MET LARP SRD
(2013 BNS MET System)
The Path of Grief
Summary
Having taken note of the advances over the past decades in the Thaumaturgical arts, the Giovanni have likewise spent years seeking to expand the powers of Necromancy to embrace modern science and technology. Based on the model of grief studies pioneered by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, The Path of Grief draws on the psyche’s connection to death and uses necromantic energies to bring those emotions to the surface. Just as the departure of a family member can elicit a variety of reactions from sadness to relief to anger, so too can grief serve as a gateway to a variety of complex responses.
Immensely popular with Giovanni advisors and negotiators who use The Path of Grief to their advantage in business and social settings, this path invokes the fear of death in a variety of ways, from mild distress to crushing depression. A person affected by this power finds these feelings to be overwhelming to such an extent that they cannot help but exhibit outward signs. While the character retains their agency with regard to the specifics of their behavior, their motivations become greatly skewed and their resulting actions should adhere to the templates described below.
Quote
“Grief is a weapon and a tool. With this act, I am allowing you to decide.” — Jacob Elghinn, clan Giovanni
Deny Death’s Imminence
Level 1Denial is a common first-stage response to grief, where the terminal or bereaved actively rejects the reality of her circumstances. This early coping mechanism is theorized to exist, in part, to allow the psyche to accumulate the emotional energy needed to face the crisis. You have the power to induce this state, bewildering your victims.
Spend a point of Blood and your simple action to project necrotic energies, extending 15 steps from you in every direction. Those within this area lose the ability to comprehend and process mortal threats and instead resort to denial. Supernatural creatures can sense this effect and are immune; however, most ordinary humans cannot resist this power. As a result, Stock NPCs of rating 3 or lower will ignore any threats to their well being provided they and others are not directly harmed, continuing to act as if nothing is happening. If they are attacked, they will react fearfully. For example, if a Tzimisce in Horrid Form lumbers past an affected Stock 3 NPC while this power is active, the NPC will be unable to process the imminent threat and will ignore it entirely. This power has no effect on Stock NPCs rated 4 or higher.
The use of this power can effectively preserve the Masquerade as bystanders will ignore acts of violence and other Masquerade breeching effects carried out in their presence. These observers will mentally classify the events as non-remarkable, even if they might otherwise regard them as extraordinary. They will not act on these events and will quickly forget any details over the span of 24 hours as their recollection blurs.
Lash Out
Level 2Test pool: Social attribute + Occult skill versus target’s Social attribute + Willpower.
The second stage of grief is anger, the most primordial response to the danger of external threats. The surge of adrenaline it provides helps the body defend itself from attackers and bends the psyche toward aggression. In other circumstances, rage is a hindrance, causing one to lash out in the absence of an actual threat and alienating oneself from others. With respect to grief, anger has a masking effect, used to protect the psyche from feelings of vulnerability and sadness that it lacks the strength to process.
Spend 1 point of Blood, your standard action, and make a contested challenge as you make a remark to your target about her mortality. For example, you may say “Your temper’s going to get you into trouble someday,” “Your rashness will be the death of you,” or simply “Memento Mori” if you have a flare for the dramatic. You must have your target’s gaze and focus to use this power. If successful, for the next hour, your target is susceptible to rage frenzy as if she had 3 Beast traits more than her current total. Therefore, even if she has zero Beast Traits, she is susceptible to additional triggers for frenzy, including the need to test for frenzy if she takes 2 points of damage from a single source (see MET VTM, Chapter Seven: Dramatic Systems, page 301). This penalty only applies to determining frenzy; it is not applied to determine if degeneration occurs. This penalty is cumulative with other modifiers that give a penalty to Beast traits, such as the Brujah clan weakness and the Short Fuse flaw.
In addition, if your target is on the receiving end of any action which could be construed as moderately disrespectful, she must spend a point of Willpower or immediately act out in a noticeable fashion. Appropriate actions include attacking, yelling, breaking something, or storming out. If she spends a point of Willpower, she may ignore the source of disrespect and all other similar affronts for 5 minutes.
This power affects supernatural creatures and non-vampires equally. Werewolves are considered to have 3 additional levels of rage for determining frenzy. Even if your target does not have a Beast, she will enter a mental state identical in all ways to a vampire’s rage frenzy, attacking the source of her rage.
Compellling Offer
Level 3Test pool: Social attribute + Occult skill versus target’s Social attribute + Willpower.
The bargaining stage is the psyche’s attempt to cope with mortality and grief – the product of realization giving way to desperation. Individuals in this state are immensely pliable, eager to explore any option to avert catastrophe. With this power, your target gains a sense of mortal anxiety that becomes a state of mind that you can exploit to your advantage.
