Presence
PRESENCE
Enthrallment | Superstardom | Melpominee | Sublimitas
Most vampires are creatures of grace and lethality. Associated with horrific violence and devastating beauty, Kindred embody opposites, alternating between nightmare and dream depending on the onlooker and the vampire’s whims. Presence is a Discipline that expresses this bipolar existence. Used to attract victims or disperse them in fear, Presence allows crowd control, emotional manipulation, and enforced devotion. A mortal’s greatest fear could stand before them and suddenly look like the most radiant creature on Earth.
Many Presence practitioners use this Discipline to easily acquire feeding vessels, while others use it do stalk the night as creatures of horror, making weak-willed kine flee terrified, unsure of what they’ve just seen. Effective as a lure as well as a defense, vampires with Presence enjoy an easier nightlife at the expense of forgetting what feelings projected at them are normal and which are compelled.
CHARACTERISTICS
- Type: Mental
- Masquerade Threat: Low-Medium.
A subtle power, people seldom realize Presence has affected them at all. As with most Disciplines, its higher powers can leave puzzled witnesses behind, especially once the effects wear off.
- Blood Resonance: Sanguine.
The beautiful and lustful, those completely infatuated with the vampire, models and actors and movie stars, compelling public and private speakers from politicians to car salesmen, YouTube sensations and Instagram influencers.
Presence affects the emotions of those subject to it, not the minds. While this is useful in that victims are cognizant (unlike Dominate), they are not under the direct control of the user and are thus often unpredictable. In order to be affected by Presence, the subject must be in the physical presence of the user or at least within earshot. The Discipline does not transmit electronically unless the user possesses Star Magnetism (Presence 5). Detecting the use of Presence is very hard unless one has access to Sense the Unseen (Auspex 1) and can even then be too subtle to notice unless one is looking for it specifically.
Presence power effects do not stack, so someone using Awe and Entrancement on the same subject would only add their Presence rating once for any Social-based Persuasion rolls.
In combat, only the Dread Gaze and Majesty powers have any effect, as charm is of little use when someone has decided they want you hurt.
LEVEL 1
AWE
Presence •
Anyone in the presence of the vampire finds their attention inexplicably drawn to them. Those listening to the vampire speak might suddenly agree on subjects where they once held different viewpoints. While this power doesn’t cause rapt infatuation, it is still strong enough to sway the minds of most mortals.
Cost: Free
Dice Pools: Manipulation + Presence vs Composure + Intelligence
System: Add the Presence rating to any Skill roll involving Persuasion or Performance as well as to other Charisma-related rolls, at the Storyteller’s discretion. Anyone aware that they’re being affected can try to resist with a contest of Composure + Intelligence vs the user’s Manipulation + Presence. On a win, the target can resist the effects for one scene; a critical win makes the target immune for the entire night. Once the power wears off, victims revert to their previous opinions.
Duration: One scene or until intentionally ended
Core Book, pg. 267
DAUNT
Presence •
Instead of attracting people, the vampire uses Presence to repel. With this power the user appears threatening and exudes an aura of menace powerful enough to make most mortals avoid their attention and even vampires think twice about acting against them.
Cost: Free
System: Add the user’s Presence rating to any Intimidation rolls. Attacking the user requires a Resolve+Composure roll at Difficulty 2.
Vampires cannot use Awe and Daunt simultaneously.
Duration: One scene or until intentionally ended
Core Book, pg. 267
EYES OF THE SERPENT
Presence •
Amalgam: Protean •
The eyes of the vampire turn into slitted, serpent-like orbs able to freeze a mortal meeting the vampire’s gaze in place. The user can even mesmerize other vampires with this power, though the effect is shortlived and likely to rouse the victim’s ire.
Cost: Free
Dice Pools: Charisma + Presence vs. Wits + Composure
System: By catching the eye of a mortal (see avoiding eye contact on p. 255 in the Core book for victims actively trying to avoid it) the vampire can immobilize a victim, keeping them frozen in place as long as they themselves maintain eye contact. The effect can only be maintained on a single victim at a time, and ends if they suffer damage or are forcibly removed. Speech is still possible, though shouting is not. In order to paralyze a vampire in the same way, the user must win a contest of Charisma + Presence vs. Wits + Composure. The vampire victim can escape paralysis on any turn after the first by spending a point of Willpower.
Duration: Until eye contact is broken or the scene ends.
