"Heat-Eating" Discipline, Devotion, or Wicked Dead?

[Geckopirateship]

I was wondering, what do you think would be the best way to homebrew a power that lets vampires suck heat out of people? There's an association between the undead and ice already, and between vampires and cold and unusual weather, so ice-disciplines have been floated before (and I believe that the Caporetti have some ice powers), but a twist that would make it extra-vampiric is to have vampires not so much manipulating ice as being able to drain heat.

Now, I'm normally on board with the 2e philosophy of doing away with new Disciplines in favor of Devotions, but I'm honestly not sure how to work this as a Devotion based on the existing Disciplines. As an aside, the things I'd give to make Subvolo canon...

An alternate route is to create a species of vampire-like creatures who feed on heat, as potential rivals and antagonists to the Kindred, like the creatures in Wicked Dead. My idea for them is that they can suck heat into themselves and store it there, but they can also use it to power themselves up and release it. So a "Heat-drinker" could suck the heat out of a bunch of people and then release it as a blast of scorching fire.

[Vitalis]

Is it to feed on the heat energy or is it to actually freeze your opponent? I think if you just want an ice attack that can be done upon fangs entering, then I would say some devotion with vigor required. Nightmare perhaps ( because you can scare someone to death, why not make them think they are freezing to death.. ) or perhaps a merit system. 1-5 depends on how much ice damage you do. Vigor required.

Though if you want them to actually feed, like gain vitae off heat. I would look at the breath drinkers and create your own bloodline discipline or unique devotion set.

A couple years back I created a bloodline ( got my vamp to BP 6) that could feed off sex. Then later, just the sexual energy, like a cliche succubus. I drew upon the breath drinkers, majesty, and some changeling stuff for references and a base so it wasn't too OP

( after seeing Lost Girl, I realized it was a lot like that. I saw the show after. )

[Geckopirateship]

Yeah, I don't want it to be just "ice powers", I want the power to suck heat from people and maybe feed on it.

[nofather]

I'm sure there's books that get into this better. I know Danse Macabre has a section on creating Devotion.

As I understand it, the 'standard' Disciplines, including clan Disciplines, are extensions of the vampire's Predatory Aura. Vampires tend towards certain abilities with their aura, notably Obfuscate and the Physical Disciplines. Some, the clan disciplines, are a little more distant, easily available to the respective clan but others need a 'kick' to get it working, in the form of the Vitae of the clan it stems from.

Devotions, based on bloodlines, seem to be a sort of addition to what your Predatory Aura is all about. For the khaibit, it's shadows, and so their Devotions allow them to twine shadows into their Predatory Aura when they activate their powers. With your bloodline, or possibly the Caporetti, you would instead add cold. From there it's a matter of determining what you could do, mixing cold with Majesty or Vigor.

[Vitalis]

Other than "sucking heat" what do you just want this power to do? What is it's purpose? Start there and work back wards.


If you just want them to get really cold with no mechanical effect... Just say that's what your vampire does.. Maybe a merit to justify the uniqueness.

[Geckopirateship]

I've explicitly said that I want the power to drain heat from things, and I'm not sure whether it should be a vampire power at all.

[Vitalis]

I've explicitly said that I want the power to drain heat from things, and I'm not sure whether it should be a vampire power at all.

If that is your only goal to have some flavor without mechanical effects. Then just make it a 1 dot merit.

"When feeding the victim loses body heat. They may get hypothermia".

Easy.

[StSword]

And just to be thorough you could make it a bloodline benefit or order/cult thing.

[Thorbes]

I have an idea for what can be either a Bloodline (the heat-eating being both its Bloodline Blessing and its Bane) or a Wicked Dead like being. I am tentatively calling them Naraka after that buddhist otherworld(s) that is either extremely cold or extremely hot.

The idea is that these beings suffer form a personal version of the Extreme Cold Tilt, constantly. They can suck the heat out of someone and reduce the level of their Tilt, in exchange to apply (and increase) it on others. They even can suck more heat to the point of starting suffering a personal Extreme Heat tilt instead. They are inmortal, but istead of spending Vitae each day (and to fuel Disciplines) they espend heat (reducing the Extreme Heat personal Tilt, eventually falling into Extreme Cold).

