Melpominee
"Song is the handmaiden of love, and the courtesan of power. Little wonder, then, the envy we Daughters inspire." -- Amandine duMont
The Greek muse of tragedy, Melpomene, was said to inspire madness and great emotion through her music. Sirens, too, used song to drive sailors mad, causing them to wreck their ships on reefs. In myth, music has great power, and the discipline of Melpominee proves the truth of those legends. Through sound and song, the user of this discipline twists emotion and even stirs insanity, affecting the very depths of a listener's soul.
Deaf subjects, or individuals otherwise unable to hear the vampire, are still affected so long as the singer's voice naturally reaches their location. The effects of Melpominee cannot be captured by recordings nor carried by microphones, bullhorns, or other electronic or mechanical means; such recordings and enhancements portray only the performance of the song, without any supernatural effects.
Melpominee Test Pool: The Melpominee wielder uses her Social attribute + Subterfuge versus the target's Social attribute + Willpower.
Contents
• The Missing Voice
A practiced Melpominee user can alter her voice beyond human measure, encompassing octaves both within and outside the normal vocal range. The practitioner can mimic other voices, create unusual sounds, and sing accomplished arias with ease.
System: Expend 1 Blood and use a simple action to modify your voice. With the Missing Voice, you may utilize any sound the human voice can produce (within any octave or vocal range, from the deepest basso to the highest soprano). You can also increase your volume beyond standard human range, resonating over other noises like a living megaphone. Further, if you have 3 or more dots of Performance: Singing, you can identically replicate any voice you have studied for at least five minutes, regardless of that individual's sex or vocal tone.
Note that Missing Voice does not provide any fluency with foreign languages; you may duplicate a foreign accent, but cannot comprehend languages you do not already understand.
Focus [Appearance]: Your Missing Voice is an exception to the rule that Melpominee cannot be captured by recordings or carried by electronic or mechanical means. Your character may use Missing Voice to speak in someone else's voice over a telephone or to fool voice-activated security systems.
•• Phantom Speaker
With concentration, you can cause your voice to emit from a location other than your own. Many practitioners of Melpominee use Phantom Speaker to harmonize with themselves, achieving spectacular performances through the use of this power.
System: By spending 1 Blood and expending a simple action, you cause your voice to generate from thin air. Using this power allows you to make your voice emanate from any location within your line of sight or from any location with which you are familiar. When you use Phantom Speaker, you do not have to move your lips or otherwise show any signs of speaking. If you choose, you may allow one willing person to respond in kind; her voice will softly emanate just within your hearing. A character who has the Auspex power Heightened Senses and is within three steps of the location where a Phantom Speaker emanates will overhear a conversation held through Phantom Speaker.
You can have only one application of Phantom Speaker in operation at a time. However, you can carry on two conversations simultaneously, one through Phantom Speaker, and one spoken normally. You cannot use other powers or supernatural effects through Phantom Speaker, except for the Melpominee power Missing Voice.
Focus [Charisma]: Rather than using Phantom Speaker on a target or location you can see, you can use it on any individual you are familiar with, regardless of range. Your voice emanates from just behind the target, allowing you to communicate with her. Further, if you wish, you may allow your target's voice to echo back to you.
••• Madrigal
The heights and depths of your songs carry powerful emotions. With magnificent arias or oration, you raise others to the heights of passion; black melancholy flows from your melodies of despair.
System: To use Madrigal, you must spend 1 Blood and then sing for at least three turns. All those in hearing range of this power feel an intense emotion of your choice, related to the subject of your performance. This emotion is overwhelming, summoning a rush of memories, images of events that caused similar feelings in the individual's past. Individuals affected by Madrigal receive a +2 bonus to their test pools to resist emotion-based powers originating from disciplines other than Melpominee, such as Entrancement, Dread Gaze, or Passion.
Using this power on an individual with a derangement gives her 1 Derangement trait.
The effects of Madrigal last for 10 minutes, plus an additional 10 minutes for every dot the user has of the Performance: Singing skill.
Focus [Appearance]: For the duration of Madrigal, your targets receive a +3 bonus (rather than a +2) to their test pools to resist non-Melpominee emotion-based powers, such as Presence.
•••• Siren' s Beckoning
By beckoning to the turmoil and emotional wounds within a subject, you awaken insanity within an individual's soul.The sound of your voice overwhelms a listener's mind, as your song shatters her hold on reality.
System: To use Siren's Beckoning, you must spend 1 Blood and use a standard action to sing. Choose a number of individuals within hearing range equal to your Performance: Singing skill. These individuals immediately enter a fugue-like state, stopping all other activity in order to listen to your performance. So long as you continue to spend your standard action singing each round, your listeners will remain utterly captivated by the song.
If you use your simple action to walk, they will follow at a slow pace, unaware of events happening around them; they will not notice breaches of the Masquerade or other general events. However, if a beckoned individual is attacked, put in danger (you cannot lead them over a pit nor in front of a speeding car), or targeted by an offensive power, your Siren's Beckoning will immediately break.
All those who wish to resist your Siren's Beckoning must make an opposed challenge using their Social attribute + Willpower versus your Melpominee test pool.
Using this power on an individual with a derangement gives her 2 Derangement traits. If this causes the individual to experience a psychotic break, that break will not occur until after Siren's Beckoning ends.
Focus [Charisma]: Mortals do not count toward your maximum number of targets for Siren's Beckoning.
••••• Death of the Drum
Sound can be a deadly and explosive force, and the power of harmonics can shake apart even the most stalwart materials. By pitching your voice to the exact frequency of an enemy's physical form, you can cause severe injury to your target.
System: Spend 1 point of Blood and expend a standard action to sing, shriek, or otherwise audibly evoke Death of the Drum. Make an opposed challenge against an opponent, using the Melpominee test pool. If you are successful, your victim takes 3 points of aggravated damage.
You can activate Death of the Drum against a target repeatedly; this is an exception to the rule that prohibits a character from using a Social power on the same target immediately after failing. If you fail to use Death of the Drum against an opponent, you may try again against that same opponent (or someone else) on the next turn.
Exceptional Success: Your use of Death of the Drum deals 4 points of aggravated damage, rather than 3.
Focus [Charisma]: You can also target objects with Death of the Drum. Most solid items will shatter after a single round of song, but the Storyteller may require multiple rounds of singing to break exceptionally tough or thick substances.
