Post by Tami on Mar 23, 2007 12:56:23 GMT -5
The Ravnos clan is the only one with a facility for Chimerstry, and it is from that all tales of its origins come. Most believe that it originated with the clan's founder, a wander who delighted in capriciously torture mortals by twisting their perceptions of reality. Some stories say that the Ravnos clan founder learned this ability from drinking the blood of the Fair Folk a tradition a few European Ravnos maintain to this day. Others suggest that in torpor, he reached his mind out to touch a corner of Hell, and he brought back the Devil's flair for blending truth and fiction.
Chimerstry allows its user to create realistic illusions with which to torment others. Chimerstry is an elusive Discipline. It works best when its victims do not that its possessor is using it. Therefore, those who are proficient with Chimerstry rarely confess to it. Those Cainites, however, who are familiar with the lore of other clans know that it is likely to be found in the blood of the Ravnos, which gives the high-blooded one more reason to mistrust Ravnos and deny them entry into their cities. It's undoubtedly responsible for their sobriquet of Charlatans.
Chimerstry is one of the most versatile Disciplines available to the Children of Caine. With appropriate levels of it, and additional staging where necessary, nearly anyone can be made to believe almost anything, and it isn't necessary to resort to blunt-instrument Disciplines like Dementation or Dominate to make it so. The Discipline is useful for anything from feeding to ousting the prince of a desirable city.
Chimerstry has its downside. Most of the Dicsipline's abilities require the expenditure of Willpower, representing the fraction of the character's self that must go into creating the illusion. At the moment of creation, the illusion is very real to the Chimerstry user; for just an instant, her power fools her too. In addition, a botch on any Chimerstry power causes the character to be haunted by the illusion she creates, as decribed under each power. The fabric separating perception from reality is tenuous one, and the character toys with it at her own risk.
Chimerstry does not allow its user to create an illusion that she cannot sense in some fashion. She cannot create a purely auditory illusion somewhere she cannot hear, or the image of a crown if she is blinded. However, if she can sense the illusion in any fashion, she can create the other sensory components of it. That is to say, if she has Dweomer (Chimerstry 2), she can create an illusionary bowl of stew and it will taste right, even if it were across the room from her. She could create that crown if it were to rest on the head, so that she could feel it.
A victim of Chimerstry illusions cannot generally dismiss them, even if the victim is doubtful of their reality. Just because you don't believe that the window in front of you is actually bricked shut doesn't mean you can suddenly see through it. However, Chimerstry illusions cannot support weight or impede movement past a quick sensation of resistance. So, assuming that the bricks on a window were created with Dweomer, you would feel their surface if you reached out to touch them, but you would pass right trough if you tried to push them over. If they were created with Ignis Fatuus, your hand would sail right through. Therefore, Ravnos entertainers can dazzle a crowd with shinning lights and dancing spirits even if the crowd suspects that the lights are the work of illusions, and it is very difficult to be absolutely sure that an illusion really is illusory.
There are a few expceptions to those guideline. Character who experience damage from a sources created with Horrid Reality or Mass Horror and then becomes convinced of its illusionary nature can be relieved of the pain they have suffered. In addition, vampires with Auspex and others with form of supernatural perception have chances to both detect and learn to filter out the illusion, hence seeing through illusionary darkness or hearing past an illusionary scream. Detecting an illusion in this manner is automatic if the watcher's Auspex level is higher than the caster's Chimerstry level. If it is equal to or less than the Chimerstry level, she must convince herself of the illusory nature of the apperation through mundane means (such as plunging her hand into an illusionary fire). To filter out an illusion once the vampire knows it is false, the player rolls Perception + Alertness against a difficulty equal to 6 + caster's Chimerstry minus observer's Auspex. A single success filters it out of all her senses.
Chimerstry is said to reflect God's curse on Caine by deluding the Ravnos into believing that they are capable of creating acts in the likeness of God, when I truth all they do is to pervert and twist God's creation.
Chimerstry is a useful Discipline for con artist, thieves and spies of any clan.
Chimerstry allows its user to create realistic illusions with which to torment others. Chimerstry is an elusive Discipline. It works best when its victims do not that its possessor is using it. Therefore, those who are proficient with Chimerstry rarely confess to it. Those Cainites, however, who are familiar with the lore of other clans know that it is likely to be found in the blood of the Ravnos, which gives the high-blooded one more reason to mistrust Ravnos and deny them entry into their cities. It's undoubtedly responsible for their sobriquet of Charlatans.
Chimerstry is one of the most versatile Disciplines available to the Children of Caine. With appropriate levels of it, and additional staging where necessary, nearly anyone can be made to believe almost anything, and it isn't necessary to resort to blunt-instrument Disciplines like Dementation or Dominate to make it so. The Discipline is useful for anything from feeding to ousting the prince of a desirable city.
Chimerstry has its downside. Most of the Dicsipline's abilities require the expenditure of Willpower, representing the fraction of the character's self that must go into creating the illusion. At the moment of creation, the illusion is very real to the Chimerstry user; for just an instant, her power fools her too. In addition, a botch on any Chimerstry power causes the character to be haunted by the illusion she creates, as decribed under each power. The fabric separating perception from reality is tenuous one, and the character toys with it at her own risk.
Chimerstry does not allow its user to create an illusion that she cannot sense in some fashion. She cannot create a purely auditory illusion somewhere she cannot hear, or the image of a crown if she is blinded. However, if she can sense the illusion in any fashion, she can create the other sensory components of it. That is to say, if she has Dweomer (Chimerstry 2), she can create an illusionary bowl of stew and it will taste right, even if it were across the room from her. She could create that crown if it were to rest on the head, so that she could feel it.
A victim of Chimerstry illusions cannot generally dismiss them, even if the victim is doubtful of their reality. Just because you don't believe that the window in front of you is actually bricked shut doesn't mean you can suddenly see through it. However, Chimerstry illusions cannot support weight or impede movement past a quick sensation of resistance. So, assuming that the bricks on a window were created with Dweomer, you would feel their surface if you reached out to touch them, but you would pass right trough if you tried to push them over. If they were created with Ignis Fatuus, your hand would sail right through. Therefore, Ravnos entertainers can dazzle a crowd with shinning lights and dancing spirits even if the crowd suspects that the lights are the work of illusions, and it is very difficult to be absolutely sure that an illusion really is illusory.
There are a few expceptions to those guideline. Character who experience damage from a sources created with Horrid Reality or Mass Horror and then becomes convinced of its illusionary nature can be relieved of the pain they have suffered. In addition, vampires with Auspex and others with form of supernatural perception have chances to both detect and learn to filter out the illusion, hence seeing through illusionary darkness or hearing past an illusionary scream. Detecting an illusion in this manner is automatic if the watcher's Auspex level is higher than the caster's Chimerstry level. If it is equal to or less than the Chimerstry level, she must convince herself of the illusory nature of the apperation through mundane means (such as plunging her hand into an illusionary fire). To filter out an illusion once the vampire knows it is false, the player rolls Perception + Alertness against a difficulty equal to 6 + caster's Chimerstry minus observer's Auspex. A single success filters it out of all her senses.
Chimerstry is said to reflect God's curse on Caine by deluding the Ravnos into believing that they are capable of creating acts in the likeness of God, when I truth all they do is to pervert and twist God's creation.
Chimerstry is a useful Discipline for con artist, thieves and spies of any clan.