Presence V5

Presence

Known to Clans

Brujah, The Ministry, Toreador and Ventrue

Nicknames

Superstardom, Enthrallment, Sublimitas

Type

Mental

Blood Resonance

Sanguine

Presence

Masquerade Threat

Low-Medium. A subtle power, people seldom realize Presence has affected them at all. As with most Disciplines, its higher powers can leave puzzled witnesses behind, especially once the effects wear off.

About Presence

Most vampires are creatures of grace and lethality. Associated with horrific violence and devastating beauty, Kindred embody opposites, alternating between nightmare and dream depending on the onlooker and the vampire’s whims. Presence is a Discipline that expresses this bipolar existence. Used to attract victims or disperse them in fear, Presence allows crowd control, emotional manipulation, and enforced devotion. A mortal’s greatest fear could stand before them and suddenly look like the most radiant creature on Earth. Many Presence practitioners use this Discipline to easily acquire feeding vessels, while others use it do stalk the night as creatures of horror, making weak-willed kine flee terrified, unsure of what they’ve just seen. Effective as a lure as well as a defense, vampires with Presence enjoy an easier nightlife at the expense of forgetting what feelings projected at them are normal and which are compelled.

Characteristics

Presence affects the emotions of those subject to it, not the minds. While this is useful in that victims are cognizant (unlike Dominate), they are not under the direct control of the user and are thus often unpredictable. In order to be affected by Presence, the subject must be in the physical presence of the user or at least within earshot. The Discipline does not transmit electronically unless the user possesses Star Magnetism (Presence 5). Detecting the use of Presence is very hard unless one has access to Sense the Unseen (Auspex 1) and can even then be too subtle to notice unless one is looking for it specifically. Presence power effects do not stack, so someone using Awe and Entrancement on the same subject would only add their Presence rating once for any Social-based Persuasion rolls. In combat, only the Dread Gaze and Majesty powers have any effect, as charm is of little use when someone has decided they want you hurt.

Powers

• 
  • Awe: The vampire can add their Presence rating to their Persuasion and Performance checks
  • Daunt:  The vampire can add their Presence rating to their Intimidation checks.
  • Eyes of the Serpent:  Amalgam Protean 1.  The vampire can freeze a mortal in place with their gaze.

• 
  • Lingering Kiss: The vampire can gain bonuses to their Social pools against targets that they have Kissed.

• 
  • Dread Gaze: The vampire can inflict terror in their target.
  • Entrancement: The vampire can add their Presence rating to all Social pools and make small requests of the target. 

• 
  • Irresistable Voice: Amalgam Dominate 1. The vampire can now use Dominate powers with their voice alone.
  • Summon: The Vampire may summon anyone that has been under the influence of their Awe, Entrancement or Tasted the user's Blood.

• 
  • Majesty: The vampire can make everyone in their presence unable to act in conflict against them.
  • Star Magnetism: Awe, Daunt, and Entrancement can be used through live feeds and electronic streams.