This power allows you to make an offer which weighs on your target’s mind until she makes a decision. Spend 1 point of Blood and three or more standard actions as you make an offer to your target. You must have your target’s Gaze and Focus to use this power, and you must be able to communicate with her (telepathically is fine). Thereafter, the choice presented lingers in the target's mind, always at the edge of her thinking.
Once the offer is made and until your target makes her choice, she may not take any antagonistic action toward you, which includes targeting you with hostile powers or attacking you. She may, however, seek to negotiate. You may act against her normally during this time, and she must continue to consider the offer. If you withdraw the offer by spending a simple action, this power’s effects end.
The target may exercise one of the following options at any time:
Offers may not be designed to be life threatening to your target. You are free to describe an offer in shorter or longer terms, making an offer that either ends sooner than the end of the night, or a more open offer that would seemingly last beyond the current night. However, when the offer expires or the night ends (whichever is first), the effects of this power fade.
A target may only be affected by a single use of this power per night. Any additional use of this power from you or from anyone else upon the same target will fail. You may not use this power on friendly targets purely with the intent of triggering this limitation; the Storyteller may intervene in instances where she believes this is the case.
You may only have a single active offer at a given time. Any additional offers end the effects of the current one. This power does not work if the offer is farcical or clearly intended to insult or ridicule, the determination of which is subject to the Storyteller’s discretion. This includes offers involving vulgarity or demeaning acts.
Harvest Despair
Level 4Test pool: Social attribute + Occult skill versus target’s Social attribute + Willpower.
The depression that follows grief brings with it a sense of futility and despair. In this state, the mind expends energy yet accomplishes nothing, sabotaged by its own efforts. With this power, you can harvest this energy, turning it into useful sustenance. A number of Giovanni have come to appreciate the vitae created through this magic, noting its flavorful salty notes.
Spend 1 point of Blood and a simple action to activate this power. For the next 10 minutes, whenever you are involved in an opposed challenge against a visible target, you may announce the use of Harvest Despair before any tests are thrown. If you do, you receive a -5 penalty to your test pool for the challenge. However, if you win despite the penalty your opponent feels a sense of futility and despair as she is assailed by entropic forces. She loses a point of Willpower and up to 2 points of Blood, both of which you may absorb to restore any of your own spent points. If your target is not a vampire, she instead loses the type of fuel appropriate to her creature type (such as Gnosis for werewolves or Glamour for changelings) , which you absorb as blood. If instead your target has no Willpower to lose or if she’s a Stock NPC without Willpower, she must immediately cease attacking you, and cannot do so again until this power’s duration is over. You may only benefit from this power once per turn, but you may announce its use during Celerity rounds if you have already activated it. If you use this power but fail in the challenge, you may still use it again on subsequent challenges in the same turn until you succeed.
You may only benefit from this power when used against a target who wishes you genuine harm. It will not work if you activate it and then invite allies or otherwise friendly people to hit you, nor will the power function in contrived scenarios. The blood generated from this power is considered inert and does not create a blood bond. This power is not considered hostile for the purposes of powers such as Entrancement or Majesty.
Accept Death’s Embrace
Level 5Test pool: Social attribute + Occult skill versus target’s Social attribute + Willpower.
For every living and unliving being, death is an inevitable truth. As the final stage of grief, acceptance is the realization of that truth – a state of release where the psyche is freed from the ego and prepares itself for what lies beyond. Some have described this state of mind as immensely liberating; a blissful window of clarity wherein they were finally able to find themselves.
Spend a point of Blood and your standard action as you inform your target of her imminent demise. You must have your target’s Gaze and Focus to use this power. If you succeed in an opposed challenge, for the next 10 minutes your target’s psyche is overcome with the certainty that her life is about to end and must choose the circumstances as to how she will perish. She must select from one of the following restrictions and inform the Storyteller privately of her choice (inform her she should not tell you which restriction she has chosen). Should she be attacked or become threatened, the chosen restriction will apply.
While the player may choose freely, this is not a conscious choice for her character. Therefore, she cannot be coerced into a specific option through the use of Dominate or other powers. However, once she has chosen, she will immediately suspect her life is at risk. She will know what her restriction is, and may act in advance of being directly threatened to preserve her life.
A character under the effects of this power may not relent to powers which might compel her to act against her restriction, such as Dominate or Dread Gaze, but she is affected by them normally. In the event of a stalemate, such as if the target wishes to fight but her opponents remain out of reach and visible, she is not obliged to take any action and can act freely until circumstances change.