San Francisco by Night
Specifc Rulings
Here are various rulings I have made:
5. Can a Vampire fetish Spirits?
Yes, in VtM 3, the Spirit Manipulation Thaumaturgy path allows a Vampire to fetish Ephemera spirits (e.g., Jagglings, Gafflings, etc.) It does not work on Wraiths or other Spirit Beings. This is a change from Spirit Thaumaturgy in VtM 2. However, Wraiths can be bound using Necromancy. We have also approved a ritual for one player which works on any being with a "Soul (or Intelligence)". There may also be some Hedge Magic and Dark Ages powers that will work on other beings as well (e.g., Demons). This does not mean that all Vampires have these powers. It means that some Vampires have these powers.
4. Summons Power from Presense Discipline. The person summoned receives a mental image of the person summoning them. For example, Leopold received a mental image of Victoria when she attempted to summon him in the Clan novel series. How the person can react to this information deponds upon the number of successes. 5 successes means the person rushes to the person making no other preparations. One success meand the person may contact friends, make preparations, etc. 2-4 successes requires mature judgement about what type of preparations a person might legitimately make.
3. Obfuscate and the Iron Mind Thaumaturgy Ritual. Iron Mind blocks all use of Auspex against the person wearing the Iron Mind object. Therefore, an Obfuscated person using Iron Mind cannot be detected by Auspex. However, he or she can be detected the same means as someone not having the Auspex discipline (see descriptions under various Obfuscate powers). While an argument could be made that Iron Mind should only protect against personal invasions like Aura Perception and Telepathy (and a good argument at that), I am ruling the ritual is very similar to Pavis of Foul Presence which makes one totally immune to the Presence discipline. Pavis is only level 3, and Iron Mind is level 6, therefore to say that it nullifies the entire discipline is not too far of a stretch, especially given the wording of the discipline "This ritual makes its target invulnerable to Auspex for one night." (PGS, p. 122) To summarize, when a person uses Iron Mind, Auspex users who interact with him are treated as though they do not have Auspex.
2. Biothaumaturgic Experimentation Thaumaturgy Path (From Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand). While the book lists no specific penalties for having a person's traits increased through this form of sorcery, we are adding some in the San Francisco chronicle rules to ensure fairness. White Wolf's intent behind the path is to allow Frankenstein, Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde, type transformations. Therefore, anyone subject to this path will suffer some form of drawback similar to those experienced in the source mythology. The caster should suggest the drawback for the ST to approve whenever he uses the power. The drawback should be appropriate to the situation. For example, yes Mr. Hyde, you are a stronger and more vibrant male, and you are also now a psychotic lunatic. This interpretation is also based on the episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with which most people are familiar. This power may also be used to make changes which will not necessarily have drawbacks. The intent of this ruling is to find a reasonable play-balance to keep people from increasing traits to their maximum with no bad side effects.
1. Curse (Daiminion Level 5 from The Storyteller's Handbook). What happens when a trait drops to 0? It depends. Dropping Stamina to 0 places a Vampire in Torpor. Dropping a mortal's stamina to 0 causes terminal illness, immunity to diseases, and other nasty effects. See VtM Revised page 176. Sometimes these effects can be offset. For example, a Vampire with Fortitude would not drop into Torpor if his Stamina reaches 0. A Vampire with Potence could still physically move even with a 0 strength. I would like to be able to make rulings covering all situations, but there are too many variations. If you have a question about a specific issue, please email me. Otherwise, try to be reasonable and intelligent and fair and work together to create your scenes. Remember the Storytelling aspect.