Hey everybody! So, bit of a funny story: what with classes and all picking up in mid-October, I ran out of free time to work on bloodline conversions, and it got to the point where I forgot that I was as far along with my Mnemosyne conversion as I was, which also put me off of doing it. So I dusted it off my bloodline conversion document and realized that I had made some good headway with their crunch stuff. So I took some time this weekend to hammer it out and get this up.
So I still need to convert the Norvegi, the Cockscombe Society, Ligeti, and Deucalion. And after that, I'll start on the Covenant book bloodlines since Secrets of the Covenants got released. That should eat up most of my time through to the New Year and next semester, but I should be back to my bloodline-a-week schedule, and the Clan book bloodlines should be done by the end of January. But the good news is: I'm back for the foreseeable future!
So the Mnemosyne. A pretty solid bloodline, all things told. The biggest changes came with Meminisse. I consolidated the one- and three-dot abilities into one devotion because of their complimentary nature. It's not super powerful on its own, but you could get inventive with it, and it's helpful for using the other devotions and thematically ties into the idea of Mnemosyne creating invisible webs of influence. The two-dot ability got changed so that it affects all Skills, not just Mental Skills, because I figured abstract memories could also trigger muscle memory or give you a clue as to how an encounter is going to go down. The four- and five-dot abilities got consolidated, since they have similar scopes.
As always, leave your thoughts and comments!
Bloodline Conversion- Mnemosyne
Knowledge is power. Blood contains power, and thus it also contains knowledge. Let me show you.
To the Kindred, memories are precious things. For many, memories are the only thing that remind them that they were once alive. As the ages wear on, and those memories grow more valuable, and those who possess them grow desperate to retain them. The Fog of Ages is not a certainty for any vampire, but why take the risk? What happens when a vampire emerges from torpor, and can no longer remember where he was born? What if what was and what may be become muddled? The Mekhet of the Mnemosyne bloodline never have to fear the Fog of Ages. Their memories are perfect, infallible things, for their memories are tied to the very Vitae in their veins. What is more, the Mnemosyne can consume the memories of those around them, and even twist those memories to their own purposes.
Background: Records that survived the fall of the Camarilla show that the Cult of Augurs granted privileges to members of the bloodline, and old stories tell of vampires with mastery of blood sympathy stepping out of the shadows from time to time to cure the madness of an elder, or to inflict it on another. They exist in small families, gathering rumors like dust among cobwebs. Historians of the Ordo Dracul identify them as the rank and file of the Moirai, but that ancient cult is long gone… supposedly. As the Mnemosyne age, their original personalities fade, until they become an abstract amalgamation of all the memories they have consumed over the centuries. It is said that people are the sum of the people we encounter in our lives. The Mnemosyne find this statement to be brutally ironic.
The Becoming: The nature of the Mnemosyne bane makes it difficult to discern any pattern in their Embracing patterns. However, many seemed to have had some connection to the occult, either as mortal practitioners or cult members, or had jobs in police work or, more recently, worked in genetics or developmental biology. Mental Attributes are almost always primary, with Social Attributes often coming in second. Skills like Occult, Intimidation, Empathy, and Investigation are valuable.
In the Danse Macabre: When not sitting at the center of cults like a spider in their webs, Mnemosyne often find themselves in positions of great importance and influence in a domain. Some become Hounds, taking a more cerebral approach to a duty that some consider to be little more than leg breaking. Others become occult mental therapists to elders of the domain, helping them to sort through memories that have become jumbled or lost over time. Others take more shadowy duties: personal cleaners to the Prince, wiping memories of Masquerade breaches from the minds of mortals- and incriminating knowledge from the minds of inconvenient Kindred. Ireneo Fuertes, Prince of Buenos Aires, is a Mnemosyne himself. Known more by reputation than by acquaintance, all Covenants both fear and desire the Mnemosyne for their power to consume and alter memories. The Invictus and Lancea et Sanctum value their abilities to verify ancient documents, while the Circle of the Crone and Ordo Dracul have mutual interest in vampires with esoteric abilities, and Carthians of a totalitarian bent salivate at the notion of a vampire as capable of altering memories as the Mnemosyne. A Mnemosyne should be cautious of covenants that shower her with gifts, for those gifts will often turn into daggers if she refuses any faction's overtures too brusquely.
Clan: Mekhet
Nickname: Keepers, Spiders (impolite)
Bloodline Bane: Blood is the font of knowledge. Vitae is the font of power. Mnemosyne are addicted to both, so it's not surprising that they have a propensity towards becoming addicted to blood. Once a Mnemosyne catches a glimpse of the knowledge contained within blood or Vitae, she becomes obsessed with drinking more, and diving further into the crimson pool of memories. Whenever a Mnemosyne tastes blood or Vitae, she must roll Resolve + Composure. This occurs with a -1 penalty for mortal blood, and a -2 penalty for Kindred vitae.
