Necromancy

The occult arts practiced by blood mages are not the only magic available to kindred. Necromancy is a macabre blend of religion, discipline, and occultism that controls the energies associated with the underworld, ghosts, and forces associated with death and decay. The Discipline hardly has any users outside of Clan Hecata, as even kindred perceive its powers as unpleasant.

Necromancy is as much a religion as it is a power and like Blood Sorcery it requires instruction for a user to advance and learn new powers. Outside of Clan Hecata, such teaching is difficult, if not impossible, to find. There are a number of religious or spiritual traditions within Clan Hecata that have different perspectives or interpretations of the underworld and whose use of the Discipline will vary somewhat, but ultimately the Discipline has the same powers regardless of the god or life outlook its user follows.

System: Necromancy, unlike other disciplines, cannot be raised without some form of instruction or teaching. Discipline powers cannot be copied by Blood Alchemy, Caitiffs cannot have it as one of their original Disciplines, and Thinbloods cannot gain any power in Necromancy as a temporary power based on what blood they last drank.

Level 1

Ashes to ashes

Through a simple manipulation of the blood, the character can rapidly accelerate decay in something that is already dead. Dead bodies turn to ash in seconds, which conveniently cleans up any masquerade crimes or the necromancer's messier ceremonies. Kindred are not affected in the same way, but suffer a momentary strong feeling of nausea and vertigo when the power is used on them, which can be extremely distracting or degrading if used at the wrong moment.

Cost: None

System: The player touches the character to be affected and says "necromancy: nausea" followed by their MV. If the player wins, the victim feels strong nausea and dizziness for ten seconds, but then the effect wears off. If the power is used on a corpse, it nullifies the effects of a masquerade crime as long as there are no witnesses or surveillance cameras.

Eyes of the Grave

The character briefly adjusts his perspective to see beyond the physical world and be aware of any ghosts in his surroundings. These are clearly visible to the character, but they can also clearly see any damage, wounds, poisons and the like that affect living creatures and kindred no matter how well hidden they are.

Cost: None

System: The player can see ghosts for 30 seconds as long as they are not possessing an item or person. If the power is used on a character, the player says “necromancy: health”. The character then says if he is injured, if the injury is aggravated or normal and if he suffers from any poisons. The player is only informed that the damage exists, not their cause.

Level 2

Touch of decay (requires Ashes to ashes)

With a light touch, the character can greatly accelerate decay in both the living and the undead. Humans, ghouls, and thinbloods gradually become sick and weakened after the touch. Kindred are affected to a lesser degree, but are still physically weakened and for a time have difficulty keeping blood down.

Cost: Hunger +1

System: The player touches the victim and says "touch of decay" followed by their MV compared to the victim's unmodified AV. If the player wins, the victim's AV is halved as if losing a battle against normal damage if the victim is a thin-blood, human, or ghoul. Kindred only get -2 AV for half an hour, but during that time they react strongly if they were to drink blood. The victim will then vomit up the blood they tried to drink as well as their last meal, increasing their total hunger by +1.

Fatal precognition (requires Eyes of the Grave)

By seeing and manipulating the energies of entropy that constantly surround mortals and kindred, the character can temporarily manipulate the circumstances around a victim to greatly increase their chances of suffering serious damage. Seemingly trivial attacks unexpectedly strike vital parts, small wounds suffer complications, and the victim seems to have maximum bad luck. This only applies as long as the necromancer themself does not directly participate but lets fate take its course.

Cost: Hunger +1

System: The player says "fatal precognition" to the victim followed by their MV. If the player wins, the victim will take aggravated damage instead of normal the first time they would have taken damage in the next 24 hours. If the first damage the victim would have taken instead is aggravated even without the effects of this power, their opponent instead gets +2 AV. This effect only applies as long as the player themself is not participating in the battle.

Level 3

Rigor mortis (requires Touch of decay)

The character briefly creates the same rigidity of a corpse on a victim. Muscles lock up and the person is essentially paralyzed for a short time. The effect is otherwise harmless as the vital organs, breathing and similar necessary functions of humans and ghouls are left unaffected, but both mortals and kindred are for a short time completely unable to act.

Cost: Hunger +1

System: The player touches the character to be affected and says "rigor mortis" followed by their MV. If the character's unmodified AV is lower, they are completely paralyzed in the same way as if they were staked for 30 seconds. Paralyzed characters cannot fight physically, but they can use mental disciplines that do not require them to be able to speak or speak commands.

Passion feast (requires Fatal precognition)

The power was originally developed to drain energies from wraiths, giving necromancers the ability to temporarily quench their hunger in the bloodless realm of the dead. The character absorbs the passion of a ghost, draining it of some of its drive while satisfying the beast. However, the power can be used on living creatures to get a similar result. It does not satisfy the beast, but temporarily drains people or kindred of their drive, initiative and passion, making them apathetic and listless.

Cost: Hunger +1

System: If the power is used on a ghost, the character compares their MV with the ghost's. If the character wins, their hunger drops by one level and the ghost takes -2 to its MV, which heals at the same rate as aggravated damage. The level of hunger always comes back the next night because it only temporarily calms the beast. Using the power in this way stains the character's humanity unless they have humanity 4 or lower, since a ghost's passions are what prevent it from losing its identity. If the power is used on a living creature, the player says "passion feast" followed by their MV. If they win, the opponent's MV is halved in the same way as his AV would be if he lost a battle. The effect cannot be healed with blood, but a kindred regains its previous MV after half an hour. Until then, they are more likely to become depressed, apathetic and have more difficulty motivating and pushing themselves to do things in the same way as before.