Protean

Protean embodies the descent (or ascent) of a vampire from a near-mortal whose body still yearns for its grave to a savage beast. At the pinnacle of the power, the vampire distills the essence of the Beast from its once-human flesh, becoming a disembodied creature of smoke and hunger.
==Unmarked Grave •==
Cost: Varies
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
Duration: Indefinite
At the vampire’s silent command, the earth yawns open to embrace him. Merging with the ground, he gains immunity to most harm.
#There is no cost to merge with soil. For other substances, the cost is equal to the Durability of the material.
#When subsumed, the vampire is mostly insensible to the outside world. However, he may remain conscious as normal. Kindred Senses continue to function, and he remains capable of sensing the Predatory Aura. He can not be compelled to a fight-or-flight reaction by the Predatory Aura.
#He is immune to almost all harm which does not damage the ground in which he rests. His Predatory Aura is suppressed as well.
#Should blood or Vitae be spilled on the ground where he rests, the vampire will absorb it. Vitae is diluted enough that it can’t result in a blood bond, but a Vitae-addicted vampire may feel the urge to come forth from the ground to seek more.
==Predatory Aspect ••==
Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: None
Action: Reflexive
Duration: Indefinite
The vampire gains the ability to manifest a small host of bestial traits. When he first learns Predatory Aspect, the vampire selects three adaptations. From then on he can reflexively manifest these changes for the scene for a point of Vitae.
A vampire might manifest the following changes, or the player might work with the Storyteller to create new ones:
*Sharp claws/talons that give his Brawl attacks +1 damage, counting as a mundane weapon (and therefore dealing lethal damage) against mortals. These claws also give a +2 to athletics checks made to climb.
*Extended fangs that allow the kindred to make bite attacks without establishing a grapple. They give his Brawl attacks +1 damage, counting as a mundane weapon (and therefore dealing lethal damage) against mortals.
*Hundreds of tiny insect legs, clawed feet, or other adaptations which allow him to freely move across walls and ceilings without need for an Athletics roll.
*Curved spine, and more animal-like haunches giving the gangrel a more bestial posture and bearing. Adding +6 speed, +1 to athletics rolls, and doubling their horizontal and vertical jump distance.
*Webbed hands or slick scales, granting a swim Speed equal to his land Speed.
*See through his beast and gain sharper Kindred Senses, allowing him to hear heart beats, and see/smell blood in the kindreds general area.
*Tremor sense, echolocation, or similar perceptive enhancements permit him to see without using his eyes and view his surroundings with nearly 360 degree vision.
*Thicker skin that hardens into a hide. Hardy and resilient, this gives the gangrel +1 armor that stacks with mundane armor and/or Fortitude.
*Grow a long, prehensile tail. This acts as a third arm, though it obviously lacks a true hand.
A character can change his selected adaptations by spending a day and a night sleeping in his Unmarked Grave, and spending one point of Vitae per adaptation he wishes to replace. Players should keep their adaptations within a theme, generally basing them on a predatory animal of some sort.
==Prey’s Skin •••==
Cost: 2 Vitae
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
Duration: Indefinite
*The vampire assumes the form of an animal that he consumed (killed through feeding).
*The vampire takes on the animal’s Base Physical traits, Size, Speed Species Factor. He acquires all natural means of locomotion and sense that the animal possesses, but keeps all his original mental and social Attributes and Skills. Some physical Merits may change, at the Storyteller’s discretion.
*The animal must be within Size 1 - 7, and must be a predator.
*The vampire may retain the ability to assume a number of shapes equal to his dots in Protean. To change or add a form the vampire must first consume appropriate prey, then slumber for a day and a night in his Unmarked Grave.
==Unnatural Change ••••==
Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: None, enhances Predatory Aspect
Action: None
Duration: None
As the Beast boils up through the Blood, the vampire’s human or animal shell begins to twist and crack. He manifests truly horrifying changes which no longer resemble the creatures of the natural world. This costs an additional point of Vitae when activating Predatory Aspect. The vampire assumes a single additional adaptation from the following list. If the following list lacks a proper adaption the player may create a custom one with Storyteller approval.
*Grow vicious, supernaturally sharp claws which rend though flesh, bone, and most man made substances with ease. These give Brawl attacks a +2 weapon bonus, armor piercing 2, and deal lethal damage even to vampires. These claws give a +3 to athletics rolls made to climb.
**They replace the claws of Predatory Aspect so that if this change is chosen then the kindred must choose a new third aspect for that discipline.
*Unfurl great wings of a pale, leathery skin. The character can fly at up to his Speed.
*Push out tiny barbs on his hands that allow him to grip his opponents with incredible ferocity. Add Protean dots to grappling dice pools. The character deals lethal damage when choosing the Damage move in grappling. This often enables gory feeding in the middle of a fight.
*Develop hooked hands or other unnatural apparati that allow him to burrow through dirt and soil at half his normal movement speed.
*Transform his body into rubber-like flesh and bones that can stretch, condense and contort in impossible ways. This permits the vampire to slip through holes half the size of his head. If circumstances suggest that the contortion requires a roll, such as attempting to wriggle through a drain under gun fire, Unnatural Change adds the vampire’s Protean dots to the roll.
As with Predatory Aspect once an adaptation is chosen it cannot be changed unless the character sleeps a day and a night in his Unmarked Grave. It costs 2 points of Vitae to change the adaptation from Unnatural Change.
==Primeval Miasma •••••==
Cost: 3 Vitae
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
Duration: Indefinite
The vampire dissolves into a cloud of smoke. Occasional flashes of yellow appear within the smoke, like the gleaming of eyes.
#This form can move at half the vampire’s normal Speed, expand up to [Protean+Blood Potency] yard in diameter, and pass through or into nearly anything that isn’t air tight.
#The vampire can perceive the world inside the smoke as clearly as in his solid form, but has only a blurred vision of the world outside himself. Kindred Senses continue to function as normal.
#The vampire can feed from exposed wounds. This may require grappling, in which case the Miasma is presumed to possess the vampire’s physical Attributes.
#The vampire is immune to all harm, save that from fire, sunlight, or other banes which deal damage. Being fully illuminated by sunlight returns the vampire to his solid form.
#Slumbering in Miasma form has the same benefits as Unmarked Grave, allowing the vampire to shift adaptations.
Category:Rules and Houserules
Category:Disciplines