Obfuscate
"Dead? Really? Who told you that? Perhaps they just weren't watching closely enough.¨ -- Anatole, Prophet of Gehenna
As creatures of the night, vampires often rely on their ability to remain hidden, keeping themselves unnoticed through stealth or misdirection. Obfuscate is the power of fogging another's mind, lowering her perception, and making her miss small details or notable inconsistencies. With this power, a vampire can change her physical appearance, steal or conceal valuable items, and even cloak a small group of individuals from sight. So long as an Obfuscated individual does nothing to draw attention to herself or interact with her environment, such as by speaking to someone or manipulating a visible object, she remains unnoticed.
Obfuscate affects all five senses. It can visibly change or conceal an individual's physical appearance and also mask minor incongruent sounds, alter the user's voice, disguise the individual's odor, or even make a ratty denim jacket feel like rich leather, all to support an Obfuscate-based disguise.
Obfuscate and Animals: Animals can occasionally sense when a vampire who currently possesses any number of Beast traits is nearby, even if that vampire is hidden or altered by Obfuscate. This doesn't allow the animal to pierce the vampire's Obfuscate, but it will cause the animal to become noticeably nervous, skittish, and aggressive.
Obfuscate and Auspex: A vampire using Auspex can attempt to use her sharpened senses to pierce an individual's Obfuscate. The Auspex user must test using her Mental attribute + Investigation versus the Obfuscate user's Mental attribute + Willpower. The Obfuscate user may opt to use her Mental attribute + Stealth as a defensive test pool rather than her Mental attribute + Willpower.
If the Auspex user is successful, she pierces the powers of Obfuscate.
Obfuscate and Machines: Obfuscate works by clouding the minds of observers and, therefore, has no effect on machines. An obfuscated character will still be picked up by a metal detector, can be caught on a stationary or automatic video camera, and will have her weight felt by elevator sensors. However, any individuals utilizing such machines may omit the Obfuscated character. A paparazzi taking pictures might pause between shots of a crowd, or an airport guard with a hand-held metal detector might hold it away from the Obfuscated individual without even noticing. An individual in an elevator would not bother to look at the sensors, so long as the elevator did not mechanically trigger an alarm.
Obfuscate does cloud the minds of those observing a location through the use of electronic equipment (remotely or otherwise), so long as they are watching live (or near live) recordings. An airport guard looking at a video monitor will not notice an invisible character caught on her security camera, even if there are a few seconds of natural lag or even a full minute's delay, between her display and the actual events. However, if that same guard rewinds her recording to view something that happened 10 minutes or more in the past, she'll see the image of the Obfuscated vampire as captured by the recording device.
Obfuscate Test Pool: The Obfuscate user's Mental attribute + Stealth versus the target's Mental attribute + Willpower.
Contents
• Conceal
Your Obfuscate power allows you to blur objects in your possession, causing them to be ignored even if you are being searched. Such items appear or disappear on your person as you wish, staying cloaked from view so long as they are not actively in use.
System: Expend a simple action to conceal a weapon or other object you possess; the item must be no bigger than a large sword. Objects hidden with Conceal remain invisible as long as they are physically on your person. Conceal cannot be used to hide living or undead beings (or parts thereof). Conceal cannot be used to hide negative space; it can hide a chair, but not a doorway.
If another individual is looking at an item when you Conceal it, the observer automatically sees through this use of Obfuscate. However, if the observer looks away for more than a few seconds, one turn in combat, she will lose track of the object and it will be concealed.
Conceal can be used to maintain the invisibility of up to three objects at once. You may end an object's Conceal at any time. If you interact with a Concealed object, use it to attack someone, or otherwise draw attention to the object, it will become visible. If you place other characters in a position where they must logically acknowledge the object's existence, the Conceal will fail and the object will become visible to all. For example, no one will notice a shotgun hanging in a back-holster, but if you reach back and obviously draw that shotgun, it will appear. People might not notice you carrying a book, but if you are struggling under the weight of a handheld anvil, it will become visible to all.
Focus [Intelligence]: You can Conceal up to 10 objects at one time, so long as they remain on your person. You can Conceal objects up to six feet long, rather than three. You still cannot Conceal living or undead beings.
