Custom Discipline

Note: This is a Physical Discipline that does not directly use Strength or Speed for the activation of any of these powers so it is not directly affected by the benefits of Potence or Celerity. Those who learn this Discipline grow a pair of Tymbals on their neck and antennae on their head. Covering these with a scarf, hat or other things prevents the use of most of these Powers. Enchanting Voice and Soothing Voice do not grant bonuses to this Discipline.

Basic

Echo Sense: By using their tymbals to emit a loud series of chirps and/or clicks then using their antennae to read the vibrations, the user has a better understanding of the area around them. The user spends up to 3 Mental Traits and a full round in concentration. Afterwards, the user is considered 1 Trait higher on Challenges that involve knowing what’s around them (i.e. Attacking, Dodging, Searching, etc.) for a number of rounds equal to the number of Mental Traits spent. Extremely loud noises (i.e. explosions) that happen while this Power is active can stun the user at ST discretion.

Bad Vibrations: The user produces and directs a high frequency a sound wave with their tymbals in order to stir the more primal aspects of a creature. Make a Physical Challenge (retest Animal Ken) vs the Social Traits of a target within 10 feet. On a Success, the target gains the Negative Social Traits Feral x2 for 1 scene/hour. Although the sound waves this Power produces are inaudible to the human ear, those with Heightened Sense: Hearing can tell when this power is used and the general area that it originated from.

Intermediate

Molt: While all Kindred can heal using Vitae, users of Semi No Michi have found a way to try and shed surface wounds as well. By storing Vitae just under the skin, they can attempt to molt the outer layers of skin when healing. When spending Blood to heal you can attempt a Simple Challenge, bidding a Stamina related Trait. On a success or tie, you may remove an extra point of Bashing or Lethal damage. Healing more than 1 point of damage does not grant extra chances to molt. This can only be used once per scene/hour.

The Pied Piper: Being more in tune with the primal nature of their Beast, the user has learned to use sound to direct the focus of another’s fear and frenzy. Make a Physical Challenge (retest Animal Ken) against the Social Traits of a target within 10 feet of you that is under the effects of Frenzy, Rötschreck or another similar effect. On a success, you can change the focus of the target’s rage/fear to another creature within your line of sight that is not being targeted by this power. By spending Physical Traits, you can attempt to affect an extra target equal to the number of Traits spent. If your attempt fails or there are no valid targets to make the focus of the targets’ rage/fear you become the focus.

Advanced

Man-Bug Form: While most practitioners of Semi No Michi tend to favor diplomatic resolutions, they are in no way pacifists. When it comes to serious combat, they tap into their most primal instincts and bring it to the surface. They allow their Vitae to seep from their pores and harden into a frightening carapace and other insect parts. The Beast is also more obvious in the behavior. While not as deadly as the forms of other Clans, this one is designed more for survival.

Activating this form costs 3 Blood Traits and you must spend at least 3 rounds in concentration. The hardened Vitae creates long hardened claws that cause unarmed attacks to deal Lethal damage, fanged tipped chelicerae that increase bite damage by 1 and a chitinous carapace that provides 3 points of armor. Sadly, due to allowing the Beast to be so close to the surface, there are arguably more downsides to this than upsides. You gain the Flaw Conspicuous Consumption, cannot use other shapeshifting powers, gain the Negative Social Traits Bestial, Feral & Repugnant and you cannot initiate Social Challenges except for ones that involve Intimidation while this power is active. After 1 scene/hour the effects wear off as the carapace dries out and crumbles away. Use of this Power destroys any armor currently being worn by the user.

Intermediate Ritual

Geometry teaches that to define a plane a point beyond the dimension is needed.  A line shows one dimension, a triangle two, a cube three and so on.  Mathematics is not the forte of House High Saturday, but the magi certainly work with more planes than the standard mathemetician and must understand this basic principle, even if intuitively, to address some of the concerns that they handle on a nightly basis.

By spending three Blood Traits and drawing a complex septogram with human ash using an ash wand steeped in sandlewood oil the thaumaturge is able to define an area (no larger than a house) that is warded by this ritual.  The next three times that a being, on any plane of existence, cross the thresshold the caster will be aware that something crossed his barrier.  Similarly, if the barrier is destroyed before three individuals have crossed it, the caster is aware of its destruction.

