Derangements

The Derangement system as presented in Laws of the Night Revised is a very dated system from the 90s. It comes from a time when real life Mental Illness was not as well understood or taken as seriously as it is today. It is very, a product of its time. As such, we in Kings of New York are revising the Derangement system from Laws of the Night Revised.

In our game world, Derangements are less a reflection of Mental Illness and more a reflection of the breaking of a mortal mind when confronted by the horrors of the supernatural world. It represents the character slipping from the mortal world and into the more alien world of darkness. So what does that mean? Characters can gain derangements in the following ways:

1. Certain Powers can Inflict both permanent and temporary derangements on a character.

2. Whenever the character spends a Conscience/Conviction Trait to retest a challenge (or other use), the character must make a follow up derangement check. This is a simple Static Willpower challenge at difficulty 6.

3. Characters witnessing or experiencing truly horrific supernatural events may be assigned an derangement as a result or make a Static Willpower challenge to resist gaining a derangement. This is decided by the Storyteller as needed depending on the scene.

4. When a character reaches 1000 Experience points, they automatically gain one permanent derangement they can never remove. They will gain 1 permanent additional derangement per 500 experience points over that total. This represents how alien the character is becoming from the mortal world. The maximum cap of derangements from this is 3.

When a character gains a derangements they must pick from what the Condition for that derangement is. When the Condition event occurs, the assigned derangement becomes active for a scene or an hour. A character may spend 1 temporary Willpower Trait to suppress the active derangement for a scene. Conditions are set to negative emotions, when a character experiences these emotions through role-play, the condition is considered met. The following are available Conditions to assign to derangements:

• Envy

• Fear

• Loneliness

• Anxious

• Disappointment

• Sadness

• Guilt

• Frustration

• Shame

• Offended

• Heartbroken

• Disgust

Derangements may be removed through a combination of Experience points and Role-Play. Removing a derangement permanently costs 2 experience points and only after the storyteller has approved it via story or appropriate role-play. Powers that can permanently remove derangements may have an additional cost or effect, please see a Storyteller when used. Below is a list of all the available Derangements a character can take or gain through game play. This is a complete list and new derangements may only be added to it with Storyteller approval.

List of Derangements

• Acute Sanguinary Aversion: A derangement only found among vampires, its victims believe that vitae is dangerous, cursed, or otherwise evil.
  • Role-Play: You find blood utterly repulsive and recoil from it.
  • Effect: During this time, all challenges for feeding made by the character must bid 1 additional trait.

• Blood Sweats: The character has a tendency to "sweat out" vitae. Many other vampires find this particularly disturbing, as the sweat stains clothes and makes the vampire in question a horrid sight to look upon. Such figures are also obvious breaches of the Masquerade.
  • Role-Play: You start to sweat blood across your body
  • Effect: You Spend 1 Blood Trait to sweat blood.

• Hierarchical Sociology Disorder: Most commonly found among Clans or Sects with demanding structures, such individuals let themselves fall into the hierarchy to absolve him of the realities of his nightly existence. Such individuals behave almost dronelike, ignoring their slow degeneration and fall to the Beast by asserting that this is neither their fault nor their problem.
  • Role-Play: You aggressively defend your societies you are a part of that have a hierarchy. You will act offense and aggressive towards any such challenges.
  • Effect: New Frenzy test Stimuli during this time: Anytime someone challenges a hierarchy you belong in. The difficulty is 5

• Panzaism: This involves seeing the most extraordinary things as ordinary and rational. Conversely, Normal mundane thing seems bizarre and alien to you.
  • Role-Play: Normal everyday things make no sense to you what so ever, however supernatural events or powers are completely normal. Why would you walk when you can fly? For example.
  • Effect: You are down one trait in all Social Challenges during this time.

• Desensitization: Commonly found among vampires, the character has lost every feeling in his dead body. This affects his ability to feel any emotion except in highly rationalized forms or through foreign influences like the Blood Bond or Dominate. Such desensitization makes it difficult to truly devote oneself to Humanity or a Path of Enlightenment.
  • Role-Play: You act cold, distant, and aloof
  • Effect: You are down one trait in all Conscience/Conviction Challenges for a scene.

• Dissociate Blood-Spending: The vampire spends blood often unconsciously, to augment his attributes in inappropriate times or even during the day, leaving him often hungrier than other vampires.
  • Role-Play: You clearly display spending blood
  • Effect: Spend 1 Blood Trait for a Physical Trait when this derangement condition is met.

