Auspex

Auspex is perception beyond its usual limitations. Where mortals squint and guess and make up scary stories to tell in the dark, you actually know. You hear the heartbeat behind the wall, smell the lie beneath the smile, and see the ghost standing right next to the dead body that nobody else seems able to detect.

Your senses can expand to encompass entire city blocks or narrow to read the emotions written in a drop of blood. Most Auspex Powers are invisible to observers, so the Masquerade risk is low unless your eyes do something unsettling or you visibly space out while your mind is elsewhere. Auspex has no universal resistance mechanic; defenses are described within individual Powers.

The flip side: everything hits a hell of a lot harder. Heightened Senses makes you vulnerable to extreme stimuli, and that vulnerability only grows as you open yourself wider. The more you perceive, the more you risk being overwhelmed by what you find.

Heightened Senses (Discipline Perk)¶

When you Discern Vibes or Catch the Scent, you have +1 Forward to those rolls.

However, if you're exposed to extreme sensations (loud bangs, intense light, overpowering smells), you must Stay Chill or suffer −1 Ongoing to all Wits rolls for the rest of the scene as your heightened senses overload.

Level 1¶

Reveal Temperament¶

When you lean close to draw in someone's scent, make a Hunger Check and roll +Wits. You must be within Hand Range.

On a 10+, the blood speaks volumes. You learn the target's Blood Resonance, if any, and which of the four Humors they're most predisposed to. If the target is a vampire, you also learn the Resonance of their last meal, whether they've Fed recently, and how they Hunt (their Predator Type).

On a 7–9, the scent is faint. If the target is mortal, you catch their current Blood Resonance Humor but not the intensity. If the target is a vampire, you can tell whether they've Fed tonight, but nothing more.

On a 6-, your senses flood and cross wires. The Storyteller gives you a reading that feels completely certain, but at least one critical detail is wrong. You won't know which until it matters.

Sense the Unseen (Passive)¶

Your awareness pierces the veil between worlds. Cloaked vampires, distant watchers, lingering spirits, and woven enchantments all register to your expanded perception — you know what hides in the spaces between reality.

When you successfully Discern Vibes or Catch the Scent, you gain +1 additional Hold. The following questions can also be asked regardless of which Move you used:

Is anything supernatural concealed here?
What occult powers are active nearby?
Is someone observing me with Auspex or similar magic?
What magical traces or spiritual echoes remain?

Level 2¶

Panacea¶

When you lay your hands on someone and reach into their mind to still the turmoil within, make a Hunger Check and roll +Resolve. You must be within Hand Range, and the target must be willing or unaware. Panacea cannot target yourself.

On a 10+, Hold 3. On a 7–9, Hold 1.

Spend Hold 1-for-1 to administer the following treatments:

Remove one negative Ongoing modifier affecting the target if its source is mental or magical
The target takes +1 Forward when they next Stay Chill against Frenzy or their Compulsion
Suppress a Compulsion the target is currently experiencing; it returns at the end of the scene if the trigger is still present
Calm a mortal target completely; they become cooperative and at ease for the rest of the scene, though this negates all Blood Resonance they may have had

On a 6-, you open yourself to the target's emotional state and it crashes into you unfiltered. Their fear, rage, or grief floods through the connection. You must immediately Stay Chill or succumb to the nearest emotional extreme (your own Compulsion, a reflexive Frenzy, or a moment of paralyzing distress). The target is not calmed.

If you also have Fortitude: you may use Panacea on yourself.

Premonition¶

Your awareness occasionally slips forward in time. The Storyteller may give you brief, involuntary flashes of insight whenever they see fit: a prickle of danger before an ambush, a name that surfaces unbidden, a split-second image of someone you haven't met yet. These cost nothing and require no roll. The Storyteller should use these flashes to flag upcoming danger, highlight overlooked clues, or nudge the story forward when momentum stalls; they're pacing tools as much as character abilities.

When you deliberately still your mind and reach for a vision of what's to come, make a Hunger Check and roll +Resolve. You may activate this only once per scene.

On a 10+, the vision arrives with clarity. The Storyteller provides a truthful, actionable answer to one question you have about the subject: a person's near-term intentions, the most likely outcome(s) of a plan, what waits behind a closed door, or any other forward-looking question relevant to the current situation. Take +1 Ongoing when you act on what you've seen until it comes to pass.

On a 7–9, you see only fragments: symbolic images, sensory flashes, or a gut feeling that something is off. The Storyteller gives you something real (a cryptic warning, a single vivid detail, an emotional impression) but it's incomplete and requires interpretation. The Storyteller is not obligated to tell you which parts are literal and which are metaphor.

