World of Darkness 5th Edition (Paradox) Vampire the Masquerade 5e Character Sheet: Adamantios Aetos

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◾ Revival If an Immortal dies, but does not suffer their Last Death, they will eventually heal all wounds on their body (except those discussed under Regrowth) and revive, coming back to life. After revival they are indistinguishable from a normal, living human again - including having all of their Health levels restored. The time this takes varies (not only in game, but also in the films and series in the Highlander universe). The precise time is up to the Storyteller and is normally determined by dramatic necessity and/or to avoid the player having to sit out of the action for a long period of time - it could take several scenes, or only one; a character could revive whilst about to be subject to an autopsy or could mercifully take place after one has taken place. Most Immortals learn to feign death fairly early on, just in case they do wake up at the wrong moment. One constant is that the First Death of a Pre-Immortal always takes substantially longer than a regular death to revive from, often requiring a day or two. Finally, the process of Revival burns away any Blood Bonds experienced by a Pre-Immortal, and prevents the Embrace. Full Immortals are entirely immune to the Embrace and the ghouling effects of vampiric vitae, although they still die from blood loss. Although Pre-Immortals can be ghouls, their body could decay to an untenable state prior to their death if they run out of vitae, which could render them incapable of reviving as an Immortal. Whilst there have long been rumors amongst Immortal scholars of the occult regarding vampiric Immortals, these are clearly fanciful tales of nonsense and fiction, with not a shred of truth to them. After all, if such a thing was possible, they would surely have been discovered.   Unity of Essence The Quickening is the lifeforce of an Immortal and only by removing her head is her power taken. There are no other ways to remove an Immortal’s power. Likewise, the Quickening tightly binds an Immortal’s mind, spirit, and body. Her memories, spirit, and body are immutable Patterns, unable to be altered by magic, even if it is beneficial to them. Although most mind effects, such the Mind sphere (Mage: The Ascension) and Disciplines such as Dominate or Presence, may affect the Immortal, key exceptions are that no one can pull her mind from her body, possess her body entirely nor erase or rewrite her memories sense quickening An Immortal can always sense when another Immortal or holy ground is nearby with this ability, with no roll required. No specific information on the other Immortal’s identity is given, nor is the location of the Immortal known, merely that the Immortal is near. They also do not know if they are sensing multiple Immortals, or just one (although they can typically assume the latter). An Immortal always knows the extent of holy ground with this ability, however this is often rough - e.g. they may know that the church is holy ground, but will only have a fuzzy idea of exactly what the boundaries are. That said, they will always be certain whether they are currently within holy ground or not. This sensation manifests in a variety of ways, but when it comes to sensing another Immortal it is typically a vibration, tensing, electrical buzzing sound or other intuitive sensation which defies specific senses, typically localized around the Immortal’s head and neck. Sensing a Quickening will always wake a sleeping Immortal no matter how deeply asleep they are, although any form of magical or medically- induced sleep may require a roll to awaken at a reduced difficulty. Note that whilst medically dead, incapacitated or experiencing the dreamless death, an Immortal does not sense Quickening (or indeed, much of anything else), although they can be sensed by others. The initial sensing of an Immortal’s Quickening is always distracting, potentially impairing the next action or requiring a Composure + Subterfuge test to prevent others from noticing that something is wrong. Once sensed, they retain awareness of the presence of another as long as they stay within range. When one Immortal senses another is at the Storyteller’s discretion and should likely happen at the best moment of dramatic tension, but is typically a distance measured in meters rather than hundreds of meters. It should not allow an Immortal to be sneaked up upon by another, especially as two Immortals will always sense each other at the same time. This power triggers a test of the Urge, possibly forcing the Immortals into a fight. Pre-Immortals can also be sensed with this feat, but they have a noticeably different sensation, such that an Immortal is never in any doubt as to whether they are encountering an Immortal or a Pre-Immortal. Some Pre-Immortals possess this ability before they suffer their first death at the Storytellers discretion. Finally, an Immortal is also aware of when an Immortal is slain and a Quickening event occurs within the same range at which they may sense another Immortal. Like other Basic feats, the ability to Sense Quickening is intrinsic to an