[MCN]

There's a Nosferatu bloodline that kind of had this going for them, ala Ancient Bloodlines.

Anyways, I'd make it into a Nightmare devotion. The Nightmare part because I think this kind of thing is most appropriate for the Nosferatu, and because there are actually two Conditions / Tilts associated with the cold (Extreme Cold, Icy), which works well the two step nature of many Nightmare powers (if the Nosferatu is the target, or not). As well, the cold and fear tend to go well together. Well, there's also the Blizzard Environmental Tilt, but creating storms seems to be the purview of Cruac, so I'll just leave making blizzards to the Bounty of the Storm ritual. The only other cold-themed abilities that I can think of would involve ice elemental magics. But I think that's outside the scope of the current coversation, and a subject for another day.

Cold Shoulder
(Nightmare 1, Vigor 1)
This devotion doesn't see much use in modern day - many vampires who are aware of the power question its use in the All Night Society; it doesn't help feed, it doesn't help get an advantage over rivals. However, for those Haunts who learn this ability quickly learn that a touch of frost can have its own subtle rewards, driving away intruders and sapping strength away from those who would bare their fangs against the vampire.
Cost: 1 vitae
Dice Pool: -
Action: Instant
For the duration of the scene, or until the vampire chooses to negate the power, the area surrounding the vampire is subject to the Ice Tilt. If the vampire activates Dread Presence as well, the affected environment also gains the Extreme Cold Tilt, with a Potency equal to the vampire's dots in Nightmare. The area affected is a number of meters equal to the vampire's Nightmare + Vigor dots. Any vampire with this power active is immune to the effects of Cold Shoulder.
This Devotion costs 2 experience points to learn.

This ability rapidly makes the area around the vampire cold (effectively "eating heat") though its not quite the same. As for "stealing heat" from living targets to make them cold? That's actually easy, since I'm a huge fan of repurposing existing mechanics. We're talking about a variation on Psychic Vampires, effectively, with a side effect of making the target feel chills instead of just energy/will loss. For reference, here's the preview of the psychic vampire template - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...DiQWnWyY/edit#

Eating heat can be as simple as making a vampire bloodline with access to this merit (though I would forbid several of the powers that copy disciplines), and swap out ephemera for vitae.

[SoulGambit]

Mekhet Bloodline. Bloodline Gift is inflicting a "Hypothermia" type condition through their bite and as an option when thry lash out. Hypothermia should probably do terrible things to people woth the drained condition. Bloodline Bane is being unable to inflict swooning / scarred and that they are *always* extremely cold to the touch, even in the summer and even with blush of life.

Disciplines are Auspex, Fortitude, Obfuscate, (Custom)

Custom discipline focuses on feeding off of heat.

1. Passive. Feed via touch instead of just bite, inflicting hypothermia
2. Spend 1v when lashing out to inflict the hypothermia condition (in addition to or instead of the normal condition) and steal 1 vitae per net success, max of blood potency. Can use to snuff out flames or heat. Supernatural flame provokes a clash of wills.
3. Can do the above on an area. Limit to stealing 1v per person.
4. Afflict an area based on vitae spent with an extreme environment and the extreme cold tilt. Possibly also the ice tilt. MAYBE Gain vitae based on number of people afflicted, but have to spend the cost vitae every turn to maintain it. Need to decide whether this is an in combat damage power or inflict penalties power. Im actually leaning the latter. Note: make a devotion requiring this and either Obfuscate or Animalism 5 to cover the area warded by one of the latter powers in cold / ice for the full duration.
5. Not!IceDiablerie. Bigish upfront cost, but free to maintain. instant action each turn. Roll dice, inflict damage and feed on vitae based on successes. Target gains thebhypothermoa and stunned conditions. Can explicitly use this to diablerize someone.

[SoulGambit]

Oh. The Caporetti are a thing. Updating them may be another alternative, with the custom discipline replacing celerity.