Madness Gameplay and Powers
Posted: 02 Mar 2015, 07:54
Desired change/suggestion: Path/Tier, possibly Master, "Dementor"
This is heavily motivated by the Malkavian clan from the Masquerade game by White Wolf. I liked the idea of madness giving a character power, so I wish to see that reflected in Path using the former as a template.
Suggested requirements
Must have Inheritance of Madness curse
Purchase the Infectious Insanity with enough RP points or Karma(a roleplay power, not a curse)
Must have unlocked Telepath(definitely required)
Some powers require Illusionist and/or Allurist to be unlocked
About Dementation
The Malkavian Dementation powers are mind-altering, so more than a few translate to abilities Allurists could have or already use. What some of these powers lack, however, is control, direction. "Passion", for instance, amplifies or dulls the victim's current emotions at the user's discretion, but the emotions felt can't be changed. Most of these powers are intended to make the victim behave in a certain way, some permanently, which wouldn't go over well considering that there are a lot more player characters in Path than in a Masquerade campaign. Ergo, it goes without saying that all of these suggested powers and their effects are temporary. Some powers are much less focused on stats and combat, and instead on the behavior of the victim, so there's also some difficulty in making these characters
Madness Network
Something innate to all Malkavians is a psychic network referred to as the cobweb, tapestry, a network of voices, but most commonly and to the rest of vampire society as well, the Madness Network, something they can interact with. In path, this might be something allowed through the Vathia, and therefore accessible only by Telepaths with Inheritance of Madness.
Alternatively, the Vathia itself could be the 'network'.
References
For reference and inspiration or revision as the case may be, the following link is for the wiki page on the Malkavian power, Dementation, where all of the suggested powers are listed.
http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Dementation_(VTM)
This link is for the page explaining the Madness Network
http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Madness_Network
Powers suggestions
The purpose of these suggestions is to give an idea of the things I would like to see made available, but not definitively. The number of powers listed should not by any means be taken to be the number of powers I wish this proposed path to have. Their implementations and effects as listed(or unlisted) should be noted as open to revision. Should have anima costs which correspond with strength and utility of powers. Again, some are more suited to Allurist or Illusionist, and would probably require one or the other unlocked to buy with PXP. Admittedly, it's pretty disorganized as far as trying to determine whether it's a roleeplay power or a path power.
Balance issues
I understand that some mental cases could end up with more in their arsenal than sane vampires. In the end, I want the game to stay fair, I want this to be balanced with trade-offs as much as I want it in the game. If you have any ideas, please do not hesitate to post them. I can ask for awesome stuff and suggest how it could work, but as for balance, I'm personally at a loss beyond substituting it for a master path, if the number of master paths a player can take is limited then that would be my hope.
This is heavily motivated by the Malkavian clan from the Masquerade game by White Wolf. I liked the idea of madness giving a character power, so I wish to see that reflected in Path using the former as a template.
Suggested requirements
Must have Inheritance of Madness curse
Purchase the Infectious Insanity with enough RP points or Karma(a roleplay power, not a curse)
Must have unlocked Telepath(definitely required)
Some powers require Illusionist and/or Allurist to be unlocked
About Dementation
The Malkavian Dementation powers are mind-altering, so more than a few translate to abilities Allurists could have or already use. What some of these powers lack, however, is control, direction. "Passion", for instance, amplifies or dulls the victim's current emotions at the user's discretion, but the emotions felt can't be changed. Most of these powers are intended to make the victim behave in a certain way, some permanently, which wouldn't go over well considering that there are a lot more player characters in Path than in a Masquerade campaign. Ergo, it goes without saying that all of these suggested powers and their effects are temporary. Some powers are much less focused on stats and combat, and instead on the behavior of the victim, so there's also some difficulty in making these characters
Madness Network
Something innate to all Malkavians is a psychic network referred to as the cobweb, tapestry, a network of voices, but most commonly and to the rest of vampire society as well, the Madness Network, something they can interact with. In path, this might be something allowed through the Vathia, and therefore accessible only by Telepaths with Inheritance of Madness.
Alternatively, the Vathia itself could be the 'network'.
References
For reference and inspiration or revision as the case may be, the following link is for the wiki page on the Malkavian power, Dementation, where all of the suggested powers are listed.
http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Dementation_(VTM)
This link is for the page explaining the Madness Network
http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Madness_Network
Powers suggestions
The purpose of these suggestions is to give an idea of the things I would like to see made available, but not definitively. The number of powers listed should not by any means be taken to be the number of powers I wish this proposed path to have. Their implementations and effects as listed(or unlisted) should be noted as open to revision. Should have anima costs which correspond with strength and utility of powers. Again, some are more suited to Allurist or Illusionist, and would probably require one or the other unlocked to buy with PXP. Admittedly, it's pretty disorganized as far as trying to determine whether it's a roleeplay power or a path power.
