Post by Phsycodelic on Oct 18, 2016 21:31:06 GMT
Celerity
Assamites, Brujah, Toreadors
Assamites, Brujah, Toreadors
Usually, elders progress in Celerity according to the existing progression - more dots mean more dice and potential actions a turn that are available, and levels 6 through 9 have those powers available at each level, as normal. Similar to other Disciplines at level 6 or higher, though, alternative powers exist. If the elder wants to purchase an alternative power instead of the typical progression, she can, but she forfeits the capacity an extra Dexterity die and potential for an extra action to gain the special power instead. She can go back later and purchase the "normal" dot of Celerity later, as desired.
Note that it isn't possible to "skip" levels of progression for the normal Discipline - an elder with Celerity 7 that buys Projectile at level 6 needs to go back and buy the normal level 6 power before getting the access to his level 7 power that grants the capacity for up to seven Dexterity dice or actions in a turn.
[ 1 - 5 ] Celerity Levels 1 - 5 ( Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition - Page 142 )
System: Each point of Celerity adds one die to every Dexterity-related dice roll. In addition, the player can spend one blood point to take an extra action up to the number of dots he has in Celerity at the beginning of the relevant turn; this expenditure can go beyond her normal Generation maximum. Any dots used for extra actions, however, are no longer available for Dexterity-related rolls during that turn. These additional actions must be physical (e.g., the vampire cannot use a mental Discipline like Dominate multiple times in one turn), and extra actions occur at the end of the turn (the vampire's regular action still takes place per her initiative roll).
Normally, a character without Celerity must divide their dice if she wants to take multiple actions in a single turn. A character using Celerity performs his extra actions (including full movement) without penalty, gaining a full dice pool for each separate action. Extra actions gained through Celerity may not in turn be split into multiple actions, however.
[ 6 ] Flawless Parry ( XXX - Page X )
This power is a boon to those Cainites who are not of a martial bent, allowing them to react quickly to incoming threats and defend against them. More aggressive Cainites may scoff at this power, but Flawless Parry ensures that even a Cainite with only a minimum of combat training can make the most of it in combat.
System: To activate this power, the player decides how many defensive actions the character wishes to gain, up to a maximum of her character’s Celerity rating plus one, and then spends one blood point per action after the first. This blood expenditure is considered Celerity use and as such does not count against the maximum number of blood that can be spent per turn. The character may take no other actions while using Flawless Parry, but each defense gained from this power is considered to have successes on all the dice in the dice pool. The player decides which attacks to use a defense against and which not to before the opponent’s dice are rolled.
Example: Lord Raymond finds himself assaulted in the town square by six ghoul ruffians sent by an enemy. He draws his blade, calls out for his nearby allies and then activates Flawless Parry. Raymond has Celerity 6, so he can potentially take seven defensive actions. He is running low on blood, however, so he decides on six (his player spends 5 blood points). Raymond has Dexterity 3, Melee 2 and Dodge 1. Three of the ghouls shoot at him with crossbows, and against these attacks, Raymond has four automatic successes to dodge (as he would normally have four dice to dodge such attacks). The three other ghouls attack him with axes, and against these, Raymond has five automatic successes to parry (because his normal parry pool is five dice).
[ 6 ] Precision ( XXX - Page X )
While many elders Cainites simply develop their superhuman reflexes to truly amazing levels, others find new and varied uses for the ability - like Precision. This focused technique allows its wielder to apply all of his intense energy to the smallest of targets. He effectively increases his fine manipulation capabilities beyond those of the most advanced mechanical lathes by moving so quickly as to disturb absolutely nothing save that which he actually touches. Cainite sculptors who have mastered Precision are capable of creating works of near-microscopic detail by striking so swiftly as to remove only the tiniest shavings of wood or stone. A certain medical specialist of the vizier caste is reputed to be capable of wielding surgical tools so deftly as to be able to reattach severed spinal tissue.
System: The player spends two blood points and a Willpower point and rolls Dexterity + Crafts (difficulty 6, substituting an appropriate Ability for Crafts at the Storyteller's discretion). For each success, the player may add one dice to all rolls pertaining to precision, fine manipulation or moving something without disturbing its surroundings. This power lasts for a number of minutes equal to the character's Celerity rating.