Immortal, but as it relies on their own awareness, attention and super- natural senses, it may be possible to suppress, dampen or confuse the Immortal. It may also be possible to cloak a Quickening via some super- natural abilities, at the discretion of the Storyteller, although this should be limited to rare or powerful powers. That said, the ability can never truly be taken from an Immortal, and they can never be tricked into breaking the Rules and fighting on holy ground or interfering in a one-on-one duel because of such powers. empower blade Few Immortals would describe their favored weapon as simply a piece of steel (or iron, or bronze), but it is very rare that there is anything magical inherent within it. Over a period of association, however, an Immortal’s Quickening imbues their favoured blade, grounding it within reality, causing it to resist supernatural powers and strike more truly than a weapon otherwise should. The Immortal may add his Quickening rating to any attempt to resist any supernatural powers which affect the weapon, such as the Matter sphere (Mage: The Ascension), and it is effectively immune to lesser magical effects which attempt to destroy it such as the Shatter power (Cult of the Blood Gods, p. 104). Difficulties to destroy an empowered blade or separate it from the Immortal with magic (whether by teleportation or telekinesis) are always rolled at a higher difficulty. Furthermore, an Immortal’s empowered weapon is somehow easier to hide from prying eyes, with the Immortal gaining a two-dice bonus to any attempts to conceal it on their person, even if it should be obvious within a shorter coat or bag. In addition, it always benefits from any bonuses associated with the Cloak Merit if the Immortal possesses it, both in terms of being easier to hide in general, but also harder for onlookers to remember specific features of it if they do notice it. An Immortal’s empowered blade is extremely durable, and whilst it can lose its edge, it will wear more slowly than a normal weapon. It can survive being put into temperatures where the weapon would normally melt or shatter from freeze and can also withstand extreme punishment, such as being used to cleave through stone walls. The precise mechanics of this great survivability are normally narrative rather than having specific rules associated with them, and whilst it does not make the weapon indestructible, it should be kept in mind by the Storyteller. In addition to these permanent benefits, Immortals can infuse their empowered blade with raw power using their Quickening. This causes successful attacks to cause additional points of Superficial Health damage equal to half Quickening rating, rounded down. If using the Lesser feat Powerful Strike, this extra damage is not halved by vampires, Immortals or other supernatural creatures. This ability is used passively with no cost, and is typically only dampened when the Immortal is attempting to disguise their nature. When an empowered blade strikes a particularly hard surface, or when two empowered blades strike one another, electrical discharges and sparks typically accompany the clash due to the visible manifestation of the Quickening. ◾ Empowering A Blade An empowered weapon must be a melee, bladed, slashing weapon such as a knife or sword, and must typically be made out of metal or a similar material which is durable and can be made sharp. Weapons which are more non-bladed than bladed, such as axes or polearms, are not eligible for empowerment, through some peculiarity of the Game and/or the Quickening. If an Immortal wishes to empower a new blade, typically because they have lost their old one or due to its destruction, then she should choose a new favored weapon. Empowering a new blade does not involve any mystical practice, and happens almost entirely unconsciously, with an Immortal simply training with a weapon over the course of a story or downtime in between Stories in order to empower it. At the Storyteller’s discretion, when an Immortal absorbs the Quickening of a slain Immortal they may replace any currently empowered blade with that of the one they have just slain. An Immortal may have a set of blades in some circumstances, with two weapons wielded together counting as a single weapon at the discretion of the Storyteller. If one is destroyed or lost, the remaining member of the set slowly loses its empowerment until another blade is added back into that set, which follows the normal rule. THE QUICKENING the last The Quickening connects them with all living things, granting Immortals another feat called simply, “The Last”. This power effectively gives them a sixth sense and psychic ability to feel or know things about other beings which should be impossible. This manifests itself in two ways. ◾ Insight Whenever the Storyteller deems it appropriate, the player should make a roll with a dice pool of their entire Quickening rating to learn information about the feelings, thoughts, knowledge or status of living things around them, depending on the number of successes rolled. Once per story, an Immortal may also actively use this feat to add their entire Quickening rating to a roll to discover, find or locate something