Discipline based on cold and Ice?

[Shadeworld]

So I've been looking through a few of my old books as I thought about new potential disciplines or thaumaturgy paths, and then it hit me that I haven't ever seen one based on cold, ice or the like. I find myself wondering why?
To me it seems like a perfectly plausible power to be developed by northern Kindred or as a Thaumaturgy path, what do you guys think? And if you were to design one, what'd it entail?

[Bluecho]

I've been toying a while with doing a write-up for a Bloodline in the style of vampires from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. Created by ancient artifacts, incapable of embracing otherwise, that sort of thing. And I'd give them a Discipline that revolves around exploiting the greater control Kindred have over their bodies. One of the powers would be the ability to alter their body's temperature, allowing them to draw heat from the bodies of their enemies, freezing them. (They'd also be able to shoot high-pressure streams of vitreous fluid from their eyes, implant globs of their own flesh onto the bodies of their minions and control their emotions, and a bunch of Elder powers taken from the Pillar Men).

As for general Ice powers, I'm leaning towards a Path. When in doubt, Paths are the way to go. It would have things like powers capable of killing fires by drawing away the heat that sustains them, chilling folks to the bone, summoning a blizzard (or not, since the Path of Weather Control can already do that), encasing someone or something in a block of ice, or wrapping the user in a protective layer of snow, that chills approaching objects to Absolute Zero (again, I stole that from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure).

[Coridan]

I made this path for a Tremere character.

Lure of Frost
* Freeze Water - freezes ten cubic feet of water per success. Lasts one scene
** Freeze Blood - with a touch freezes one blood point per success, deals lethal damage to living creatures, kindred have their blood pool reduced by the amount for the scene
*** Blade of Ice - spread your blood on an edged weapon and freeze it, it deals agg damage for one hit per success, melts at end of scene
**** Armor of ice - You sweat your blood and freeze it, it adds one die per success to your soak pool, including vs agg damage. Each hit you take reduces the pool by one. Ends at end of scene regardless
***** Deep Freeze - The target freezes solid for a number of turns equal to the successes on the activation roll.

Freeze water can be stronger than Deep Freeze if a person is already submerged or trapped in water from say, Path of Neptune's Might. Deep Freeze however does not require water to be present.

[Magus]

There's a path of Koldunic Sorcery based in the cold in the Clanbook: Tzimisce revised.

[Telgar]

Well, kinda, Magus. There's the Way of Sorrow, which has a lot of cold-based fluff text, but only one cold-related power.

http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Koldunic_Sorcery#The_Way_of_Sorrow

[Alucard]

When I saw this topic I was thinking of Haku's Ice techniques (from Naruto) and Elsa from Frozen, although a lot of that stuff would be Elder or even Methuselah level stuff.

Off the top of my head. Blood point cost and exact scale of the techniques to be worked out later. Some techniques may have to be moved up or down in level.

* Coat a surface in thin, extremely slippery layer of ice. Primarily used to trip up pursuers.
** Deal freezing damage with a touch. Cause frostbite to organic tissue, causes metal to become brittle and easy to break.
*** Conjure a wall of supernaturally strong ice in front of yourself to protect yourself from attacks.
**** Conjure spikes of ice to impale your enemy.
***** Summon Ice Golems to attack enemies or perform simple tasks.
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****** Freeze a massive amount of water (such as a pond) in order to make mass use of techniques three, four or five.
****** Create ice windows/mirrors that you can spy on your enemies through. Create an ice window in a place that you have been before where you believe that your victim will be. Try to choose an area that won't be noticed by your victim (if they notice it, you're in trouble). Create a corresponding ice window in your haven, metaphysically linked to the first that you can look through.
****** Create an unbreakable sword of ice. Coated in your blood, it does aggravated damage.
******* Freeze enemies in virtually inescapable blocks of ice.
******* Travel through ice windows that you can create, even if they're many miles apart.
******** Create an ice storm that can coat a square mile in inches of freezing rain. Anyone caught outside without shelter will be frozen in place.
********* Freeze an immense amount of water (a bay, fjord, large lake), such that ocean going ships are caught in place, and titanic ice creatures (dragons, etc) can be summoned from the ice to do their masters bidding.

[adambeyoncelowe]

You could also port over the Changeling Art Kryos from Blood-Dimmed Tides, which is pretty good: http://changeling.wenchipedia.com/kryos.html

[Arcaneumkiller]

Here is my version of a Path of Ice.

I- Cold Caress: Vampire already have a great resistance to cold. This power increases this resistance tenfold and increase the vampire supernatural ability to mitigate the effects of extreme cold on her body. It also render the vampire immune to her own power of cold.

System: The vampire can sustain extreme cold without any problem up to -40°C(-40°F) , and can soak up to a maximum of -70°C(-94°F) with her stamina. Reduce this maximum further down by 10°C(14°F) for each level of this Path.

II- Cold-Hearted: This power forms a thick ice plate enveloping her Rib cage. Preventing her heart from being stake.

System: The vampire need a full turn to concentrate as she transform 1 Blood point into a layer of ice around her Rib cage. The vampire can dissolve the ice at any given time, otherwise this effect will last 1 hour.

III- Armor of Ice: At this level the vampire is capable of forming a thick layer of ice around her skeleton, small ice spikes protrudes through her skin all over her body and giving her extra protection and making her unharmed attack lethal.

System: Each blood point use enable to increase her soaking dice pool by one (Max 5), cannot be use to soak aggravated damage. Unarmed attack with her fist causes +1 lethal damage. This power last until the end of the scene.

IV- Frostbite: This power enable the vampire to imbue her hands with extreme cold, causing frostbite, inflicting terrible pain upon whoever she touches.