•• Unseen Presence
With concentration, you can shield yourself from notice, fogging the minds of anyone who might otherwise realize your presence in the room. Your powers of Obfuscate are such that you may use this power to stealthily spy on others - or escape a difficult situation - while remaining completely unseen.
System: Expend a standard action to become invisible, taking with you all inanimate items on your person. Unseen Presence cannot be used to make another character invisible, even if the character is unconscious or dead. While under the effects of Unseen Presence, small sounds, fragrances, or other minimal effects of your presence will be ignored by others. If you talk, touch someone, produce an outlandish odor, or take any action that requires a challenge, your Unseen Presence will immediately end.
If another individual is looking at you when you activate Unseen Presence, the observer automatically sees through this use of Obfuscate. You will be invisible to anyone who was not looking at you when you used Unseen Presence, and if an observer looks away for more than a few seconds, one turn in combat, she will automatically lose track of you. If you interact with the environment, speak with another character, or draw attention to yourself, your Obfuscate will break and you will become visible. If you place other characters in a position where they must logically acknowledge your existence, the Unseen Presence will fail, and you will become visible to all. No one will notice an individual casually standing in a room, even if they must walk around her, as long as they can do so easily. However, if that invisible vampire blocks the exit to a room when others wish to leave, her invisibility will fail.
Focus [Wits]: You can talk in a low voice or use your standard action to interact with an unattended object, without breaking your Unseen Presence. You might quietly tell your allies to "watch out" or confuse onlookers by opening a door without breaking Obfuscate. Your Unseen Presence will still break if you shout, interact with a character, interact with something in another character's control, or take an action that requires a challenge.
••• Mask of a Thousand Faces
By shifting other's perceptions and fogging their minds, you cause observers to see you differently. You may use this power to become a bland, indistinct individual, easily forgotten in a crowd, or you may choose to become a specific type of person, such as a policeman or a waitress. With some study, you can even cause your physical form to reflect that of another individual you know, taking on her features, clothing, vocal sound, and other distinctive qualities. This power changes your clothing as well, altering it as you wish (within certain limits of believability). Note, however, that this power confers no ability to mystically know an individual's physical quirks or habits, vocal occlusions, memories, or social graces; only the details of a person's appearance are conferred.
System: Expend a simple action to wrap yourself in the veil of Obfuscate, changing all sensory aspects of your appearance: visual, as well as audible and olfactory. You may use Mask of a Thousand Faces to appear as a generic-looking and generally forgettable person, or to specifically mimic the appearance of someone you've studied.
Mask of a Thousand Faces can be used to mimic anything that generally matches your form. A vampire in human form could look like an old man, a child, or a soccer mom, but she cannot appear to be a horse. Similarly, a vampire who uses Shape of the Beast to transform into a wolf can use this power to appear as a large dog, but not as a man.
To believably mimic a specific individual's appearance, you must have at least 2 dots of the Subterfuge skill, and you must study that individual from multiple angles, for at least five minutes learning her facial expressions, how she moves, and other distinctive qualities. You might be able to mimic someone's face after studying a photograph, but your disguise will not fool people who have previously met your target, as you do not know enough to successfully replicate that person. To believably mimic another character's voice, you must have at least 3 dots of the Subterfuge skill, and you must listen to her talk for at least five minutes as she uses a variety of words and phrases. Listening to a recording of that voice is not enough for a true replication; your disguised voice would not have the variety necessary to fool anyone who has ever spoken directly to your target.
Mask of a Thousand Faces can be used to change the appearance of your clothing and equipment in minor ways, so long as your equipment does not change significantly in size or shape. A dinner jacket could be made to appear as a windbreaker, or a ribbon around your neck could appear to be a fancy tie, but this power cannot make that dinner jacket look like a floor-length trenchcoat, nor could it make a pistol look like a pencil. Mask of a Thousand Faces cannot be used to make an object invisible or partially invisible. You might make a hoodie and jeans look like a suit and slacks, but you cannot reduce them to appear as if you were wearing a bikini. Mask of a Thousand Faces can only affect objects that you are holding or that are on your person.
