Animalism

Animalism allows the vampire to amplify his intensely primordial nature. He can not only communicate with animals, but can also force his will upon them, directing such beasts to do as he commands. As the vampire grows in power, he can even control the Beast within mortals and other supernaturals.

Dots in Animal Ken and Manipulation are the most useful with Animalism, allowing a vampire to exert their will over lesser lifeforms.

Animalism Cheat Sheet - This sheet is a quick chart of what rolls are needed for what abilities. Keep in mind that the sheet and this page is a cut down version of the V20 page we use on subnet to make it easier to reference. For all of the details regarding Animalism, please go here.

[1] Feral Whispers
This power is the basis from which all other Animalism abilities grow. The Kindred locks eyes with the animal, transmitting his desires through sheer force of will. Eye contact must be maintained the entire time; if it's broken, the Kindred must re-establish contact to continue communication. The simpler the creature, the more difficult it becomes to connect with the animal's Beast. Mammals, predatory birds, and larger reptiles are relatively easy to communicate with. Insects, invertebrates, and most fish are just too simple to connect with. Feral Whispers provides no guarantees that an animal will want to deal with the vampire, nor does it ensure that the animal will pursue any requests the vampire makes of it.

System: No roll is necessary to talk with an animal, but the character must establish eye contact first. Issuing commands requires a Manipulation + Animal Ken roll. The difficulty depends on the creature: Predatory mammals (wolves, cats, vampire bats) are difficulty 6, other mammals and predatory birds (rats, owls) are difficulty 7, and other birds and reptiles (pigeons, snakes) are difficulty 8. The number of successes the player achieves dictates how strongly the character's command affects the animal. One success is sufficient to have a cat follow an individual and lead the character to the same location, three successes are enough to have a raven spy on a target for weeks, and five successes ensure that a grizzly ferociously guards the entrance to the character's wilderness haven for some months.

[2] Beckoning
The vampire's connection to the Beast grows strong enough that he may call out in the voice of a specific type of animal -- howling like a wolf, shrilling like a raven, etc. This call mystically summons creatures of the chosen type. Since each type of animal has a different call, Beckoning works for only a single species at a time. All such animals within earshot are summoned, and some percentage of them will heed the Beckoning if it is successful. While the vampire has no further control over the beasts who answer, the animals who do are favorably disposed toward him and are at least willing to listen to the Kindred's concerns.

System: The player rolls Charisma + Survival (difficulty 6) to determine the response to the character's call; consult the table below. Only animals that can hear the cry will respond. If the Storyteller decides no animals of that type are within earshot, the summons goes unanswered. The call can be as specific as the player desires. A character could call for all bats in the area, for only the male bats nearby, or for only the albino bat with the notched ear he saw the other night.

Degrees of Successes
One Success - A single animal responds.

Two Successes - One-quarter of the animals within earshot respond.

Three Successes - Half of the animals respond.

Four Successes - Most of the animals respond.

Five Successes - All of the animals respond.

Failure - No animals answer the call.

Botch - Catastrophic, possibly a hostile animal hears.

[3] Quell the Beast
A vampire who develops this power may assert his will over a mortal (animal or human) subject, subduing the Beast within her. This quenches all powerful, strong emotions -- hope, fury, love, fear -- within the target. The Kindred must either touch his subject or stare into her eyes to channel his will effectively. Mortals who lack the fire of their inner Beasts are quite tractable, reacting to even stressful situations with indifference. Kindred cannot be affected by this power except by possibly soothing one already in frenzy.

System: The player rolls Manipulation + Intimidation if forcing down the Beast through fear, or Manipulation + Empathy if soothing it into complacency. The difficulty of the roll is 7 in either case. This is an extended action requiring as many total successes as the target has Willpower. Failure indicates that the player must start over from the beginning, while a botch indicates that the vampire may not affect that subject's Beast for the remainder of the scene. When a mortal's Beast is cowed or soothed, she can no longer use or regain Willpower. She ceases all struggles, whether mental or physical. She doesn't even defend herself if assaulted, though the Storyteller may allow a Willpower roll if the mortal believes her life is truly threatened. To recover from this power, the mortal's player rolls Willpower (difficulty 6) once per day until she accumulates enough successes to equal the vampire's Willpower.