The character is in something of a trance state as she concentrates on channeling all her speed into tiny, flickering motions. Any actions that do not involve fine manipulation are at +2 difficulty. Each conversation is a strain. The character may voluntarily withdraw from Precision before its duration elapses, but all benefits are lost without a subsequent re-invocation of the power. Under no circumstances does Precision give any benefits in combat (though it may allow preparation of weapons of fiendish intricacy).
[ 6 ] Projectile ( Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition - Page 143 )
Despite the fact that a vampire with Celerity moves at incredible speeds, any bullets he fires or knives he throws while in this state don't move any faster than they normally would. Scientifically minded Kindred have been baffled by the phenomenon for centuries, but more pragmatic ones have found a way to work around it. Projectile enables a vampire to take his preternatural speed and transfer it into something he has thrown, fired, or launched.
System: Projectile requires the expenditure of a blood point. In addition, the player must decide how many levels of his character's Celerity he is putting into the speed of the launched object. Thus, a character with Celerity 6 in addition to Projectile could decide to put three dots' worth of speed into a knife he is throwing, and use the other three dots as dice or potential extra actions as per normal. Each dot of Celerity infused into a thrown object becomes an automatic success to the attack's damage roll, assuming the weapon or projectile actually hits.
[ 6 ] Tireless Tread ( Anarchs Unbound - Page 111 )
Prerequisite: Anarch
Much of the initial Anarch Revolt was spent fleeing from unfavorable odds and vengeful elders. This power made some of those escapes possible, enabling the Kindred of those early nights to put far much more ground between themselves and their antagonists than the rest of the world could imagine at the time. As long as the Anarch devoted himself to escape, he could cover enormous distances in a single night.
This power has fallen into some disuse, due to the prevalence of modern transportation methods. The most significant benefit it still has, however, is a virtual inability to be traced. Those flying on planes or riding buses require tickets, and even a properly registered car leaves a paper trail or at least bears a license plate. When a Kindred invokes the Tireless Tread, however, the only evidence of her passing is herself.
System: This power costs one blood point per night. The Kindred "treads" at a rate of 50 miles per hour. This power must be used for at least eight hours, meaning the Kindred must travel a distance of at least 400 miles. Any less and the power fails to work. The Kindred finds a rhythm and stays in it, as opposed to merely sprinting for eight hours. If the Kindred tarries too much along her way, she will find herself unable to find that traveler's pace, and the power will fail entirely.
[ 7 ] Celerity Refinement ( XXX - Page X )
Normally, a user of Celerity must decide at the beginning of a turn how many actions she will take and pay the cost in blood at that time. Some masters of Celerity have managed to refine the Discipline to the point where they can use their blood-born speed as a reaction to events, controlling how fast they move and how much blood they spend. For Cainites low on blood, this can be a great boon, as they can ensure that no actions (and thus no blood) are wasted.
System: If a character possesses Celerity Refinement, the player need not state at the beginning of the turn how much of her character’s Celerity she is activating. Instead, the character may take extra actions as appropriate during the turn - the player simply spends blood as necessary when she wishes the character to take additional actions. She may not take more actions than normally allowed, and the actions cannot be taken at times where Celerity actions cannot be taken (so no nondefensive Celerity actions before all others have acted).
Example: Magdalena the Scholar of Clan Brujah (who possess six levels of "standard" Celerity along with Celerity Refinement) find herself attacked by an unknown Cainite while out hunting. Not knowing the capabilities of her assailant, she chooses a defensive stance and realizes that her attacker knows some Celerity, as he strikes at her three times in rapid succession. Magdalena dodges the first attack, then her player spends 2 blood points, one for each additional attack. Deciding to finish the battle quickly, the player spends a blood point to gain an additional action for Magdalena, which she uses to draw her stake. The player then spends one final blood point to allow the Brujah to attack, hoping to immobilize her attacker. She succeeds, and her opponent falls to the ground paralyzed. If the player had simply activated Magdalena’s full six levels of "standard" Celerity, two actions (and blood points) would have been wasted.
[ 7 ] Flower Of Death ( Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition - Page 143 )
In combat, speed kills. A proper application of Celerity in combat can turn even the meekest Cainite into a walking abattoir. How much more deadly, then, is a vampire with the ability to utilize his preternatural speed to the utmost in combat? Flower of Death allows a vampire to take his Celerity and apply it in full to each hand-to-hand or melee attack he makes.