Anarch Sect Book, pg. 185
LEVEL 2
LINGERING KISS
Presence ••
The Kiss of a vampire induces near-ecstasy in the victim, but this power leaves other Kisses in the dust. Victims fed upon by the user are temporarily empowered, but also become addicted to the Kiss, obsessing over it and even seeking the vampire out for repeated feedings. Mortals often become anemic, self-harm, or even die from this addiction. Addicting other vampires is also possible, with the caveat that obsessed vampires demanding to be fed from risk the user becoming Blood Bound. Once under a Blood Bond, a vampire becomes unable to use this power on other vampires, being limited to employing it on mortals.
Cost: Free
System: The vampire can choose to use this power during each feeding where they sate at least one Hunger. The victim gains a bonus equal to half the user’s Presence (round up) to one Social Attribute of their choice. This benefit lasts for a single night. Once it fades, withdrawal strikes and all the victim’s actions not spent working toward acquiring a new fix receive a dice penalty equal to the initial bonus. A victim in withdrawal can spend Willpower to ignore the penalties for a scene, and the penalties go away after a number of nights equal to the user’s Presence rating.
This power cannot be used on other vampires by a user who is under the thrall of a Blood Bond. Also, vampires with the Unbondable Merit cannot acquire this power.
Duration: A number of nights equal to the user’s Presence rating.
V5 Companion, pg. 62
DELIRIOUS FEED
Presence ••
Amalgam: Potence ••
The vampire uses their enhanced powers to feed in a brutal display of savagery and terror, causing witnesses to repress the memory of the event entirely.
Cost: Free
Dice Pools: Strength + Presence vs. Stamina + Resolve (against Vampires)
System: The user feeds aggressively from a restrained target or after a bite attack (V5 core, p.213) as usual.
If the victim is mortal, they will immediately forget the scene in which the feeding took place, although they will remember that something vague yet terrible happened.
If the target is a vampire, the user must succeed on a Strength + Presence vs. Stamina + Resolve test. On a success, the victim must roll for Terror Frenzy with a difficulty equal to the margin of success.
In addition, all mortal witnesses have trouble remembering the events that took place with any accuracy, needing to pass a Wits + Resolve check at Difficulty 3 in order to remember any specific details about vampire, feeding, or scene in which the feeding took place. If they fail this roll, their memories will fill the blanks in an effort to rationalize what took place. This will usually include getting some details wrong.
The Storyteller may decide that such a brutal intimidation tactic may cause Stains when used on particularly innocent targets.
Duration: One feeding
Homebrew Content, pg. XX
PREDATOR'S LURE
Presence ••
You can call to a nearby victim with your thirst. Your desire becomes a subliminal siren's call that can draw the unwary down dangerous paths and into your waiting arms.
Cost: None or One Rouse Check
Dice Pools: Manipulation + Presence vs Composure + Resolve
System: You summon a victim within 50 meters to your current location. If you cannot see your victim this power requires a Rouse check. Mortals normally succumb to this power without a roll but paranoid, wary, or particularly alert mortals may attempt to resist your call. A victim can only be targeted by this power once per Scene and they are drawn to you by an inexplicable urge, almost as if following a barely perceptible melody or scent.
Duration: One Scene
The Black Hand, pg. 85
BRING IT ON
Presence ••
You use your powers of Presence to magnify the threat you pose to your enemies. Taunting them to take a shot at you before you crush them beneath your boots.
Cost: Free
System: All nearby enemies immediately become aware of you. For the rest of the Scene they must make a Resolve + Composure roll at Difficulty 3 to target anyone else with an attack or power. If you display your vampiric nature when initially activating this power, all nearby mortal enemies also gain a -2 penalty on their attack rolls for one round. You cannot use Bring it On and Daunt simultaneously.
Duration: One Scene
The Black Hand, pg. 85
LEVEL 3
DREAD GAZE
Presence •••
Briefly exposing their vampiric nature, the user instills a single subject with utter terror. Mortals are cowed, run, or freeze with fear, while other vampires either submit like whipped dogs or flee in frenzied Rötschreck.
Cost: One Rouse Check
Dice Pools: Charisma + Presence vs Composure + Resolve
System: Displaying their fangs, their face twisted in a predatory grimace, the user rolls a contest of Charisma + Presence against their target’s Composure + Resolve.
- Failure: Mortals are unable to act other than in their own defense, backing off for a turn. Vampires are unaffected.
- Win: Mortals run in fear. Vampires are unable to act other than in their own defense for a turn unless they spend Willpower equal to the users margin of win (to a minimum of one).
- Critical Win: Mortals freeze or crumple into a fetal position. Vampires must make a terror frenzy test (Difficulty 3). If they win, they are still affected as above.