Basic:

Devour Knowledge:

By touching a source of writing and spending a Blood point, the vampire absorbs all of the knowledge therein, regardless of the language it was written. This knowledge does not come immediately however. Over the following nights, the vampire will dream of the book's contents as if it was unfolding like a story. Some information may be so esoteric that the vampire must spend the appropriate xp on knowledges to make sense of what they have 'read'. Truly disturbing information may bestow nightmares or derangements while they are being understood, and books written in arcane languages could take weeks if not months to finally understand. Only one such text may be understood at a time. The vampire may spend a willpower to abandon his efforts.

Chaos to the Fly:

The vampire has tapped into ancient and forgotten dreams of a dead past, steeling his mind and soul against usurpers and intruders. She receives a single free retest whenever she is the defender of a social or mental challenge where a willpower retest is appropriate. ((Think like a mental might retest but only for defense)).

Intermediate:

A Portal Appears:

By spending ten minutes and a point of blood, the vampire may empower a doorway or other opening to act as an anchor until the sunrise. This should be noted at check in. Thereafter, the vampire may spend one point of blood creating a one-way portal the same size and shape as the anchor anywhere they can see and step inside if they wish in that same action. The portal requires spending a physical trait to keep it open longer than a turn which counts as an action. The portal cannot be created in such a fashion that others fall through it (such as creating it beneath someone's feet) however a character may be forced through the portal, provided it is large enough to accommodate them.

The journey through the portal can be harrowing and truly disturbing as they fly through nightmarish realms and alien landscapes where time has no meaning. Each character, except the user and characters with the nightmares flaw must make a Willpower challenge upon arrival. If a character fails they gain the derangement hallucinations until they sleep, seeing every door and window as a gateway to the realms beyond. Characters with the Nightmares flaw must make a nightmares challenge and suffer the consequences. Characters already suffering the trait penalty for nightmares are entirely unaffected by this form of travel.

The Unnamable:

By spending a blood point, the user's body erupts into an alien and horrifying mass of tentacles, teeth and eyes granting the following affects.

• Too Many Eyes: This new form has too many shifting eyes to achieve eye contact for powers. This works both ways.
• Unknown Anatomy: Attempts to stake the vampire require an additional hard test.
• Tentacles: The Vampire  may scale upon walls and ceilings with ease at their normal speed without penalty.
• Body of the Deep: The vampire may fit through openings large enough for their finger and they cannot be grappled.
• Unnamable: Everyone who witnesses this form cannot recall the name and basic information of the vampire who used it. Their face becomes generic, their name remains on the tip of your tongue, their address escapes you. Simply seeing the vampire again later, even a photo negates this effect.

Drawbacks: While the vampire is in control of its body, intricate
motions and speech are impossible.  Any worn equipment can easily be dragged along by the multitude of limbs, but most held weapons are rendered useless as the vampire does not have enough control to wield anything more complicated than a simple club.  If rendered unconscious, the vampire returns to their normal form.

Advanced:

A Monster Appears:

By spending three rounds and spending a Willpower, a portal opens and a horrible monster appears with a singular purpose: it seeks out intelligent creatures who will look upon it and chants in an Eldrich tongue.  Any intelligent creature that can see the monster, even peripherally loses a Willpower each round, and only creatures with human or near human intelligence can perceive the monster.  It does not show up on cameras or recording equipment.  If a victim is reduced to zero willpower, they will be compelled to kneel before it, and join in the Eldrich chanting.  While in this state, they may defend themselves as normal, and respond violently to attackers and those who would pry them away from their "New God".

If pried away, the Monster will follow at a walking pace unless it finds a new "worshiper".  If the Monster is killed or the worshiper escapes they only have vague memories of the entire experience.  The monster is immune to all social and mental powers, but can easily be damaged.  It responds to all challenges by bidding 10 without a retest, and has 10 health levels before it disappears into nothing.  Most attempts to discern what it is returns some ominous answer, however particular powerful or clever means to determine what it is reveals it is like a Tulpa or emanation made of pure thought.

Skipping Stones

Mibasham 3, Yang Prana 1

Cost: 10xp

Whenever the Kuei-jin is attacked, her player may invoke this power by spending one Yang Chi.
The Kuei-jin instantly slips into the Yang World (Umbra) as if employing the Mibasham power Stepping Stones (with the normal Willpower cost and Mental Challenge), avoiding the attack unless the attacker is also capable of striking spirits across the Wall. The Kuei-jin must be able to perceive an attack in order to evade it with this power, and must also be able to spend Yang Chi during the turn in question - this technique does not permit the Kuei-jin to spend any more Chi per turn than normal, or to spend Yang Chi during a turn in which they have already spent Yin Chi.  Finally, depending on the Kuei-jin’s location when they step into the Yang World, this may well take them out of the pot and into the fire...