Bloodline Disciplines: Auspex, Celerity, Dominate, Obfuscate
Bloodline Gift: Meminisse
Born of the marriage of Auspex and Dominate, Meminisse grants the user the ability to study the memories of those she has drunken from, and to manipulate those memories to deceive both the mind and the Blood itself. A Mnemosyne automatically learns Weave and Cut the Red Thread upon joining the bloodline.
Weave and Cut the Red Thread
After tasting another Kindred's blood, a Mnemosyne can manipulate blood sympathy to enhance or lessen the bond between them. After tasting the subject's Vitae (it need not be directly from the subject), the Mnemosyne focuses on the subject's familial connection to her, and can choose to either strengthen the blood sympathy by a degree, or weaken it, which will affect both vampires. The subject will not necessarily realize any change, unless he or she succeeds on a Wits + Occult roll if the Mnemosyne enters torpor or meets Final Death and the subject senses it when he previously would not have, or fails to sense it when he previously would have. Vampires who are not Mekhet and have blood sympathy enhanced will automatically know what has happened if the Mnemosyne enters torpor or meets Final Death.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult + Dominate
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Mnemosyne not only fails to strengthen or weaken blood sympathy, but actually achieves the opposite effect of her intent, strengthening or weakening blood sympathy between herself and her subject by one degree of seperation.
Failure: The Mnemosyne fails to affect blood sympathy between herself and her subject.
Success: The Mnemosyne succeeds in manipulating blood sympathy, increasing or decreasing it by one degree.
Exceptional Success: The Mnemosyne's understanding of the sympathy between herself and her subject is impeccible, and she strengthens or diminishes the blood sympathy between herself and her subject by two degrees. If this would carry her beyond once removed sympathy or no sympathy, she regains the Willpower expended for this devotion.
Echoes of the Past (Auspex @@@@)
Now moving beyond surface impressions and tenuous connections, the Mnemosyne learns to draw upon the memories and experiences of those whom she has drunken from. When she is a certain distance away from those whose Vitae or blood she has consumed, she experiences a surge of mental images and impulses that she can attempt to interpret. She cannot yet view or relive individual memories, but she can now make use of others' experience: she is touched by an odd sense of deja vu as her body begins to respond automatically to a situation, she suddenly recalls a piece of information she never learned, or she knows what twists and turns a conversation will take.
Cost: None
Dice Pool: Wits + Occult + Auspex
Action: Instant
The Mnemosyne must be within 100 yards of at least one vampire with whom she has blood sympathy (natural or induced), or a mortal whose blood she has drunk.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The flood of images and instincts is without context, and the Mnemosyne is unable to mentally sift through them. She cannot decide which impulse or memory is useful to her, and she is left at a loss as to how to react. She suffers a -1 to all dice pools per applicable individual within 100 yards.
Failure: The Mnemosyne does not receive any memories.
Success: The Mnemosyne receives a +1 to all Skill rolls per applicable individual within 100 yards. This only affects Discipline rolls if any of the individuals are vampires or ghouls.
Exceptional Success: the Mnemosyne receives a +2 to all Skill rolls per applicable individual within 100 yards. This only affects Discipline rolls if any of the individuals are vampires or ghouls.
This devotion costs two Experiences to learn.
Flow of Memories (Auspex @@@@@, Dominate @@@)
This is the great power of the Mnemosyne: the ability to grant, take, or exchange memories with another vampire or mortal. This makes Mnemosyne excellent investigators and interrogators, but they can be seduced by the possibility to rid themselves or their own memories and take on those of others, becoming a gestalt personality created from dozens or hundreds of individuals.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Presence + Intimidate + Dominate vs. Resolve + Composure + Blood Potency
Action: Contested and Extended; each roll represents one round.
The Mnemosyne must first state her intention: give another character one of her own memories, take another character's memory, or exchange memories.
Dice Results
Dramatic Failure: The Mnemosyne's clumsy efforts result in her destroying some of her own memory without any benefit. She gains the Amnesia Persistent Condition, and can no longer recall any events that occurred in the past month.
Failure: The Mnemosyne fails to make progress, or the target accrues more successes than then Mnemosyne.
Success: A Mnemosyne who accrues ten successes succeeds in granting, taking, or exchanging a desired memory. Neither character involved can remember the memory that was lost. If either character loses a memory, they gain the Amnesia Persistent Condition with regards to the events of the memory, but nothing else. The characters are aware of a gap in their memory. The effect lasts for a week, at which point the memory is automatically restored, and the Amnesia Condition is resolved. The Mnemosyne can attempt to take the same memory again after it has been restored.