On a 6-, the vision crashes in uncontrollably. The Storyteller describes what you see; it may be accurate, symbolic, outdated, or entirely misleading, and you have no way to tell which. The vision's emotional intensity bleeds into reality and you must Stay Chill or be overwhelmed by whatever the vision carries (terror, grief, rage, despair). Anyone watching can tell something just happened, but at worst, it just looks like an emotional outburst.

Unerring Pursuit¶

When you lock eyes with someone and plant a psychic marker in their consciousness, make a Hunger Check and roll +Shadow. For a number of nights equal to your Blood Potency, whenever the target catches their own reflection (mirrors, windows, phone screens, puddles), you receive a brief, vivid flash of their surroundings: where they are, who they're with, what they're doing.

On a 10+, the connection is one-way and invisible. The target has no idea they're being tracked.

On a 7–9, the tracking works, but the mirror remembers your face. During the nights this Power is active, if the target rolls a 12+ on any investigative check (Discern Vibes, Catch the Scent, or similar), they catch a glimpse of you watching them from the other side of their reflection; the Storyteller decides whether they recognize you.

On a 6-, the connection still works, but the mirror goes both ways for the full duration. Every time you see them in a reflection, they see you in theirs. They know exactly who's watching, and they get the same flashes of your surroundings that you get of theirs.

Level 3¶

Fatal Flaw (Passive)¶

When you successfully Discern Vibes or Catch the Scent on a particular person, the following questions can also be asked regardless of which Move you used:

What is this person most vulnerable to right now?
What would break their composure in this moment?
Where is the weakness in their defenses (physical, social, or supernatural)?
What are they most afraid of losing?
What Debt, obligation, or pressure are they under?

Additionally, when you use either Move, you may make one Hunger Check to gain +2 additional Hold. You see the fault lines in their composure, the cracks in their defenses, and the soft spots they've spent a lifetime hiding all light up like neon. It's your call which ones you want to leverage.

Haruspex¶

(Requires: Oblivion access)

When you kill a mortal and read the secrets of the cosmos written in their cooling viscera, make a Hunger Check and roll +Wits. The death must be fresh; this Power requires you to physically examine the remains within moments of their final breath. You gain 1 Stain (Organovore Predator Types are exempt; you've done this before).

On a 10+, the dying mind's final glimpse of the infinite becomes yours. Bank a number of Disadvantages equal to your Blood Potency. Until the next dawn, whenever someone acts against you (attacking, Influencing, using a Discipline Power, etc.), you may spend 1 banked Disadvantage to impose Disadvantage on their roll. You already saw this coming.

On a 7–9, bank Disadvantages equal to half your Blood Potency (rounded up). The Storyteller chooses 1 complication:

The vision was fragmentary; you can only use the banked Disadvantages against threats you've already identified, not surprises
The death attracted attention; someone heard, saw, or will find the body sooner than you'd like
The cosmic insight came with a price; you suffer a vivid, involuntary vision of your own Final Death that haunts you for the rest of the night and take −1 Forward to your next Stay Chill roll

On a 6-, the dying mind's final vision crashes into you unfiltered. You see something true, terrible, and deeply personal about your own future. The Storyteller describes it. No Disadvantages are banked. You must immediately Stay Chill or be overwhelmed by what you saw.

Scry the Soul¶

When you focus your gaze on someone and read the shifting colors of their aura, make a Hunger Check and roll +Wits.

On a 10+, Hold 3. On a 7–9, Hold 1.

Spend Hold 1-for-1 to ask the Storyteller about the target:

What is this person feeling right now?
What is their true nature (Kindred, Ghoul, mortal, or something else)?
Are they under any supernatural influence (Dominate, Presence, Blood Sorcery, etc.)?
Are they displaying the black-veined aura of a Diablerist?
What do they desire most in this moment?
How close to the Beast are they? (approximate Humanity for Kindred; general moral state for mortals)

If you act on the answers, take +1 Forward.

Additionally, you may make one extra Hunger Check to broaden the reading to everyone within Close Range. For each person in the area, the Storyteller reveals their true nature and dominant emotion at a glance. This does not grant Hold as above; it's a snapshot, not a deep read.

On a 6-, the auras hit you like a brick wall. Instead of reading the target, the connection inverts: they catch a vivid flash of your emotional state, your supernatural nature, or something you'd rather keep hidden. The Storyteller gives the target one truth about you that your aura revealed. The psychic backlash scrambles your perception; you have −1 Ongoing to Wits rolls for the rest of the scene as swirling afterimages of foreign auras swim across your vision.

When you fix your attention on someone within Hand Range and reach out to ride their senses, make a Hunger Check and roll +Wits. If the target carries your Vitae (from Feeding from you, a Blood Bond, having been made your Ghoul, etc.), you can initiate this Power at any distance.

On a 10+, the connection is seamless. You perceive everything the target perceives: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste. Choose which senses to tap into (one, some, or all). You remain aware of your own surroundings through the senses you didn't choose, and sustained use demands concentration. The connection lasts up to a number of scenes equal to your Blood Potency.

