Obeah
“Trust is treason. Love is loss. Life cannot shield you from those who disappear or forget. Everyone leaves you in the end.” — Iofel Inocanza
The gentle power of Obeah was once respected and valued, as were its inceptors, the Salubri. However, over the centuries, both the clan and the power have been tarnished, and now any sign of the Obeah discipline is likely to be treated with the utmost disdain and suspicion. The power itself can cure both psychological and physical wounds — but vampires have every reason to believe that Obeah, and the clan that created it, were fueled by infernal powers and addicted to diablerie.
In modern times, vampires believe this lie — or have every reason to continue promoting the falsehoods. Old lies and ancient betrayals still bind most elders to this assertion, and they persecute and destroy anyone discovered to possess the powers of Obeah before they have a chance to speak the truth.
Use of any Obeah power beyond the first causes a third eye to manifest upon the user’s forehead. This eye opens and glows throughout the use of these powers and disappears thereafter.
Obeah and Valeren: A character who has purchased any amount of Obeah can never purchase Valeren. Likewise, a character who has purchased any amount of Valeren cannot purchase Obeah.
Obeah Test Pool: The Obeah wielder uses her Mental attribute + Medicine versus the target’s Mental attribute + Willpower.
Contents
• Sense Vitality
Life permeates the world, cycling with the ebb and flow of inevitability. With this power, you can tap into that source, feeling the pulse of the universe and tangibly perceiving the vital energy of individuals nearby.
System: Spend 1 Blood and use a simple action to activate Sense Vitality. For the next hour, you gain the instinctive ability to perceive the health of any creature that comes within 10 steps of you. You automatically realize the following information:
- Whether the target is alive, dead, or undead
- The target’s current number of wounds and number of remaining health levels
- The location and severity of any injuries the target currently suffers
- Whether the target suffers from any diseases or other maladies, and if so, which ones
- Whether the target has any drugs or poisons in her system, and if so, which ones
- The disposition of all organs, bones, musculature, and other physical structures of the target’s body. You realize if any organs have been removed or shifted, and you can sense the signs of older, healed injuries or genetic anomalies.
Sense Vitality overcomes supernatural effects that obscure an individual’s health level, such as Misleading Wounds or similar powers.
Focus [Perception]: Obeah focuses on defense and healing. By spending 1 Blood and using a simple action, you can also use Sense Vitality to receive a +5 bonus to any challenges using the Medicine skill or when you are attempting to diagnose a corpse’s cause of death.
•• Anesthetic Touch
You have a healer’s touch, and can cause pain to flee or fear to lessen in the heart of your patients. Any subject who voluntarily submits to your Anesthetic Touch can be rendered immune to pain, and any mortal creature affected by your power falls into an immediate healing sleep.
System: Spend 1 point of Blood and use your standard action to target a willing subject within one step. For the next hour, the target feels no pain and suffers no wound penalties. If your target is mortal, you put her into a state of peaceful sleep, where she will feel no pain for the next 10 hours. Further, mortal creatures will heal 3 points of normal damage after resting a full eight hours under the effects of this power. Anesthetic Touch can only be used on willing targets.
Individuals under the effect of Anesthetic Touch are immune to the effects of Burning Touch, unless the character using Burning Touch also has the elder power Fiery Agony.
Focus [Wits]: You may spend 1 Blood and use a simple action to use Anesthetic Touch on a willing target within your line of sight.
••• Corpore Sano
Your vitae is an alchemical substance, carrying healing properties like those said to be possessed by sacred figures of myth. By laying hands on the injuries of others, you can cause them to heal at an incredible rate.
System: Spend 1 Blood point and use your standard action to target a willing individual within one step. The target immediately heals 1 point of normal damage. Corpore Sano can only be used once per turn. You may use Corpore Sano to heal yourself.
Focus [Wits]: In addition to the normal properties of Corpore Sano, you may also choose to spend 1 Blood in order to heal a point of aggravated damage.
•••• Shepherd’s Watch
Like a shepherd guarding her flock from wolves and other predators, those who seek your protection can find peace and shelter in your presence. An aura of gentle vigilance surrounds you, lending a sense of hope and calmness to those who remain close by.
System: Spend 1 Blood and use your standard action to activate Shepherd’s Watch. Shepherd’s Watch protects you and all individuals you choose, including creatures and people, so long as they are within two steps of you. While this power is active, no one with hostile intent can come within five steps of you or those you choose to guard. If an individual standing within five steps chooses to attack or use a hostile power targeting you or those you are guarding, the attempt automatically fails. The attacker is immediately and automatically pushed five steps away from her target as though by a gentle, supernatural hand.
Shepherd’s Watch does not prevent individuals using ranged weapons or powers from attacking you or those you protect. If an individual protected by your Shepherd’s Watch attacks or targets someone with a hostile power (whether targeting an individual inside or outside of your aura), she immediately loses the protection of Shepherd’s Watch. Such a character cannot be protected by the power for the next hour.
Once Shepherd’s Watch is activated, and you have chosen the individuals you are protecting with this power, you cannot add other individuals to that protection unless you reactivate Shepherd’s Watch. There is no limit to the number of individuals you can protect with this power, so long as they remain within five steps of your physical form. Every turn after the first, you must spend 1 point of Blood to keep Shepherd’s Watch active. If you stop spending Blood, or take any action other than speech or simple movement, this power immediately ends.
Focus [Wits]: Characters protected by your Shepherd’s Watch also gain a + 3 bonus to Dodge- and Survival-based defense test pools.
••••• King’s Blessing
By laying your hands upon the sick or injured, you heal the subject’s body of any affliction or malady, bringing her to a state of full health. When this occurs, a gentle feeling of peace spreads throughout your target’s soul, rendering it temporarily joyful and in harmony with the world. Some vampires see this as a blessing; others see it as infernal trickery intended to hide the user’s true nature.
System: Spend 3 points of Blood and touch a willing target for one minute to activate King’s Blessing. Thereafter, you heal any physical maladies your target currently suffers, so long as you wish to cure those issues. King’s Blessing can be used to heal wounds, regrow lost limbs, rectify genetic defects, counteract poisons or drugs, cure disease, and remove unwanted alterations to the physical form, such as those caused by Vicissitude. King’s Blessing can only be used on willing targets. Characters who cannot spend 3 Blood in a single turn can fulfill this requirement over multiple turns, so long as the Blood is spent consecutively.
Focus [Perception]: Your use of King’s Blessing can also bring peace to those with psychological ailments or wounds, and can even cure derangements. After fulfilling all other costs of this power, you can also remove one derangement from an individual. Note that this power cannot permanently remove a Malkavian’s primary derangement, though it does relieve the derangement for a short time. A Malkavian does not gain Derangement traits, regardless of how often the primary derangement is triggered, for one hour.
