VAMPIRIC DISCIPLINES

Disciplines are the abilities of the kindred who are both clan based and passed from a sire to their childe. Aside from their immortality, ability to heal, and ability to improve their physical capabilities through expenditure of blood, Disciplines are what grant Kindred their supernatural power. Training in each Discipline provides several related powers such as shapeshifting abilities or influence over the minds of others.

Every discipline comes with three different types of abilities that individually requires training. If a vampire learns how to use one of three, it does not mean they automatically knows how to use them all.

Rules: Remember that it's exceptionally rare for a vampire to master their discipline quickly. Disciplines takes decades to not only master, but to learn. This means that a fledgling vampire wouldn't immediately know how to use their clan's discipline, regardless of how much of a prodigy they are. A vampire can only use so much of their discipline ability before needing to rest and replenish their power. It requires focus, rest and respect. Irresponsible use can cause a variety of side effects, both on the mind and on the body. It takes its toll on the vampire. Disciplines also comes with a range: It's limited to a clear line of sight.

A few things to keep in mind when deciding how well versed your vampire is when it comes to using their disciplines: How long have they been practicing? Someone who practices their discipline every day for a hundred years would be much more skilled and have much more control then someone who does it every so often. Does it make sense for someone who has been a vampire for twenty years to be this powerful (likely not)? Have they spent many years training and studying? How do they react to the usage of their discipline?

DOMINATE - CLAN VENTRUE

Dominate is a discipline that overwhelms another person's mind with the vampire's will, forcing victims to think or act according to the vampire's decree. While undeniably powerful, its use almost always adheres to two important restrictions: the user must meet the eyes of the target and must speak in language that is clearly heard and understood by the target. Furthermore, this discipline cannot be used upon vampires of lower generation and cannot force someone to be self-destructive or defy their nature.

Mind Control: This grants the vampire the ability to control the minds of others, causing the target to be partially subject to their mental control. While being controlled, the target still has full recollection and awareness of what is happening to them.

Limitations:
This ability does not work on lower generations. For example, a gen 10 vamp cannot use mind control on a gen 9 vamp.

Requires eye contact and immense focus as well as clear language. The target must be able to hear and understand the user. This ability also requires immense focus and once that focus is broken, the user will lose their control of the target. Only works on one vampire at a time and four regular mortals.

This ability does not work if it requires the target to do something they normally wouldn't/something that goes against their nature. For example, the user cannot make someone kill someone if they normally wouldn't be able to do so.

People with higher will power will be harder to control, and some can even fight against it.

Memory Manipulation: This grants the vampire the ability to modify, fabricate, suppress, influence, repair, restore, erase and view other people's memories.

Limitations:
This ability requires quite a lot of concentration: Viewing memories takes little effort, but altering memories in any way takes skill, focus and a lot of practice.

The user might get easily overwhelmed by the flood of memories and as such, may be easily fatigued and lose control.

Is limited to touch or direct eye contact: The user needs to either touch or stare the target directly in the eyes while using their ability.

Overuse and/or memories inconsistent with the environment, other memories, and/or other key elements may cause the target to suffer a nervous breakdown.

Dream Walking: This grants the vampire the ability to enter the dreams of others. They cannot physically change anything within the dream, nor are they visible to the dreamer. They can only observe.

Limitations:
This ability only works when the target is asleep, and if the target wakes up before the user has left the dream, the user will experience severe discomfort and may even feel disoriented after wards.

The user's body is extremely vulnerable when inside someone else's dream.

AUSPEX - CLAN MALKAVIAN

Auspex is a discipline that allows the vampire to see more than what one would normally be able to. They can read the past history of objects, see the world in a way others would not be able to and even read the mind of unsuspecting subjects.

Psychometry: This grants the vampire the ability to obtain information by touching an object. They gain knowledge including the makers, users, and even those who have on passing used the object, and what has been done with it. The older the object, the more history comes with it. Generally, the "reading" appears like a movie.