On a 7–9, the connection works, but the Storyteller chooses 1 complication:

The sensory overlap is disorienting; you have −3 Ongoing to actions involving your own body while the link is active
The target senses something is off (a faint pressure behind the eyes, a feeling of being watched from inside)
The link is fragile; taking Harm or even being startled severs it immediately
You can only tap into one sense (Storyteller's choice)

On a 6-, the connection snaps open and collapses violently. For one terrible turn, you lose all awareness of your own body; your senses are entirely trapped in the target's perspective and your body is defenseless. The target perceives you clearly (your location, your emotional state, your intentions) and knows exactly who was riding their senses. If they have Sense the Unseen, they identify you on the spot.

While the link is active, your body remains where you left it. You can act and move normally but your attention is split; complex tasks may suffer at the Storyteller's discretion. Anyone with Sense the Unseen can detect that the target is carrying a psychic passenger if they are within Hand Range of them.

Level 4¶

Clairvoyance¶

When you close your eyes and expand your awareness beyond your immediate surroundings, choose how long you wish to maintain the connection and make the corresponding Hunger Checks:

1 Hunger Check: One scene
2 Hunger Checks: Full night
3 Hunger Checks: Indefinitely, until you choose to end it or are interrupted

If you are in your Haven, your Coterie's Claim (if positive) count as successful Hunger Checks for this Power. It takes little effort to survey your domain.

While Clairvoyance is active, your awareness fills a roughly city-block-sized area (about Distant Range; more in sparse environments, less in dense ones, or the exact boundaries of your Haven if you're inside it). You gain Hold equal to your Blood Potency. Spend this Hold to ask questions from the Discern Vibes or Catch the Scent lists. The following additional questions are also available:

Who has entered or left this area recently?
What is the most unusual thing happening here right now?
When was the area last visited by someone uninvited?
Where is the nearest source of danger?
Why do I get the feeling I'm being watched?

You must remain in the area while Clairvoyance is active. Taking Harm ends the Power immediately.

Heart Laid Bare¶

When you engage someone in conversation and begin peeling back the layers of their psyche, choose whether you're searching for fears or desires, then make a Hunger Check and roll +Wits. You must sustain the conversation for several minutes; quick exchanges won't cut it.

On a 12+, everything under the 10+, and you also learn the root cause: the formative experience, relationship, or trauma that created the fear or desire. You understand them better than they understand themselves.

On a 10+, you see into their subconscious. The Storyteller reveals the target's deepest fear or desire (chosen at activation), including things the target may not be consciously aware of, complete with context and history. If the object of that fear or desire is physically present or was mentioned in conversation, the insight is even sharper.

On a 7–9, you get a general impression: a category, a theme, a direction ("wealth," "abandonment," "power," "their Sire"); enough to work with, not enough to leverage precisely.

On a 6-, the connection inverts. You reveal a deep fear or desire of your own to the target; the Storyteller decides what slipped out, and it should be something true that you'd prefer stayed buried. The target gains +2 Ongoing whenever they act upon that information against you, lasting indefinitely. Secrets are currency, and you just went bankrupt.

Spirit's Touch¶

When you press your hand to an object or surface and open your senses to its history, choose how far back you wish to reach and make the corresponding Hunger Checks:

1 Hunger Check: Days
2 Hunger Checks: Months
3 Hunger Checks: Years
4 Hunger Checks: Decades
5 Hunger Checks: Centuries

Then roll +Wits. On a 10+, Hold 3. On a 7–9, Hold 1.

Spend Hold 1-for-1 to ask the Storyteller about events within your chosen time range:

What was the most significant event involving this object (or at this location)?
What emotions were strongest here during that event?
Who was involved (appearance, nature, or identifying details)?
Was anything concealed, hidden, or deliberately erased here?
Who was the last person to handle this? (You may spend Hold on this multiple times to trace the object through successive owners or visitors)

On a 6-, the object's history swallows you whole. You experience the most traumatic moment in the object's past as a vivid first-person flashback, and for a full turn you cannot distinguish the memory from reality. Your body is unresponsive and vulnerable to anything happening around it. The emotional residue clings; you must Stay Chill or the memory's dominant emotion (fear, rage, grief, desperation) overwhelms your composure entirely.

Level 5¶

Possession¶

(Requires: Dominate access)

When you lock eyes with a mortal or a Ghoul bound to you by Blood and project your consciousness into their body, make a Hunger Check and roll +Resolve. This Power cannot target Kindred or other supernatural creatures.

On a 10+, the Possession takes hold cleanly. Your consciousness inhabits the host; your body collapses into a Torpor-like trance wherever you left it (completely unresponsive, though Aggravated Harm to your real body wrenches you back immediately). While possessing the host, you can use any Discipline that operates through mental or vocal means: Auspex, Dominate, Presence, and Melpominee all function normally. Physical Disciplines do not. You're borrowing this body, not upgrading it.