Duration: One turn
Core Book, pg. 267
ENTRANCEMENT
Presence •••
The vampire focuses their unnatural allure on a single person, instilling in them a rapt fascination or infatuation akin to falling head over heels in love or meeting one’s lifelong idol. The person affected does their best to remain in the vampire’s good graces, but stops short of causing themselves or their other loved ones physical harm.
Cost: One Rouse Check
Dice Pools: Charisma + Presence vs Composure + Wits
System: The vampire only needs to gain the subject’s attention and win a contest of Charisma + Presence vs Composure + Wits. The effect lasts for roughly one hour plus one per point of margin on the win. The vampire can renew this effect indefinitely, but a failure ends the effect and makes the subject immune for the rest of the night.
After succeeding, the user adds dice equal to their Presence rating to any Social dice pool against the entranced subject. Requests resulting in obvious harm to the subject or their loved ones, or that oppose the subject’s Tenets, fail and require an immediate power contest roll as above, or the Entrancement immediately fails.
Duration: One hour plus one per point of margin
Core Book, pg. 268
TRUE LOVE'S FACE
Presence •••
Amalgam: Obfuscate •••
Using a potent cocktail of concentrated emotion and illusions, the vampire can alter a mortal’s blood resonance or even risk a vampire’s connection to Humanity. The victim (and only the victim) perceives the vampire as a mortal they hold strong emotional ties with (such as hate for a rival, passion for a new lover, or the complicated feelings a vampire holds for their Touchstone).
Cost: One Rouse Check
Dice Pools: Manipulation + Presence vs. Composure + Wits
System: To impersonate someone the victim has strong emotions for, the vampire must know their appearance and what the victim feels
for them. How they uncover this will vary between vampires. When activated the Storyteller rolls a hidden contest between the user’s Manipulation + Presence and the victim’s Composure + Wits, where failure means the visage holds no emotional charge, which is deeply uncanny and sours any social interaction with the victim. It also prevents them from falling victim to this power for the rest of the story.
On a win, the vampire adds their Presence rating to any rolls for affecting a mortal’s resonance or a vampire’s emotional state. Appearing as a vampire’s Touchstone is a dangerous game, especially if the victim possesses Sense the Unseen (see Vampire: The Masquerade, p. 249), but played right it can lead to Stains for the victim as their Touchstone appears to become damaged or detached entirely through shifts in behavior, ideals, or even apparent death.
Duration: One scene
Cults of the Blood Gods, pg. 85
THE ECLIPSING SUN
Presence •••
Amalgam: Dominate •••
The user shines with a radiant glow, forcing others to subjugate and prostrate themselves before their glory.
Cost: Two Rouse Checks
System: The user shines with blinding light, forcing anyone who sees them to make a Willpower roll against the user’s Presence rating. Those who fail must bow or kneel for two turns, completely immobilized. If they are attacked, the targets snap out of it and are able to defend themselves in time.
Duration: Two turns
Fall of London, pg. 165
SIREN'S SONG
Presence •••
Amalgam: Dominate ••
When a Siren performs, they evoke intense emotions in their audience. Lust, fear, rage, or more subtle drives are theirs to command. Though oft associated with the Daughters of Cacophony, Malkavians and Toreador have also been known to make use of this power.
Cost: One Rouse Check
Dice Pools: Manipulation + Performance vs Composure + Resolve
System: Make a Manipulation + Performance vs Composure + Resolve. If you win, you instill an emotion of your choice into one listener. They lose a number of dice equal to the roll’s margin on tests that don’t directly align with your chosen emotion (e.g., fleeing from fear; or satisfying lust).
Alternatively, the vampire may apply their Siren’s Song to a crowd of people. Make a Manipulation + Performance test versus the highest Composure + Resolve pool in the room. If successful, the Kindred affects a number of people determined by the roll’s result. If only part of an audience is affected, those with lower Composure + Resolve are affected first. When affecting a crowd, those affected all have one fewer die to take actions not related to your chosen emotion.
- One success: one person
- Two successes: a handful of people
- Three successes: a dozen or so people
- Four successes: a medium-sized crowd (Storyteller’s discretion)
- Five or more successes: a large crowd (Storyteller’s discretion).
Duration: One scene
Homebrew Content, pg. XX
TIME STOP
Presence •••
Amalgam: Celerity ••
Some particularly stoic Brujah are known to combine Presence and Celerity in such a way as to mimic control of time itself. You suspend your target’s perception of time so that time is effectively frozen for the target.