Limitations:
The user cannot read the history of sentient beings: This only works on inanimate objects, and it works through touch only.

When using this ability, the user is sucked out of the present moment, leaving their body vulnerable and incapable of defending itself.

The more detailed the memory, the harder it will be to get a proper read on it. It can easily overload the user's senses. One cannot pick a random memory: One has to shuffle through them all to find what one is looking for.

Spirit Walk: This grants the vampire the ability to separate their mind from their body for a short amount of time.

Limitations:
Only works for a short amount of time (usually no more than an hour) and is limited to a short range: Roughly that of the size of a football field.

This leaves the user's body incredibly vulnerable and the body will be incapable of defending itself.

When using the ability, the user cannot in any way interact with the world around them: They can only use their senses.

Telepathy: This grants the vampire the ability to read the minds of other people aka reading their current thoughts.

Limitations:
Does not work on vampires from a lower generation. For example, a gen 10 vampire cannot read the mind of a gen 9 vampire.

Is limited to a direct line of sight and the user can only read the mind of one person at a time. The user can also only read current thoughts, rather than digging through one's mind to find what they're looking for.

Unless one is multilingual or has the automatic ability to translate and/or decrypt, the ability may not work if the target is thinking in alternate languages or encrypted codes.

Requires a lot of focus and concentration. If the focus is lost, the user will have to re-focus in order to continue reading the target's thoughts. This ability is not constantly active.

POTENCE - CLAN BRUJAH

Potence is a Discipline that grants the Brujah the ability to be stronger, more durable and much faster than their fellow kindred.

Enhanced Strength: This grants the vampire the ability to be much stronger than that of their fellow kindred: They're twice as strong as a regular kindred.

Enhanced Durability: This grants the vampire the ability to be much more durable than that of their fellow kindred: They can take twice as much damage as a regular kindred.

Enhanced Speed: This grants the vampire the ability to much faster than that of their fellow kindred: They can move twice as fast as a regular kindred.

PRESENCE - CLAN TOREADOR

Presence is a discipline that makes things appear that aren't really there. Be it turning a crowd into an audience, distraction into rapt attention, and aggression into adoration, presence offers the ability to create something out of nothing.

Enhanced Charisma: This grants the vampire the ability of unnaturally high charisma and charm, enabling them to gain the trust and loyalty of others and win them over to their cause.

Limitations:
While this makes the vampire more charismatic, it should not be confused with mind control. They can in no way control someone beyond the fact that they're exceptionally more charming than a regular kindred.

Pain Illusion: This grants the vampire the ability to trick the target's mind into thinking they are in physical pain.

Limitations:
The target will in no way get physically hurt. They only think they are in pain, but the body will still react as if the pain was physical - until the illusion ends.

Only works on one target at a time and is limited to eye contact or touching: If the eye contact or touch is lose, the illusion will disappear. The same thing goes for focus and concentration. This ability only lasts for roughly an hour and is extremely straining on the user.

Mirage Manipulation: This grants the vampire the ability to create illusions, causing the target to see, hear, touch, smell or taste things which does not actually exist.

Limitations:
The more complex the illusion, the more focus it requires. If the focus is broken, the illusion will disappear.

Is limited to a direct line of sight and the user can only use this ability on three targets at a time. The longer the illusion lasts, the more strain it puts on the user, which can result in bleeds (eyes, ears, mouth).

These illusions cannot inflict physical pain or damage the target in any physical way.

ATTENUABIS - THIN BLOODS

While Thin Bloods have no direct discipline of their own, they do have certain 'skills' that the rest of the kindred do not:

They are harder to hunt (both by kindred and hunters alike) due to being able to better blend in with humans and being able to make their skin feel warmer to the touch. While they cannot digest human food, they have a better time keeping it down for a certain length to make themselves appear more human-like. They also have a lesser chance of being frenzied.