• Sanguinary Animism: Vampires that suffer from Sanguinary Animism believe that they consume the souls of their victims along with their blood. In the hours after feeding, the vampire hears the voice of her victim inside her head and feels a tirade of "memories" from the victim's mind – all created by the vampire's subconscious. In extreme cases, this sense of possession can drive a Kindred to carry out actions on behalf of her victims. Diablerie would be particularly unwise for an animist.
  • Role-Play: : You can hear voices in your head, the sounds of the restless dead echo to you and are very real. You are not alone.
  • Effect: New Frenzy Stimuli when this derangement is active. Anything related to diablerie comes up it is a frenzy test at difficulty 5.

• Sanguinary Cryptophagy: Vampires that suffer from this derangement tend to disregard the taste of normal vitae in exchange for more exclusive tastes. Some become addicted to Lupine blood, while others find themselves drawn to diablerize members of specific Clans or bloodlines. While the vampire can still consume regular blood, he will refuse to do so unless in Frenzy.
  • Role-Play: : Obsessively talking about the different flavors and experiences of supernatural blood.
  • Effect: You may only feed on your elected blood type wen this derangement is active.

• Animal Personification: Commonly associated with Animalism, the vampire comes to treat animals like humans, believing that they can understand him and expecting them to answer.
  • Role-Play: : Animals are people! And you treat them as such!
  • Effect: You are down 1 social trait in all social challenges made against actual humans.

• Blood Fetishism: Commonly associated with Quietus, the vampire suffers an unhealthy fascination with blood. They cut themselves just to see the blood flow, feed slow to savor the taste, and perform other disturbing acts.
  • Role-Play: : You talk about blood, you want to see blood!
  • Effect: Inflict one lethal damage on yourself to carve blood from your own flesh to drink.

• Compulsive Invisibility: Commonly associated with Obfuscate, the vampire has been so attuned to invisibility that they can rarely shut it off.
  • Role-Play: : You want to not be seen or heard.
  • Effect: Use Obfuscate you remain hidden and you will not break it.

• Disdain of Weakness: Commonly associated with Potence, the vampire will always use full force when interacting with objects and comment on the fragility and weakness of their surroundings.
  • Role-Play: : Mundane Items break casually under your touch and you don’t even notice it.
  • Effect: When you hold any item that isn’t specifically created to withstand your potence, you break it.

• Disorientation: Commonly associated with Celerity, the vampire finds the way things move in normal speed disorienting, insisting that they should move slower.
  • Role-Play: : You tell people to slow down, to not talk so fast. Even though they are moving at normal speeds.
  • Effect: You are down 1 mental trait in all Investigation challenges while this derangement is active.

• Disregard of Human Form: Commonly associated with Serpentis, the vampire finds himself more comfortable in another form than the one resembling his mortal days. If suggested that they transform back, they have to check Frenzy.
  • Role-Play: : You activate Skin of the Adder or take the form of a snake
  • Effect: New Frenzy Stimuli: Suggesting reverting to normal mundane human form. This test is made at difficulty 5

• Empathic Blindness: Commonly associated with Dominate, the vampire cannot understand why anyone would not heed his commands or else disagree with him, similar to sociopathy.
  • Role-Play: : How dare anyone question you! React badly to being questioned.
  • Effect: New Frenzy Stimuli: New Frenzy Stimuli, when a statement you made is questioned make a Frenzy test at difficulty 5.

• Illusion Addiction: Commonly associated with Chimerstry, the vampire becomes so enamored with his own creations that they completely lose sight of the real world, instead surrounding themselves with pleasurable illusions.
  • Role-Play: : What is reality? If nothing more then your perception there of?
  • Effect: Start using your Chimerstry powers on anyone you interact with. You must at least use one power per person you engage with during this time.

• Lack of Survival Instincts: Commonly associated with Fortitude, the vampire comes to believe that he is actually indestructible, willingly facing mortal danger.
  • Role-Play: You have no survival instinct and are happy to throw yourself into danger.
  • Effect: When presented with an opportunity to perform a dangerous act when this derangement is active, make a Static Willpower Challenge difficulty 8 to not engage in the act brought up.

• Thaumaturgical Glossolalia: Commonly associated with Thaumaturgy (although in theory, any school of Blood Magic could be the catalyst), the vampire falls into speaking and thinking only in terms of magical correspondences and symbology. Similar to magical aphasia, the vampire cannot communicate this state of mind to others and eventually fails to recognize anything other than these correspondences.
  • Role-Play: You speak only nonsense occult tongue during this time. No one can understand you.
  • Effect: You speak only nonsense occult tongue during this time. No one can understand you.