Focus [Wits]: You can dramatically change the appearance of your wardrobe and equipment. You are capable of feats such as making a cell phone look like a shotgun or causing a hoodie and jeans to appear as though you are wearing a ball gown.
•••• Vanish From the Mind's Eye
Your control over the power of Obfuscate is so great that you and your items fade from plain sight, even when you are actively being observed.
System: If you activate Conceal or Unseen Presence while someone is watching, Vanish from the Mind's Eye allows you to make an opposed challenge against any observers, using your Obfuscate test pool. If you succeed, your power takes hold despite their alertness, and you or the object you are targeting becomes invisible at the end of the everyman round.
To use Vanish From the Mind's Eye against multiple observers, you must test against each observer. If you spend a Willpower to retest, you gain a retest against each observer.
If you succeed against some observers but not others, only those who fail the challenge will be unable to see you. Those who succeed can continue to see you (or the object you're attempting to Conceal) as though you had not used Vanish From the Mind's Eye. As with other Obfuscate powers, if an individual who has seen through your Obfuscate looks away for more than a few seconds, one turn in combat, she loses track of the item or individual covered by Obfuscate.
Once you've purchased Vanish From the Mind's Eye, characters with Heightened Senses cannot pierce any of your Obfuscate powers unless they have the 5th dot of Auspex. Additionally, characters without 5 dots of Auspex do not automatically notice your presence, no matter how close you stand.
Vanish From the Mind's Eye can be used every turn, even if you failed to vanish in a previous turn. This is an exception to the rule that prevents a character from immediately retrying a failed Mental challenge.
Exceptional Success: If you score an exceptional success against someone attempting to see through your Vanish from the Mind's Eye, that observer cannot contest any of your other uses of Vanish From the Mind's Eye, Mask of a Thousand Faces, Conceal, or Unseen Presence for the next hour. This prevents her from using normal means to retain sight of you, but does not prevent her from using Auspex (if she possesses that power) to foil your uses of Obfuscate.
Focus [Intelligence]: When you lose a Vanish From the Mind's Eye test, you gain a retest for this attempt to use the power, without having to spend Willpower. If you fail to vanish from multiple observers, you gain this benefit for each challenge you failed, allowing you to retest against each observer. These retests act in all ways like a Willpower retest.
••••• Cloak the Gathering
As a master of the power of Obfuscate, you may extend your mental protection to others, cloaking them with your ability. With concentration, you can shield them all from view or provide disguises.
System: When you use a standard action to activate Unseen Presence, Mask of a Thousand Faces, or Vanish from the Mind's Eye, you may choose to extend the effects of those powers to nearby allies. By using Cloak the Gathering, you may extend one of the above Obfuscate powers to a number of willing individuals equal to your number of dots in the Stealth skill, minimum one.
Individuals feel a sudden, distinct chill when Obfuscate is used in an attempt to cloak them, but the targets have no mystical ability to know who is trying to use the power, nor to what extent. If any of your targets do not wish to be affected by Obfuscate, the power automatically fails to work on that individual. The power continues to work normally on other willing targets. If a character affected by your Obfuscate becomes unwilling at any point, the Obfuscate ends immediately for that individual.
A character can always see through her own uses of Obfuscate, regardless of whom she is affecting. Further, other characters concealed by a single use of Cloak the Gathering can see each other normally. If one of your allies breaks her Obfuscate or moves more than 20 steps away from you, the power ceases to function for her but remains active for you and all other characters covered by this use of Cloak the Gathering. If you break the Obfuscate, however, your Cloak the Gathering ceases to function for all.
When this power is used to augment Vanish from the Mind's Eye, you only need to test once per observer, as though you had simply vanished yourself. If you are successful, you Obfuscate the entire group.
You can use Cloak the Gathering to extend more than one Obfuscate power, but you cannot extend the same power to more than one group at a time. For example, you might make five people invisible and make five people look like various circus performers, but you cannot use this power multiple times to make 10 or 15 people invisible. Cloak the Gathering can only be used on sentient creatures and confers no ability to conceal animals.
Focus [Intelligence]: You may extend your Obfuscate powers to a number of willing individuals equal to twice your number of dots in the Stealth skill.