Though a vampire's Beast cannot be cowed with this ability, the Storyteller may allow characters to use the "soothing" variation of this power to pull a vampire out of frenzy. With three or more successes, the frenzying vampire may roll again to pull herself out of frenzy, using the same difficulty as the stimulus that caused the frenzy originally.

[4] Subsume the Spirit
By locking his gaze with that of an animal, the vampire may mentally possess the creature. The vampire's body falls into a motionless state akin to torpor while his mind takes control of the animal's actions, remaining this way until the Kindred's consciousness returns.

System: The player rolls Manipulation + Animal Ken (difficulty 8) as the character looks into the animal's eyes. The number of successes allows the character to employ some mental Disciplines while possessing the animal, as noted below. This power entwines the character's consciousness closely with the animal's spirit, so much so that the character may continue to think and feel like that animal even after breaking the connection. This effect continues until the character spends a total of seven nights or three Willpower points to resist and finally overcome the animal nature. At the end of any particularly exciting incident during possession, the player rolls Wits + Empathy (difficulty 8) for the character to retain his own mind. Failure indicates that the character's mind returns to his own body, but still thinks in purely animalistic terms. A botch returns the character to his body, and also sends him into frenzy. The character may travel as far from his own physical body as he chooses while possessing the animal. The character retains no conscious connection with his vampire body during this time, though. The vampire may also venture out during the day, albeit in the animal's body. However, the character's own body must be awake to do so, requiring a successful roll to remain awake. If the character leaves the animal's body the vampire's consciousness returns to his physical form instantaneously. Anything the animal feels, the vampire also experiences, from pleasure to pain. In fact, any damage the animal's body sustains is also applied to the character's body, though the Kindred body may soak as normal. If the animal dies before the vampire's soul can flee from the body, the character's body falls into torpor.

Degrees of Successes
One Success - Successful possession, but cannot use Disciplines.

Two Successes - Can use Auspex and other sensory Disciplines.

Three Successes - Can also use Presence and other powers of emotional manipulation Disciplines.

Four Successes - Can also use Dementation, Dominate, and other powers of mental manipulation.

Five Successes - Can also use Thaumaturgy and other mystical powers

Failure - Possession fails.

Botch - Cannot possess that animal again, and said animal turns hostile to the PC.

[5] Drawing Out the Beast
At this level of Animalism, the Kindred has a keen understanding of the Beast Within, and is able to release his feral urges upon another mortal or vampire. The recipient of the vampire's Beast is instantly overcome by frenzy. This is an unnatural frenzy, however, as the victim is channeling the Kindred's own fury. As such, the vampire's own behavior, expressions, and even speech patterns are evident in the subject's savage actions.

System: The player must announce his preferred target (since it must be someone within sight), then roll Manipulation + Self-Control (difficulty 8). Refer to the table below for the results. If the character leaves the target's presence before the frenzy expends itself, the vampire loses his Beast, as it is now trapped in the target host. While no longer vulnerable to frenzy, the character cannot use or regain Willpower and becomes increasingly lethargic and enters a depressive state. To recover the Beast, he must find the person who now possesses it (who likely isn't enjoying herself very much) and coax the Beast into its proper vessel. The most effective way to do so is to behave in ways that make the Beast want to return -- however, this isn't a guarantee that it will wish to do so. Alternatively, the character can simply kill the host (thus causing the Beast to return to the caster immediately).

Degrees of Successes
One Success - The character transfers the Beast, but unleashes it upon a random individual.

Two Successes - The character is stunned by the effort and may not act next turn, but transfers the Beast successfully. Alternatively, the character may act normally during the turn, but must spend a Willpower point or suffer a single level of lethal damage.

Three to Five Successes - The character transfers the Beast successfully.

Failure - Caster immediately enters frenzy. As the character relaxes in expectation of relieving his savage urges, the Beast takes that opportunity to dig deeper. In this case, the frenzy lasts twice as long as normal and is twice as difficult to shrug off; its severity also increases exponentially.

Botch - Botching this roll is catastrophic; the heightened frenzy grows so extreme that not even expending Willpower curbs its duration or effects. The character is a hapless victim to the terrible fury of his Beast, and may well hurl herself into a savage, flesh-rending rampage that leaves the Masquerade (and unfortunate nearby onlookers) in tatters.