• Unconscious Influence: Commonly associated with Presence, the vampire activates his persuading powers without acknowledging that he use them. If someone would point the use out to them, they vehemently deny it.
  • Role-Play: What? Everyone loves or fears me! As they should!
  • Effect: Start using your Presence discipline on anyone you interact with. You must at least use one power per person you engage with during this time.

• Unconscious Thought Reading: Commonly associated with Auspex, the vampire begins to casually invade the mind of others, reacting to thoughts before they are spoken. Too many people cause a static background noise that can drive the vampire into Frenzy.
  • Role-Play: Talking in others minds is simply more efficient…or perhaps they are hiding something from you
  • Effect: When someone starts an interaction with you, use Aura Perception or Telepathy on them immediately. This me done once per interaction with a person during this time.

• Uncontrolled Flow: Believed by some Tzimisce not to be a derangement but rather an inspired state of mind, this condition affects the character’s control over her fleshcrafting powers. Spontaneous flesh- and bonecrafting effects manifest from time to time, usually as a response to outside stimuli. An angered Tzimisce might find herself growing claws, while one caressing a favored servant might find herself altering said servant to be more beautiful.
  • Role-Play: Your skins itches…your body feels unnatural and wrong.
  • Effect: Start using Fleshcraft and Bonecraft on yourself and working on Vicissitude modifications.

• Shadow Infestation: This is a physical condition that sometimes manifests in users of Obtenebration. The character’s eyes become pools of utter darkness, shadows move of their own accord in her presence, and from time to time, spontaneous Obtenebration effects may mani fest. A player can suppress this effect by spending a point of Willpower.
  • Role-Play: You cling to the shadows and dark of the night. You avoid the light
  • Effect: Use one of your Obtenebration powers during this time.

• Uncontrolled Shifting: Normally, the use of Protean requires conscious effort from the user. Someone suffering from Uncontrolled Shifting, however, finds her body responding to subconscious impulses and her form shifting without her conscious desire.
  • Role-Play: You act feral and on edge like a cornered animal.
  • Effect: : Use one of your Protean powers during this time.

• Split Ego: You have an entirely separate personality from the one your normally present. When they appear they have entirely different motives, ways they act, memories, and experiences. It as if two entirely different people occupy the same body.
  • Role-Play: The other personality takes over, you should build this new personality with your storyteller.
  • Effect: : Your normal personality is gone for the time being, you are the other person during this time.

• Visions: Random hallucinations that are like your own personal movies that no one else can see. This could accompany Oracular ability, or they could just mess with what you think is real.
  • Role-Play: You start speaking in tongues, riddles, and prophecy. Most of which likely means nothing.
  • Effect: : You are down 1 mental trait in all defending mental challenges for the duration of this derangement

• Paranoid of Ancients: You see the machinations of the Antediluvians and their Methuselah lieutenants everywhere. They must be stopped, they are wielding the Jyhad to destroy the world. You see their touch in all things.
  • Role-Play: to those you trust? the Antediluvians their servants are listening, watching right now? To those you don't trust..they are the ancients servants to not be trusted.
  • Effect: You are down 1 Courage Trait in all challenges during the time this Derangement is active.

• Ritual Freak: The Sabbat Ritae is everything. You feel unclean if you don't have a nightly vaulderie with your pack. You feel must comfortable during the sect's ritae and often annoyingly demand we could all be doing ritae when not on a specific task or mission.
  • Role-Play: Talk about and demand ritae, its your obsession
  • Effect: You are 1 trait down in all mental and social challenges, unless you engage in a ritae, during this time.

• Death's Call: When active, any nearby corpse (excluding the vampire condition from the definition in this context) MUST be studied. Your whole attention becomes centered around a corpse, and you are enraptured akin to the Toreador Flaw.
  • Role-Play: Talk about death and corpses obsessively
  • Effect: When this derangement activates, you suffer the toreador clan flaw for all things related to death and corpses.

• Chains of the Beast: This derangement can only be taken by vampires on Paths of Enlightenment. It represents their beast obsessing over the very foundation that keeps it at bay, and forces the mind of the vampire to fixate on their path in hopes of breaking it. This derangement may be taken multiple times.
  • Role-Play: Pick one of the Ethics of the Path, you become obsessed with it when this derangement is active. You must talk about it…you must explore it.
  • Effect: When this derangement is active, you are down 1 trait in all Conscience/Conviction challenges you make. When confronted with an opportunity, during this time, to engage in your selected path ethic, you must make a Self-Control/Instinct Challenge at difficulty 5 to resist indulging.