System: Flower of Death costs four blood points, but the spectacular effect is well worth it. Once the power is in effect, the vampire's bonus dice for Dexterity rolls get added to every dice pool for attack the character makes (even if the roll doesn't use Dexterity) until the end of the scene. Further, even if the Kindred uses some of his Celerity dots for extra actions during the scene, these extra dice are still available. The effect is limited to hand-to-hand or melee weapon attacks - firearms, bows, and other ranged weapons are excluded - but does grant the attacker additional dice for damage rolls. Flower of Death is not cumulative - it is impossible to "layer" uses of the power over one another to create astronomical dice pools.
[ 7 ] Stutter Step ( XXX - Page X )
Calling upon her preternatural speed, a Kindred using this power appears to undertake several actions at once, "flickering" from one action to the next. This is particularly useful in combat, as one's foe cannot guess which of the actions he perceives is the one with which the character follows through. The character seems to be a dervish while this power is in effect, beginning countless feints, dodges and parries.
System: The player spends a Blood Point to activate this power. For the turn in which the character calls upon this power, she may add her full Celerity rating to her Dodge, block or Parry pool. This pool may be also be distributed among multiple actions - a character with this power can use it in a succession of Dodges, moving too fast for the eye to perceive, much like the fluttering of a hummingbird's wings.
[ 8 ] The Unseen Storm ( XXX - Page X )
It is said that the hand can be quicker than the eye. For a Cainite possessing the Unseen Storm, her entire body is faster than the eye, provided she is constantly moving. This power offers true invisibility - people are unable to see the user, yet they can still hear and smell her, though her constant movement garbles these impressions. Also, people do not instinctively step out of her way, as with Obfuscate. On the other hand, the user cannot be seen by anyone who does not possess more Auspex than her Celerity, and she can attack and otherwise interact without becoming visible.
System: The player spends one blood point to activate the Unseen Storm and must continue to spend one blood each turn she wants the power to continue. This expenditure does count against the maximum number of blood that can be spent in a turn. The character may not use any other Celerity powers (other than taking extra actions) while maintaining the Unseen Storm. A person fighting a character using this power counts as blind, while the user automatically blindsides her opponent. The difficulty of all Perception rolls and any physical action except for close combat attacks the character attempts rises by one, because of the user’s rapid movements.
[ 8 ] Zephyr ( Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition - Page 144 )
Zephyr produces an effect vaguely similar to one of the legendary comic book-style uses of enhanced speed, allowing its practitioner to run so fast he can run across water. Particularly successful applications of Zephyr allow a vampire to go so far as to run up walls and, in at least one recorded instance, across a ceiling.
System: Zephyr requires the expenditure of one point blood and one point of Willpower. Unfortunately, Zephyr requires such extremes of concentration that it cannot be combined with any form of attack, or indeed, with most any sort of action at all. If a character using Zephyr feels the need to do something else while moving at such tremendous speeds, a Willpower roll (difficulty 8) is required. Needless to say, botches at Zephyr speed can be spectacular in all the wrong ways. Most times, a vampire moving at such a rate of speed is barely visible, appearing more as a vampire-shaped blur than anything else. Observers must succeed on a Perception + Alertness roll (difficulty 7) to get a decent look at a Kindred zooming past in this fashion.
[ 9 ] Paragon Of Motion ( XXX - Page X )
For masters of Celerity, almost any physical action, no matter how daunting, becomes a simple thing when focused on properly. With Paragon of Motion, the user’s perception of time slows down so that she is able to plan out every movement and correct every mistake before it becomes a problem.
System: The player spends one blood point as the character concentrates for one turn. The character then automatically succeeds on an action that is mainly physical (and doesn’t rely upon strength alone), with no need to roll, as long as the Storyteller does not feel that it is completely impossible. Scaling a smooth, rain-soaked wall, walking along an ice-encrusted ledge in high winds and juggling 15 knives are all simple tasks for someone with this power. Should the Storyteller determine that a roll is necessary (which is generally only if the difficulty would normally be 10 and require multiple successes), the player receives nine automatic successes on the roll. The character cannot use other Celerity powers while employing Paragon of Motion.
If used in combat, Paragon of Motion requires an attack roll (in addition to blood expenditure and a round of concentration), but this roll gains nine automatic successes. The damage roll gains this benefit as well.