Frenzy

When Kindred undergo the Embrace, the Beast within them is loosed forever, causing them to occasionally succumb to a vicious form of madness where they are little more than a wild animal. While in frenzy a character feels no pain and acts on instinct, using his bare hands and fangs to rip apart anything in his path; friends are targets of the vampire’s rage just as often as enemies are. What brings on frenzy in a Kindred can  be highly personalized, but triggers common to all vampires are blood hunger, extreme passion, frustration, defeat, humiliation at the hands of a rival or threats to a vampire’s friends or loved ones. Players must be consistent with what causes a frenzy; a player cannot ignore something that would normally trigger frenzy simply because it isn’t expedient for them to frenzy at this time. Discretion is advised; a character in constant frenzy is no fun to be around, and will likely be “put down” by other vampires. Succumbing to frenzy is considered shameful and debased among the Kindred of the Camarilla, who pride themselves on maintaining their composure and hate being reminded of the Beast within them. Among the vampires of the Sabbat, frenzy is seen as a powerful weapon, and many Sabbat are trained to coax their Beasts to the surface during combat. To see if a character resists entering frenzy, the player performs a Static Self-Control Challenge (Self-Control versus a difficulty based on the stimulus, no Traits risked). Failure indicates that a frenzy takes hold. If the vampire succeeds in the test, he manages to push aside his more feral instincts and is immune to further challenges against the same stimulus for the rest of the scene or conflict. Characters with the Instinct Virtue always enter frenzy, unless they have more

Instinct than double the rating of the frenzy shown on the table, in which case they may choose whether or not to enter frenzy. Once in frenzy, the character can make an Instinct Virtue Test, if desired, to control her actions for one turn. If she wins the test, she manages to direct her frenzy for the turn, though she will still suffer all the usual conditions of frenzy — resistance to injury, inability to use her Mental or Social powers and so on. If the character loses, her frenzy proceeds as normal. In the event of a tie, the character compares her current Instinct Traits to the provocation rating to determine whether she can direct her frenzy.

 

A character can try to instill frenzy in another character by taunting him and calling for a Social Challenge. If the taunting character wins the challenge, the defender must then test to resist frenzy. If the defender wins the challenge, nothing happens. A successful defender is immune to further taunts from the same character for the remainder of the session. Once in the state of frenzy, a character attacks all those around him without discretion. A frenzied character does not suffer penalties from wounds until reaching torpor or Final Death. Frenzied characters cannot attempt Social Challenges other than ones related to intimidation, though they need not risk a Trait if someone initiates a Social test against them during this time. A character may fend off frenzy for 10 minutes by expending one Willpower Trait.

However, if the frenzy trigger is still present after that time, the vampire must check for frenzy again immediately. Once in frenzy, a character may expend a Willpower Trait to attempt a Static Self-Control Challenge to get a hold of himself. A character also gets a free Static Challenge to end the frenzy once the trigger is removed; otherwise, the frenzy burns out on its own 10 minutes later. If a player attempts to make a test of Self-Control/ Instinct and fails, she automatically gains the Negative Social Trait: Callous or Condescending (your choice), though it can be bought off normally. Another character may attempt to talk a vampire out of frenzy by winning a 

Social Challenge against him with a difficulty of 10 minus the target Kindred’sHumanity/ Path rating. Remember, the frenzied vampire need not risk a Trait during this Social Challenge. Failing such a challenge usually means the frenzied Kindred turns his attention on his would-be savior.

 

 

Rötschreck

Having already cheated death once, most vampires have no desire to try their luck again. This primal survival urge sometimes manifests as a state of utter terrorwhere the vampire flees the object of his fear any way he can; this state is known as Rötschreck. Both Cainite societies consider Rötschreck extremely shameful, and most vampires avoid it at all costs. The Sabbat executes “cowards” without asking what they fled from, and a Camarilla vampire faces rapid Status loss. All vampires must battle Rötschreck when faced with exposure to fire, sunlight and the presence of especially powerful faith, but in addition to those fundamental terrors, many Kindred also have Rötschreck triggers related to important personal circumstances. As with frenzy, a Kindred cannot choose to ignore potential Rötschreck triggers just because it wouldn’t be expedient to panic. A vampire who enters Rötschreck flees the object of her fear as directly and rapidly

as she can, blindly attacking any obstacles or people that get in her way; if flight proves impossible, the vampire seeks instead to destroy the object of her fear, then flee. If for some reason neither fight nor flight is an option, the vampire curls up in abject terror for the duration of the Rötschreck. Note that this fear does not blind the vampire to her self-preservation instincts — a vampire will not leap out a 30-story window to avoid a lit cigarette — but any path that is not obviously suicidal becomes a distinct possibility.

Rötschreck is resisted with a Static Courage Challenge (Courage versus Narrator’s difficulty, no Traits risked). Rötschreck is otherwise considered identical to frenzy for the purposes of determining its duration, as well as all challenges and Willpower costs necessary to prevent or end it, with Courage substituted for Self-Control/ Instinct wherever applicable. Characters may also be talked out of Rötschreck just like frenzy.

 

Golconda

  -  slaking the endless hunger

Some vampires pursue a mystical state of being known as Golconda, where the vampire finally accepts the terms of the Curse. The Camarilla scoffs at the notion of Golconda, calling it a fool’s dream, but in the dark of the Final Nights more and more Kindred feel drawn to search out this mystery. The Sabbat and the independent clans consider Golconda beneath notice, a guilt-driven Judeo- Christian fantasy that has no place in such a vicious unlife. The search is highly personal, and the Storyteller is encouraged to be extremely demanding when it comes to Golconda quests. Bear in mind that Golconda is a goal easily worthy of years of game time and constant progress throughout multiple chronicles. There is only one solid rule for characters on Golconda quests: They must maintain a Humanity rating of at least four Traits and a Conscience rating of at least four Traits to remain on the path of Golconda. Slipping below that level will cause mentors to desert a character until he atones for his degeneration. Golconda is not a goal for every character or every player.

Inner peace and transcendent enlightenment aside, characters who manage to achieve Golconda gain several game benefits. A character in Golconda does not expend one Blood Trait per night to awaken, but only one Blood Trait per week. Characters in Golconda also do not frenzy or enter Rötschreck, and supernatural powers that instill such states do not work. Finally, the character may learn all Disciplines

equally even if he is not of appropriate generation or clan to learn them. If he ever falls out of Golconda, however, all these benefits disappear immediately