempts to Mesmerize a subject who is already under the influence of a previously implanted directive, compare the successes rolled in the attempt against the successes gained during the implantation of the first suggestion. If the character obtains more successes than the previous Kindred, the new command may supplant the old one. If he does not, the original command remains active and the new one fails to take root. In case of a tie, the original command takes precedent over the new one. A vampire seeking to supplant an old suggestion with a new one must also acquire successes in excess of those rolled for the subject in his contested Resolve + Blood Potency roll.