Exceptional Success: A Mnemosyne who accrues fifteen or more successes not only succeeds in granting, taking, or exchanging a memory, but the effect can be made permanent if she so chooses. Amnesia acquired due to Flow of Memories is permanent until the Mnemosyne chooses to undo the power.
This Devotion costs four Experiences to learn.
So I still need to convert the Norvegi, the Cockscombe Society, Ligeti, and Deucalion. And after that, I'll start on the Covenant book bloodlines since Secrets of the Covenants got released. That should eat up most of my time through to the New Year and next semester, but I should be back to my bloodline-a-week schedule, and the Clan book bloodlines should be done by the end of January. But the good news is: I'm back for the foreseeable future!
So the Mnemosyne. A pretty solid bloodline, all things told. The biggest changes came with Meminisse. I consolidated the one- and three-dot abilities into one devotion because of their complimentary nature. It's not super powerful on its own, but you could get inventive with it, and it's helpful for using the other devotions and thematically ties into the idea of Mnemosyne creating invisible webs of influence. The two-dot ability got changed so that it affects all Skills, not just Mental Skills, because I figured abstract memories could also trigger muscle memory or give you a clue as to how an encounter is going to go down. The four- and five-dot abilities got consolidated, since they have similar scopes.
As always, leave your thoughts and comments!
Bloodline Conversion- Mnemosyne
Knowledge is power. Blood contains power, and thus it also contains knowledge. Let me show you.
To the Kindred, memories are precious things. For many, memories are the only thing that remind them that they were once alive. As the ages wear on, and those memories grow more valuable, and those who possess them grow desperate to retain them. The Fog of Ages is not a certainty for any vampire, but why take the risk? What happens when a vampire emerges from torpor, and can no longer remember where he was born? What if what was and what may be become muddled? The Mekhet of the Mnemosyne bloodline never have to fear the Fog of Ages. Their memories are perfect, infallible things, for their memories are tied to the very Vitae in their veins. What is more, the Mnemosyne can consume the memories of those around them, and even twist those memories to their own purposes.
Background: Records that survived the fall of the Camarilla show that the Cult of Augurs granted privileges to members of the bloodline, and old stories tell of vampires with mastery of blood sympathy stepping out of the shadows from time to time to cure the madness of an elder, or to inflict it on another. They exist in small families, gathering rumors like dust among cobwebs. Historians of the Ordo Dracul identify them as the rank and file of the Moirai, but that ancient cult is long gone… supposedly. As the Mnemosyne age, their original personalities fade, until they become an abstract amalgamation of all the memories they have consumed over the centuries. It is said that people are the sum of the people we encounter in our lives. The Mnemosyne find this statement to be brutally ironic.
The Becoming: The nature of the Mnemosyne bane makes it difficult to discern any pattern in their Embracing patterns. However, many seemed to have had some connection to the occult, either as mortal practitioners or cult members, or had jobs in police work or, more recently, worked in genetics or developmental biology. Mental Attributes are almost always primary, with Social Attributes often coming in second. Skills like Occult, Intimidation, Empathy, and Investigation are valuable.
In the Danse Macabre: When not sitting at the center of cults like a spider in their webs, Mnemosyne often find themselves in positions of great importance and influence in a domain. Some become Hounds, taking a more cerebral approach to a duty that some consider to be little more than leg breaking. Others become occult mental therapists to elders of the domain, helping them to sort through memories that have become jumbled or lost over time. Others take more shadowy duties: personal cleaners to the Prince, wiping memories of Masquerade breaches from the minds of mortals- and incriminating knowledge from the minds of inconvenient Kindred. Ireneo Fuertes, Prince of Buenos Aires, is a Mnemosyne himself. Known more by reputation than by acquaintance, all Covenants both fear and desire the Mnemosyne for their power to consume and alter memories. The Invictus and Lancea et Sanctum value their abilities to verify ancient documents, while the Circle of the Crone and Ordo Dracul have mutual interest in vampires with esoteric abilities, and Carthians of a totalitarian bent salivate at the notion of a vampire as capable of altering memories as the Mnemosyne. A Mnemosyne should be cautious of covenants that shower her with gifts, for those gifts will often turn into daggers if she refuses any faction's overtures too brusquely.
Clan: Mekhet
Nickname: Keepers, Spiders (impolite)
Bloodline Bane: Blood is the font of knowledge. Vitae is the font of power. Mnemosyne are addicted to both, so it's not surprising that they have a propensity towards becoming addicted to blood. Once a Mnemosyne catches a glimpse of the knowledge contained within blood or Vitae, she becomes obsessed with drinking more, and diving further into the crimson pool of memories. Whenever a Mnemosyne tastes blood or Vitae, she must roll Resolve + Composure. This occurs with a -1 penalty for mortal blood, and a -2 penalty for Kindred vitae.
