Resonance
RESONANCE
Though not uncommon for mortals to remark on how “you are what you eat,” it’s even truer for Kindred. Blood is not purely for survival or enjoyment, it can actually enhance vampiric abilities. You see, not all blood is the same. Those that sip and savior may realize the difference. More so, those Kindred who can read auras say that there are several specific colors. Through history, these have been associated with the classical elements, Jungian functions, humorism, and more.
Choleric
- Fire | Emotion | Adrenaline
- Yellow aura, with a metallic flavor.
- angry, violent, bullying, passionate, envious
- Celerity | Potence
Melancholic
- Earth | Thought | Thyroid
- Purple aura, with a strong, peppery flavor.
- sad, scared, intellectual, depressed, grounded
- Fortitude | Obfuscate
Phlegmatic
- Water | Intuition | Pituitary
- Green aura, with a salty taste and bitter background.
- lazy, apathetic, calm, controlling, sentimental
- Auspex | Dominate
Sanguine
- Air | Sensation | Sex Hormones
- Red aura, with a sweet taste and cloying texture.
- horny, happy, addicted, active, flighty, enthusiastic
- Blood Sorcery | Presence
Primal
- Spirit | Instinct | Blood
- Blue aura, with a sweet taste and acidic overtone.
- irascible, possessive, impulsive, base, insatiable
- Animalism | Protean
(Though rare in humans, the blood of animals always bears a fleetingly primal resonance)
Ischemic
- Void | Whim | Waste
- Dull grey aura, no taste.
- amoral, cold, nihilistic, patient, unsympathetic
- Oblivion
Mercurial
- Time | Inspiration | Sweat
- Orange aura, with a smoky taste and filmy texture.
- paradoxical, fluidic, fatalistic, inscrutable, alien
- Thin-Blood Alchemy
TEMPERAMENT & DYSCRASIA
Resonance comes in three different temperaments — fleeting, intense, and acute.
- Fleeting is temporary, occurring only in the moment due to some outside stimuli. It gives no bonus, but is strong enough to justify purchasing dots in the associated Discipline.
- Intense temperaments indicate that a mortal has a strong tendency toward that Resonance, perhaps due to past trauma or a lifestyle rewarding them with constant dopamine hits. It gives players a one die bonus to the dice pool of the associated Discipline, which lasts until their next feeding (or until they reach Hunger 5).
- Acute Resonance is so intense that it contains a self-sustaining reaction, providing the same bonus as intense, but capable of also providing a Dyscrasia.
Found in acute Resonance, a Dyscrasia is only able to be tapped through the draining and killing of a vessel, or from feeding from them over the course of three nights. The effects of a Dyscrasia generally only last until the next feeding or they reach Hunger 5.
AURAS
The colors of an aura change in sympathy with the subject’s emotional state, blending into new tones in a constantly dancing pattern. The stronger the emotions involved, the more intense the hues become. A skilled vampire can learn much from her subject by reading the nuances of color and brilliance in the aura’s flow. These colors are roughly comparable to what are describe when defining different resonance. However some more specific variations are listed below.
Condition | Color |
---|---|
Diablerist | Black veins throughout |
Kindred | Colors are pale |
Ghoul | Pale blotches in color |
Magic User | Myriad of sparkles in aura |
Werebeast | Bright, vibrant color |
Fae | Mottled rainbow highlights |
True Faith | Bright silver disc halo |
YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT
Certain types of blood have special properties, whether it be the side-effects of a buzzed mortal, or the potent nectar of some supernatural creature.
Lupines:
- Lupine blood is potent stuff and a powerful allure to the Kindred. A werewolf’s blood is so rich that every drink from its veins slakes twice the normal amount of Hunger: a sip slakes 2 Hunger, for example. Draining a werewolf dry can reduce Hunger to 0 for two vampires if they share the kill. However, the supernatural power of werewolf blood can also be a dangerous wine.
- A vampire who feasts on werewolf blood is far more susceptible to frenzy while the lupine blood remains in their system. Every point of Hunger slaked with werewolf blood increases the Difficulty to resist frenzy by one. Even if the vampire successfully staves off their Beast, they become paranoid and short-tempered for as long as the blood remains in their system. In some cases, vampires gain temporary Compulsions from feasting on particularly volatile werebeasts.
- Lupine blood mixes Animal with Choleric resonances, usually Intensely. Alchemists prize it for its high miscibility with other ingredients: it adds two successes to any distillation roll for a formula including it.
Fae:
- The blood of a changeling is a delicious ambrosia, sometimes specifically sought by Malkavians, Tremere, and Thin-Bloods. However all vampires are especially... appreciative of the taste. So much so that it can be difficult to pull oneself away. Consuming enough to abate at least one Hunger level requires a Hunger Frenzy test at a Difficulty 2 + the vampire's Bane Severity. If the test is failed they attempt to gorge themselves, possibly even killing the victim in the process.
- The blood of the changeling has a peculiar effect on the kindred that drinks it. The vampire will experience an intense euphoria, intense hallucinations, and sometimes even prescience. Until their next feeding or they reach Hunger 5, the vampire can see the true forms of fae and ignore the Forgetfulness effect of the Mists.
- Useful for alchemists due to the inherent magic imbibed within, fae blood adds two successes to any distillation roll for a formula including it. It is almost always intensely Sanguine, at least.
Magi:
- The Awakened, though curious beings, are still human. Unless under the effect of particularly powerful magick, they do not tend to taste any different than their mortal peers. Magi do however always provide an acute temperament. They are likely to have Sanguine resonance, though their Sphere(s) of choice may shift this particular flavor note.