System: The vampire must spend 1 blood point every turn she wishes to sustain this power. In combat, the vampire must roll Dex + Brawl in order to make contact. The Vampire may target any limb (Arms, Legs, Chest, Throat or the Head). Humans lock in a hold with the Vampires suffer an unsoakable level lethal every turn, Vampires may soak this damage normally. After 3 turn, if the victim has not broken the hold, the limb dies, this causes an unsoakable level of Aggravated damage. For Humans, limb lost in this process can never be recovered, they also lose 1 point of Stamina permanently. Vampires may recover lost limb using the rule for healing Aggravated damage, at that point they will recover the lost stamina point. If the head is targeted, the victim dies after 3 turns, Vampires enters torpor.

V- Hypothermia: The Vampire create an aura of cold surrounding her, reducing ambient temperature to extreme cold.

System: The vampire must concentrate and spend 3 blood point. Anyone within 5 feet of the of the vampire suffer 3 level of lethal damage. Humans may soak this damage using their stamina rating if they are wearing adequate gear to protect against extreme cold temperature. Vampire may soak this damage normally. Anyone inside the aura must roll stamina difficulty 9, failure, means the victim is staggered by the cold. Anyone inside the aura for a number of turn greater then their stamina rating, loses 1 point of stamina every turn.

[Alucard]

Here is my version of a Path of Ice.

III- Armor of Ice: At this level the vampire is capable of forming a thick layer of ice around her skeleton, small ice spikes protrudes through her skin all over her body and giving her extra protection and making her unharmed attack lethal.

System: Each blood point use enable to increase her soaking dice pool by one (Max 5), cannot be use to soak aggravated damage. Unarmed attack with her fist causes +1 lethal damage. This power last until the end of the scene.

I like this one.

[Baaldam]

So I've been looking through a few of my old books as I thought about new potential disciplines or thaumaturgy paths, and then it hit me that I haven't ever seen one based on cold, ice or the like. I find myself wondering why?
To me it seems like a perfectly plausible power to be developed by northern Kindred or as a Thaumaturgy path, what do you guys think? And if you were to design one, what'd it entail?

Mostly because unless you want to play gonzo stuff on the style of X-men's Iceman, Frozone or Princess Elsa, Weather Control and a ritual or two at most, for snow & blizzards out of season, should be more than sufficient to cover it, i guess. Stealing the heat out of a person would be a variant of feeding based on touch instead of biting at most.

[Herr Meister]

I also miss something like this. Strangely enough, there are no powers over ice and cold for vampires. In my years of experience storyteling, I've seen many players complaining about it, specially after the launching of Vampire Redemption, where you have a power called "Prison of Ice", which doesn't exist in WoD, but is very related to Prison of Water from Rego Aquam. I once adapted this single power to create the so called Prison of Ice, as it's aesthetically much cooler (no pun intended) and less strange than Prison of Water.

I would appreciate to see some suggestions of paths based on control over ice and cold (but please, nothing like Pricess Elsa or Naturo BS, as they are imo, with all due respect, not fitting for the WoD).

Cheers,
Daniel

[Theodrim]

Well, kinda, Magus. There's the Way of Sorrow, which has a lot of cold-based fluff text, but only one cold-related power.

http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Kold..._Way_of_Sorrow

Honestly, the Koldunic Way of Wind has more relevance in this regard. At least as far as crunch goes.

That said, I did play with the concept a few years ago, when I made a viking Tremere. This is with what I had come up, in a very rough and perfunctory form to the best of my memory:

1: Hamask: The vampire sends themselves into frenzy upon activation, maintaining control over their character (basically, riding the wave regardless of path, Self-Control/Instinct, or that virtue's rating). The vampire may activate this power in lieu of rolling to resist Rotshreck, and later levels of this path may be employed while frenzied (the vampire must still roll Willpower to activate).

2: Armory of the Jotunn: The vampire forms weaponry or armor (but not both at once) of ice. Weapons are limited to the user's path rating in (bashing or lethal, depending on the weapon created) damage (in other words, a Tremere with this path at two cannot form bastard swords), and armor provides soak equal to path rating but incurs a Dexterity penalty equal to half (rounded down).

3: Manse of Niflheim: A combination of Defense of the Sacred Haven and Earth Meld, the Tremere can burrow and sleep inside snowbanks, ice, and permafrost without taking damage from sunlight. However, this does not block sunlight nor does it count for the purposes of perception or physical disruption as a "meld".

4: Hel's Blood: Turns the Tremere's blood into a icy slush. Lasts one scene. Fire only does lethal and therefore can be soaked as such, fire does not cause Rotshreck, and vampires must roll Stamina (difficulty 8) to drink their blood or else suffer -2 from all dice pools for the remainder of the scene due to bitter cold. Mortals drinking, or exposed to, the blood immediately suffer hypothermia and may die without medical attention.

I never came up with a level 5 power, but I was considering something along the lines of holmgang -- a mental compulsion to face the Tremere in single, melee combat, without the use of disciplines.

[Eldagusto]

I feel its most appropriate as a Kraina, as I can very much feel Baba Yaga would have access to bitter winter powers of Rodina. I would say that it would be hella fun to have also as an Inceptor Discipline and perhaps a rare discipline known by a bloodline not known to popular vampire culture.

[Donovan Rivers]

II- Cold-Hearted: This power forms a thick ice plate enveloping her Rib cage. Preventing her heart from being stake.

System: The vampire need a full turn to concentrate as she transform 1 Blood point into a layer of ice around her Rib cage. The vampire can dissolve the ice at any given time, otherwise this effect will last 1 hour.

Just for fluff I would add "As long as this power is in effect, the vampire's effective empathy is 0."