Custom Combination Discipline / Technique

Like much of Quietus, the madman can turn his blood into an alchemical poison to physically, or in this case mentally harm his opponents. Also like much of Quietus, the poison produced through this process is no longer blood, and cannot be used to blood bond anyone, or be manipulated through uses of Thaumaturgy. This power was created by The Twilight~ as a means to weaken the minds of the heretics he interrogates, to make them more pliable, and easier to extract information from.

 

With the deadly venom and toxins of your studies, you can transmute your blood into a substance that weakens and poisons the minds’ your victims. You can then coat weapons with this foul ichor, spit it at your foes or simply bring it to the surface of your skin to affect your victim by touch. Unwary foes may actually drink such tainted vitae. Each Blood Trait that you spend on this power is converted into a dangerous poison. If this tainted vitae touches a victim or is otherwise ingested into her system, she loses one Mental Trait automatically. Thus, you can strike someone with your hand (and a Physical Challenge) and cause the victim to lose a Mental Trait in addition to the Physical lost from the challenge, due to your venom. You can coat weapons of dagger-size or larger with this poisonous blood, or even kiss your opponent. You can even make a Physical Challenge against anyone within 10 feet to spit this blood at a victim. (Do not actually spit at your foe, of course - simply make your intentions known before making the challenge.)

 

Mortals who lose all of their Mental Traits in this fashion have a complete psychotic break by the next night, and they do not act normally. This could lead to a permanent mental disorder at the discretion of the storyteller. Otherwise, all lost Mental Traits return at the next game session, as usual. Any given attack may only use one Trait of blood with this power, though multiple attackers with poisoned weapons could wreak deadly havoc on a single victim. Similarly, you can only spit a single Trait of this tainted vitae or strike unarmed with a single Blood Trait in each action. Altering your blood in this fashion does not require an action on your part - you can strike an opponent with your hand, for instance, and then declare the use of Lucidity’s Subtle Respite with a single Blood Trait. You can concentrate multiple Blood Traits onto a single weapon, though each strike uses only one Trait of blood (and thus reduces only one Mental Trait from the victim). Of course, preparing yourself thus is a legitimate tactic if you think you will be in a protracted fight and you want a weapon sufficient for several strikes.