Cost: One Rouse Check
Dice Pools: Manipulation + Presence vs Composure + Resolve
System: Make a Manipulation + Presence vs Composure + Resolve roll. If you win, your target is frozen in time, measured as a number of combat turns equal to the margin of successes. They can’t act nor be affected by Powers or otherwise either.
Duration: Varies (see system)
Homebrew Content, pg. XX
LEVEL 4
IRRESISTIBLE VOICE
Presence ••••
Amalgam: Dominate •
The Presence of the user becomes a conduit for Dominate. The vampire now only needs their voice to be heard in order to employ Dominate powers.
Cost: No additional cost
Dice Pools: Charisma + Presence vs Composure + Wits
System: The user's voice alone is now enough to Dominate a target. This does not apply to voices transmitted through electronic media such as phones, television, or apartment door-buzzer speakers.
Duration: Passive
Core Book, pg. 268
SUMMON
Presence ••••
The vampire can call to themselves any person, mortal or vampire, upon whom they’ve previously used Awe, Entrancement, or Majesty, or who has tasted their Blood at least once. The target knows who is summoning them and the user’s current location. This calling lasts for a night. After that time, the effect subsides, but the user can repeat it night after night if required to reach the target or if the target is otherwise reluctant. Anyone Summoned feels a pull toward the summoner and tries to reach them, though without endangering themselves physically or financially. They won’t sell their house to buy a ticket or miss a vital meeting, but they might skip out of normal work or social commitments.
Cost: One Rouse Check
Dice Pools: Manipulation + Presence vs Composure + Intelligence
System: The user needs to concentrate for five minutes and think of the person being summoned, then rolls Manipulation + Presence vs Composure + Intelligence. On a win, the target hears the summoning, but may or may not heed it. On a critical win, the target arrives as quickly as possible, barring immediate risk to their well-being.
Duration: One night
Core Book, pg. 268
MAGNUS OPUS
Presence ••••
Amalgam: Auspex •••
A favored power of the Roses, with this ability, the users may sublimate and infuse the powers of the blood into their works of art — capable of rendering sculptures so beautiful as to make the viewer fall in love with them, or paintings of such ghastly disquiet they make even the most visceral Caravaggio seem facile by comparison. This masterwork is merely an illusion, however — a flash-in-the-pan beauty that does not withstand deep scrutiny.
Cost: One or more Rouse Checks
Dice Pools: Charisma, Manipulation + Crafts
System: Before embarking on a Project Roll to create a work of art the user must make one Rouse Check for each roll made. The difficulty of the project must be 10 or higher. Upon successful completion of the project, the user finds that residual traces of their Presence linger with the work itself.
When your artwork is on display, audiences must roll Composure + Resolve (Difficulty equal to the user's Presence rank)or succumb to the rough equivalent of either Awe or Daunt exuding from the piece. A Critical Success on the resistance roll renders the subject immune to further influence by the piece.
Note: By integrating Disciplines into its creation, the work of art has no true staying power, aside from the initial exposure. Critics and observers may find themselves suddenly able to critique flaws or imperfections once they have left the immediate area.
Duration: n/a
Winter's Teeth, vol. 3
LEVEL 5
MAJESTY
Presence •••••
At this pinnacle of the Discipline the vampire can amplify their countenance to supernatural levels. Whether they appear as heartrendingly beautiful, monstrously terrifying, or wielding absolute command, everyone who views them is struck by their image, unable to act or even speak against the vampire. To experience Majesty is to be in the presence of the divine - or the infernal.
Cost: Two Rouse Checks
Dice Pools: Charisma + Presence vs Composure + Resolve
System: People in the presence of the user can only stare, slackjawed, or avert their eyes in fear or submission. Anyone wanting to act in any way in opposition to the user, except for self-preservation, must successfully win a contest of their Composure + Resolve vs. the vampire’s Charisma + Presence. A win allows one turn of freedom, plus one per point of margin; only a critical win resists the effect for the entire scene.
Duration: One scene
Core Book, pg. 268
STAR MAGNETISM
Presence •••••
The Presence powers of the user now effect people viewing them on live feeds or hearing them over the phone. Recorded images or messages do not retain the effect, however.
Cost: One additional Rouse Check
Dice Pools: Charisma + Presence vs Composure + Resolve
System: Awe, Daunt, and Entrancement can be transmitted through live feeds via screens or phones. If Entrancement is used, the victim’s name must be spoken clearly, as that power only affects one person at a time. Anyone else viewing the same transmission only finds the user charming, but not supernaturally so.
Duration: As power used
Core Book, pg. 269