You cannot read the host's mind, access their memories, or use their skills. Impersonating the host convincingly requires you to Influence anyone who knows them. The host's mind is locked away for the duration, aware that something is wrong but unable to act.

On a 7–9, the Possession works as above, but the Storyteller chooses 1 complication:

The host's body resists your control; you have −1 Ongoing to all physical actions while inside
Fragments of the host's personality bleed through; their mannerisms, speech patterns, or emotional reactions surface at inconvenient moments
The transition was rough; your real body twitched, cried out, or moved visibly before going limp, and anyone nearby likely has concerns
The host retains fragmentary awareness of what you do while inside; when you leave, they'll remember flashes of what happened

On a 6-, the host's will snaps back against yours. You're ejected immediately and both you and the host are disoriented for a full turn. The host remembers the attempt with perfect clarity. Your body wrenches out of Torpor violently and you take 1 Aggravated Harm (Ignore-Armor).

Possession and the Soul: For each full scene you remain inside the host, gain 1 Stain. When you exit the host (voluntarily or otherwise), you must immediately make a Remorse Check.

Daytime Possession: If you wish to remain inside the host past dawn, roll +Resolve (with Advantage if your body is safely in your Haven). On a 7+, you stay in control through the day. On a 6-, the horrible sun drags your consciousness back to your sleeping body; the host regains control and wakes up confused, disoriented, and potentially aware of everything that happened.

Telepathy¶

You can project your own thoughts directly into another person's mind, as clearly as though you were whispering in their ear. This requires line of sight but no roll, no Hunger Check, and no physical proximity. The target hears your voice in their head and knows the thoughts are not their own. They can choose to respond mentally; if they do, you hear them just as clearly.

When you reach into someone else's mind to read their thoughts, make 1 Hunger Check (or 2 if the target is an unwilling supernatural creature) and roll +Wits. Willing targets and most unprepared mortals are read automatically with no roll required; the Storyteller may grant exceptions for mortals with exceptional mental training or willpower.

For automatic reads, the Storyteller provides whatever the target is actively thinking about: surface thoughts, immediate emotions, current intentions, and any relevant anxieties.

Against supernatural creatures:

On a 10+, you're in. Surface thoughts flow freely, and you can push deeper to learn their recent memories, hidden intentions, or buried fears. Ask the Storyteller up to 3 questions about what the target is thinking now, has recently thought or experienced, or is trying to conceal.

On a 7–9, you catch the surface and learn whatever the target is actively thinking about right now. It might be vital intelligence, or it might be utterly mundane. The Storyteller provides one piece of information from the target's surface thoughts, useful or otherwise.

On a 6-, the target feels you rummaging around in there, and their mind violently expels you. They know exactly who tried to get in. The backlash tears open a two-way channel for a split second: they get a flash of your surface thoughts, and the force of their rejection leaves you reeling. You have −1 Ongoing to Wits rolls for the rest of the scene as the psychic aftershock rings through your skull. Yikes.

Unburdening the Bestial Soul¶

(Requires: Panacea, Dominate access)

When you spend a scene in seclusion with a willing Kindred and reach through the empathic connection to touch their darkness, make a Hunger Check and roll +Resolve. This Power automatically fails if the target's Humanity is higher than yours; you cannot soothe a soul cleaner than your own.

On a 12+, everything applies as per 10+, and you may also restore 1 Humanity to your target. This can only be done once per person, ever, with no exceptions.

On a 10+, the unburdening takes hold. The target automatically succeeds their next Remorse Check (whenever it occurs). Additionally, the target gains a Stain buffer equal to your Blood Potency; the next Stains they would acquire (up to that number) are absorbed by the buffer instead. The buffer lasts until the end of the night.

You absorb half the target's current Stains (rounded down) as the spiritual burden transfers to you. These are real Stains on your own soul and will factor into your next Remorse Check.

For the remainder of the night, the target's mind is partially merged with yours. Any Dominate Power you use against the target succeeds automatically with no roll, no eye contact, and no resistance. This vulnerability fades when the night ends.

On a 7–9, the connection is imperfect. The Storyteller chooses 1 complication:

The Stain buffer is halved (rounded down)
You absorb all the target's Stains instead
The automatic Remorse Check success doesn't apply; the target must roll normally
The Dominate vulnerability lingers beyond one night (Storyteller's discretion)

On a 6-, the unburdening collapses inward and everything feels worse. You duplicate all of the target's current Stains and the target receives no benefits whatsoever. Your Beast surges from the sudden weight of borrowed guilt; you must immediately Stay Chill or Frenzy. The target, having felt your clumsy psychic fumbling inside them, may never trust you the same way again.