Balance issues
I understand that some mental cases could end up with more in their arsenal than sane vampires. In the end, I want the game to stay fair, I want this to be balanced with trade-offs as much as I want it in the game. If you have any ideas, please do not hesitate to post them. I can ask for awesome stuff and suggest how it could work, but as for balance, I'm personally at a loss beyond substituting it for a master path, if the number of master paths a player can take is limited then that would be my hope.
Madness Network(automatic, roleplay)
All characters with Inheritance of Madness have an innate "sense" of each other.
Passion
Amplify or Dull the currently felt emotions of a target. In combat, increases battle weariness.
Haunting(roleplay)
Inflict maddening visions upon a victim lasting for minutes = player level per day at the time of power usage. Very similar to Waking Nightmare. Roleplay-wise, these visions are treated as internal stimuli, within the mind of the victim as opposed to external, like illusions.
Eyes of Chaos
Gain a madman's insight, temporarily raising Intelligence and Willpower(can have effects in roleplay)
Confusion
Cause an NPC to ignore you and wander aimlessly.
Silence the Sane Mind(roleplay)
suppress part of the victim's mind to confuse, enrage, inflict catatonia, mania, depression, etc.
Voice of Madness
provoke the enemy into a frenzy, or cause them to flee, divided into two powers corresponding with each effect.
The Call(roleplay, requires Mindspeak)
Summon others with the Inheritance of Madness curse to meet, regardless of Path. Place and time can be determined, but no later than 12 hours, or immediately the next night. Recipients automatically know who is sending out the Call. The Call can be refused, but it is a powerful psychic summons. Lower Gen vampires and Sires can refuse it, higher Gens cannot. Vampires of the same Gen can try. The Call has a radius that cannot exceed a limit determined by Tracking skill.
Childmind
Reduce a target's willpower, intelligence, and arcane by 4 + lvl*1.5(high cost, one use per fight). Target suffers these effects for a duration similar to a wound.
Sleep of Reason
Manifests the proverbial "hobgoblins in the target's mind, rendering them unconsolable and racked with fear and causing them to flee from combat, to a safer grid or, if power was used while in combat with target, away from player.
Coma
place target into a catatonic state for an interval of time, filling in the memory with whatever mundane, routine activity(ies) the target would most likely experience, replacing memory of the player's presence and interference. In the instance of feeding from the victim, Security higher than 1 increases by 2. Otherwise, Security in absence of anyone other than the player and the victim is reduced to 0.
Deny
Ignore the existence of an object and be unaffected by it.
Personal Scourge
Turn a target's Willpower rating against them as damage-over-time(battle weariness)
Blessing of Chaos
Become inanely, socially inept(treat as inane babbling/giggling, etc) and achieve immunity to mind-altering powers for a short time.
Touch of Saints
Cure a target of any ailments caused by Dementor powers.
All characters with Inheritance of Madness have an innate "sense" of each other.
Passion
Amplify or Dull the currently felt emotions of a target. In combat, increases battle weariness.
Haunting(roleplay)
Inflict maddening visions upon a victim lasting for minutes = player level per day at the time of power usage. Very similar to Waking Nightmare. Roleplay-wise, these visions are treated as internal stimuli, within the mind of the victim as opposed to external, like illusions.
Eyes of Chaos
Gain a madman's insight, temporarily raising Intelligence and Willpower(can have effects in roleplay)
Confusion
Cause an NPC to ignore you and wander aimlessly.
Silence the Sane Mind(roleplay)
suppress part of the victim's mind to confuse, enrage, inflict catatonia, mania, depression, etc.
Voice of Madness
provoke the enemy into a frenzy, or cause them to flee, divided into two powers corresponding with each effect.
The Call(roleplay, requires Mindspeak)
Summon others with the Inheritance of Madness curse to meet, regardless of Path. Place and time can be determined, but no later than 12 hours, or immediately the next night. Recipients automatically know who is sending out the Call. The Call can be refused, but it is a powerful psychic summons. Lower Gen vampires and Sires can refuse it, higher Gens cannot. Vampires of the same Gen can try. The Call has a radius that cannot exceed a limit determined by Tracking skill.
Childmind
Reduce a target's willpower, intelligence, and arcane by 4 + lvl*1.5(high cost, one use per fight). Target suffers these effects for a duration similar to a wound.
Sleep of Reason
Manifests the proverbial "hobgoblins in the target's mind, rendering them unconsolable and racked with fear and causing them to flee from combat, to a safer grid or, if power was used while in combat with target, away from player.
Coma
place target into a catatonic state for an interval of time, filling in the memory with whatever mundane, routine activity(ies) the target would most likely experience, replacing memory of the player's presence and interference. In the instance of feeding from the victim, Security higher than 1 increases by 2. Otherwise, Security in absence of anyone other than the player and the victim is reduced to 0.
Deny
Ignore the existence of an object and be unaffected by it.
Personal Scourge
Turn a target's Willpower rating against them as damage-over-time(battle weariness)
Blessing of Chaos
Become inanely, socially inept(treat as inane babbling/giggling, etc) and achieve immunity to mind-altering powers for a short time.
Touch of Saints
Cure a target of any ailments caused by Dementor powers.