Brujah Disciplines
Vampires that master the Potence Discipline possess physical strength beyond mortal bounds. This Discipline is responsible for the legends of vampires possessing the strength of 10 men. Potence allows vampires to leap great distances, lift massive weights and strike opponents with terrifying force.
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Even the lowest ranks of this power gift the Kindred with physical might beyond mortal bounds. More powerful immortals have been known to leap so far they seem to be flying, throw or toss cars aside like tin cans, and punch through concrete as if it were cardboard. In the Dark Ages, vampire nobles have been known to break open fortress gates with their bare hands and cut war horses in two with one stroke of a greatsword.
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Members of Clans Brujah, Lasombra, Giovanni, and Nosferatu are naturally gifted with this Discipline, although almost every clan finds some use for it, and members of other Clans often make a point to find someone who can teach them the awesome power of Potence. Each dot grants an automatic success on any rolls involving Strength, and does not require activation. It is also a fairly common discipline among ghouls.
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Potence's aspect in the curse of vampirism is that a vampire slowly unlearns to be gentle. Those who rely too much on Potence begin to show complete disregard for what they perceive as the weakness of others, putting all their strength in any physical action, regardless how mundane it is.
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There are no individual powers for Potence until level 6. At that point characters may choose to gain additional automatic successes to Strength or choose a unique power. Included below are the official powers described in supplements for Vampire: The Masquerade and Dark Ages: Vampire. Sources are described below in the order they were printed.
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Advanced Powers
[1]
Imprint: The Kindred squeezes so hard they leave imprints in solid steel.
Master of the Forge: The Kindred creates exceptional metalwork tools and weapons.
Relentless Pursuit: The Kindred makes extraordinary leaps through the air.
The Fist of Caine: The Kindred makes brawling attacks from a few yards away.
The Gentle Rebuke: The Kindred telekinetically knocks someone away without harming them.
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[2]
Earthshock: The Kindred sends shockwaves through the Earth.
Fist of the Titans: The Kindred attacks or throws someone away telekinetically.
Immovable Object: Spend a Willpower point while standing on a solid service to become absolutely immovable.
The Forger's Hammer: The Kindred creates weapons that do extra damage.
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[3]
Aftershock: Delay damage from attacks for up to 24 hours.
Flick: The Kindred makes a simple motion that sends a target flying away.
Lend the Supernatural Vigor: The Kindred grants their incredible strength to another.
Touch of Pain: The Kindred puts the full force of their strength against one person or object.
[4]
Might of the Heroes: The Kindred performs physical feats of mythic proportion.
For some Cainites, the mortal world moves in slow motion. In times of stress, vampires with Celerity can move with amazing speed, becoming blurs of motion to anyone, mortal or immortal, who does not possess the Discipline. Celerity is common to the Assamite, Brujah and Toreador clans. The Assamites utilize the Discipline to strike down their foes before they can mount a counterattack.
Toreador are more likely to use the Discipline to lend supernatural grace to live performances such as a dance, but can be as terrifying as Assamites if they are angered. Normally each dot provides an additional action that can be used for movement, attacking, or other physical feats in a single round without penalties for multiple actions. This extraordinary speed violates the laws of physics in that the Cainite doesn't experience any change in momentum, friction, etc. A knife thrown by someone using Celerity isn't any faster, and a vampire moving at incredible speeds will never catch fire no matter how fast they move.
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Although Celerity is a common discipline, its similarity to Temporis seems to place its origin with Clan Brujah. Any vampire who learns Temporis (and any True Brujah, who have an affiliation in the blood for it) may never learn or use Celerity. As part of the Curse upon Caine, heavy reliance on Celerity can lead to impatience with the slow pace of nightly life, leaving the vampire hungry and exhausted after each use. To great accustomization to the slow world that a vampire sees when Celerity is active, can lead to disorientation when the world “speeds up” as the Discipline ends.
Presence reflects God's curse upon Caine in that makes the vampire believe that he is the center of attention and come to believe the image that everyone keeps telling them. Regular users of Presence find themselves to attract attention regardless, sometimes activating the discipline without conscious efforts.
This discipline is fairly common among vampires, especially within the Camarilla, both because of its versatility and because of its subtlety. Many Presence powers can be used upon large groups of people at once and transcend virtually all boundaries of gender, race, religion, class, and supernatural status. Though Presence can be resisted through force of will and by ignoring the user, most do not realize when it is being used upon them.
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[1]
Awe: Awe is very simple. Once the vampire employs this power, those who are near him or her want to be closer to him or her. It is an immediate and intense attraction, but not so overpowering that those afflicted lose their sense of self-preservation. Danger breaks the spell of fascination, as does leaving the area. Victims will remember how they felt, though, and this will affect their reactions should they ever encounter the vampire again. Awe is extremely useful in mass communication. It does not matter what is said - the hearts of those affected will lean towards the user's opinion. The weak want to agree with the vampire; the strong-willed soon find themselves outnumbered.
[2]
Dread Gaze: This power engenders unbearable terror in its victims. Dread Gaze, like the legendary hypnotism of the cobra, stupefies the victim into madness, immobility or reckless flight. To use this power, the vampire merely shows the mark of Caine upon him or her - bearing claws and teeth, hissing loudly and with malice. Any vampire can do this, but students of this Discipline are more insanely terrifying than mere sight can explain.
[3]
Entrancement: The Kindred makes someone obsessively want to please them.
[4]
Summon: The Kindred compels someone to come to them immediately.
[5]
Majesty: The Kindred appears as a figure of absolute power and authority.
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Advanced Powers
[6]
Aire of Elation: Make everything you do seem so hilarious it incapacitates people
Capture Reality: Project the essence of a scene through photographs or film
Force of Personality: People are forced away from you by your aura
Intensification: Create an object that instills a particular emotion in those who view it
Love: Make someone enamored with you as if in a blood bond
Melusine's Song: Command someone through song
Paralyzing Glance: Send someone into a seizure of terror
Passion: Fill a person or group with lust, greed, anger, or fear
Renew the Earthly Pleasures: Overwhelm a vampire with mortal feelings
Siren's Song: Instill particular emotions in a group through music
Spark of Rage: Provoke a group of people to frenzy
Star Magnetism: Make those who see you in pictures or films in awe of you
Two-Tiered Communication: Subliminally say different things to someone than what is heard publically
Vengeance of the Martyr's Legacy: Compel all the vampire's descendants to frenzy
[7]
Cooperation: Lessen hostilities and promote cooperation in a group
Fires of Conviction: Embolden a crowd to riot in the name of some cause
Mask Empathy: Cut emotional bonds between people
Mind Numb: Drain the people around you of motivation or incentive to act
Phobia: Make someone irrationally afraid of something
Scourging the Instinct: Whip a crowd into a controlled frenzy
Unholy Penance: Fill someone with guilt and the desire to beg forgiveness
Vengeance of the Martyr's Legacy: Force all the vampire's descendants to frenzy
[8]
Bloodlust: Rouse your troops into an enraged horde capable of ignoring their wounds
Corruption: Make someone addicted to sadistic acts or go into a frenzy when presented with pleasurable things
Invoke Frenzy: Send someone into one of three types of frenzy
Ironclad Command: It becomes very difficult to resist your Presence powers
Perfect Paragon: Appear as the ideal person of whoever sees you
[9]
A Perfect World: Make everyone in a city work towards making it your ideal city
Pulse of the City: Project an emotion into the residents of a city
[10]
Dream World: Project dreams and nightmares to everyone in the world