Bloodline Disciplines: Auspex, Celerity, Dominate, Obfuscate
Bloodline Gift: Meminisse
Born of the marriage of Auspex and Dominate, Meminisse grants the user the ability to study the memories of those she has drunken from, and to manipulate those memories to deceive both the mind and the Blood itself. A Mnemosyne automatically learns Weave and Cut the Red Thread upon joining the bloodline.
Weave and Cut the Red Thread
After tasting another Kindred's blood, a Mnemosyne can manipulate blood sympathy to enhance or lessen the bond between them. After tasting the subject's Vitae (it need not be directly from the subject), the Mnemosyne focuses on the subject's familial connection to her, and can choose to either strengthen the blood sympathy by a degree, or weaken it, which will affect both vampires. The subject will not necessarily realize any change, unless he or she succeeds on a Wits + Occult roll if the Mnemosyne enters torpor or meets Final Death and the subject senses it when he previously would not have, or fails to sense it when he previously would have. Vampires who are not Mekhet and have blood sympathy enhanced will automatically know what has happened if the Mnemosyne enters torpor or meets Final Death.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult + Dominate
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Mnemosyne not only fails to strengthen or weaken blood sympathy, but actually achieves the opposite effect of her intent, strengthening or weakening blood sympathy between herself and her subject by one degree of seperation.
Failure: The Mnemosyne fails to affect blood sympathy between herself and her subject.
Success: The Mnemosyne succeeds in manipulating blood sympathy, increasing or decreasing it by one degree.
Exceptional Success: The Mnemosyne's understanding of the sympathy between herself and her subject is impeccible, and she strengthens or diminishes the blood sympathy between herself and her subject by two degrees. If this would carry her beyond once removed sympathy or no sympathy, she regains the Willpower expended for this devotion.
Echoes of the Past (Auspex @@@@)
Now moving beyond surface impressions and tenuous connections, the Mnemosyne learns to draw upon the memories and experiences of those whom she has drunken from. When she is a certain distance away from those whose Vitae or blood she has consumed, she experiences a surge of mental images and impulses that she can attempt to interpret. She cannot yet view or relive individual memories, but she can now make use of others' experience: she is touched by an odd sense of deja vu as her body begins to respond automatically to a situation, she suddenly recalls a piece of information she never learned, or she knows what twists and turns a conversation will take.
Cost: None
Dice Pool: Wits + Occult + Auspex
Action: Instant
The Mnemosyne must be within 100 yards of at least one vampire with whom she has blood sympathy (natural or induced), or a mortal whose blood she has drunk.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The flood of images and instincts is without context, and the Mnemosyne is unable to mentally sift through them. She cannot decide which impulse or memory is useful to her, and she is left at a loss as to how to react. She suffers a -1 to all dice pools per applicable individual within 100 yards.
Failure: The Mnemosyne does not receive any memories.
Success: The Mnemosyne receives a +1 to all Skill rolls per applicable individual within 100 yards. This only affects Discipline rolls if any of the individuals are vampires or ghouls.
Exceptional Success: the Mnemosyne receives a +2 to all Skill rolls per applicable individual within 100 yards. This only affects Discipline rolls if any of the individuals are vampires or ghouls.
This devotion costs two Experiences to learn.
Flow of Memories (Auspex @@@@@, Dominate @@@)
This is the great power of the Mnemosyne: the ability to grant, take, or exchange memories with another vampire or mortal. This makes Mnemosyne excellent investigators and interrogators, but they can be seduced by the possibility to rid themselves or their own memories and take on those of others, becoming a gestalt personality created from dozens or hundreds of individuals.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Presence + Intimidate + Dominate vs. Resolve + Composure + Blood Potency
Action: Contested and Extended; each roll represents one round.
The Mnemosyne must first state her intention: give another character one of her own memories, take another character's memory, or exchange memories.
Dice Results
Dramatic Failure: The Mnemosyne's clumsy efforts result in her destroying some of her own memory without any benefit. She gains the Amnesia Persistent Condition, and can no longer recall any events that occurred in the past month.
Failure: The Mnemosyne fails to make progress, or the target accrues more successes than then Mnemosyne.
Success: A Mnemosyne who accrues ten successes succeeds in granting, taking, or exchanging a desired memory. Neither character involved can remember the memory that was lost. If either character loses a memory, they gain the Amnesia Persistent Condition with regards to the events of the memory, but nothing else. The characters are aware of a gap in their memory. The effect lasts for a week, at which point the memory is automatically restored, and the Amnesia Condition is resolved. The Mnemosyne can attempt to take the same memory again after it has been restored.
Exceptional Success: A Mnemosyne who accrues fifteen or more successes not only succeeds in granting, taking, or exchanging a memory, but the effect can be made permanent if she so chooses. Amnesia acquired due to Flow of Memories is permanent until the Mnemosyne chooses to undo the power.
This Devotion costs four Experiences to learn.
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