Custom Combination Discipline / Technique

The Malkavian mind knows no boundaries between sleep and wakefulness. With this power, the vampire can penetrate another’s psyche during the dream state, shaping dreams and nightmares at will. The victim begins to dream of the Malkavian and, through successive encounters, their mind is gradually corrupted.

System
- The Malkavian must engage in a Mental Challenge with the target (the Malk must have at least +1 Mental Trait more than the target for the power to take effect).
- If successful, the vampire audibly speaks or whispers: “The unconscious opens doors.”
- The target will dream of the Malkavian that night.
- For the target to keep dreaming on subsequent nights, the Malk may initiate a Mental Challenge at a distance.

Effects

First Dream Contact
- The target dreams of the Malkavian in a distant manner, as a background presence or observing figure.
- The dream cannot yet be altered.

To use the Next Level, the Malk must have appeared in three of the target’s dreams (that is, at least three successful Mental Challenges must occur). These do not need to happen on consecutive nights, but must occur within one month, or the discipline’s effect is lost.

Intermediate Level: Second Encounter (in person with the target)

- If the Malkavian meets the target physically and, during casual conversation, says the phrase “The doors of the unconscious open,” the dream-bond deepens.
- From that night on, the target begins to have corrupted dreams, shaped by the Malkavian’s will (they may induce nightmares, distorted memories, coded messages, or false prophetic visions).
- Each dream corresponds to a Mental Challenge. The first must be in person, subsequent ones may be performed at a distance.

Prolongation – After at least three Intermediate Level dreams

- Each new victory in Mental Challenges against the same target allows the Malkavian to redirect or reshape the dream content.
- The target gradually loses the ability to distinguish between real memories and dreamt ones.
- Mental Challenges for this stage may also be performed at a distance.

MET Mechanics
Cost: 1 Willpower Trait to activate (per target).
Test: Mental Challenge against the target; the Malkavian may spend Social or Mental Traits as appropriate for the scene.
Resistance: The target may spend 1 Willpower Trait to resist an entire night of imposed dreams.

Accumulation: Each time the target loses to the Malkavian in subsequent encounters, they gain one Temporary Derangement (chosen by the Storyteller) related to insomnia, paranoia, or memory confusion.

Storyteller Notes
- This power does not control the target’s conscious actions, but rather weakens their mental stability.
- In long-term chronicles, recurring victims may eventually develop permanent Derangements.
- This power is subtle: unlike direct Presence or Dominate, its effects occur in dreams and the psyche — enabling long-term psychological manipulation.