in their surroundings, such as an Awareness, Insight or Investigation roll. If the Immortal somehow has an ability similar to the Auspex power Premonition (Vampire: The Masquerade, p. 249) and wishes to combine their active tapping of insight from the Last with this feat, they may use their entire Quickening rating for the power’s roll instead of only half of it (see A Kind of Magic) or instead of a similarly relevant magical level. This feat is an unreliable one and demonstrates itself irregularly and in strange ways, providing a useful, yet erratic, source of information. The Storyteller should use their discretion in the dispensing of such information. Examples of this feat include being able to guess another Immortal’s name without having met them, havthat an enemy clan houses an Immortal who’s Quickening you want to take, being certain that someone is following you, having an insight that someone has a debilitating or life-threatening illness or happening to find someone’s hidden weapons or recording devices, which they may use against you, in the first containers you decide to check. ◾ Verstehen An Immortal may also decide to use The Last proactively to tune into how another creature feels, from the beating of their heart to the sweat on their brow. Once per Story, the Immortal may use this ability to either suppress the effects of their Desolation rating for an entire Scene as they feel the ebb and flow of human life around them, or to gain the benefit of a Dyscrasia (Vampire: The Masquerade, p. 230) related to the mood of people or animals around them, as determined by the Storyteller. VARIANT RULE: MAGICAL WEAPONS An Immortal’s empowered blade can be enchanted as a Fetish, Talisman or Artifact by a Fera or mage (see relevant 20th Anniversary Edition books) and as the Quickening flows through them, their powers are amplified. For Artifacts, the Immortal may use her Quickening to activate them. For a Talisman (Mage: The Ascension), add her Quickening rating to the Arête of the Talisman. Fetishes (Werewolf: The Apocalypse) work in a similar way, but the Immortal may add her Quickening rating to the item’s Gnosis rating if it would benefit the enchantment. Any magical enchantment on the empowered weapon counts as always having access to a pool of Quintessence equal to the Immortal’s Quickening rating. This pool cannot be depleted, but neither can an amount greater than this rating be used for a single action. An Immortal may also destroy an enchantment on her empowered blade by overloading it with the Quickening. They must roll their Quickening against Difficulty 3, removing a success on the creation roll for the Talisman or Fetish equal to the margin. This process takes one turn, plus one per success. sense life ■ Prerequisite: Quickening rating 6 The Immortal’s ability to sense Quickenings has been honed overtime, either due to practice or simply a quirk of the Quickening. If they concentrate, they may now sense all life around them - or even voids in the world which simply mimic life. ■ System: The Immortal makes a Focus Check, and then rolls their Resolve + Insight. Each success allows them to gain information about the living creatures nearby, including numbers, distance or even a rough indication of their attitudes - if any. This feat also provides information about nearby Immortals which have been sensed via Sense Quickening, without the normal penalties to scrying information about them. As a rough guide, each success should allow the user to ask a single question of the Storyteller, with examples including the rough number of living creatures nearby, roughly what kind of species they are (e.g. human, dog, wolf), whereabouts they are, how far away they are, if any particular group has intense emotions, and so on. An Obfuscated individual may roll Wits + Obfuscate to avoid detection or inclusion in the answers given to the user. Vampires with high Humanity (8+) may appear to be human, as do any benefitting from the Blush of Life (Vampire: The Masquerade, p. 218) and a Humanity greater than 3, including. Werewolves or other shapeshifters (including a vampire using shape-changing powers if they have Blush of Life active) will be detectable or understandable based on the form they are currently in, e.g. they would show up as wolves rather than as humans if changed into that form. On a critical win, the Immortal is able to pick out Kindred using this feat, and can detect that Kindred using Blush of Life are not human. Kindred noticed in this way feel distinctly different, cold, and unpleasant, whether using Blush of Life or not. At the Storyteller’s discretion, they may also be able to identify magic users, shapeshifters and even the active use of supernatural powers. Note that this feat is never as specific as using a power such 60 THE QUICKENING as Scry the Soul (Vampire: The Masquerade, p. 250) against a single individual, as there are normally many forms of life around and the Immortal simply gains rough indications of each. Finally, an Immortal who possesses this feat also gains the passive ability to discern differences in the Quickening of other Immortals, such that they are able to tell different Immortals apart when Sense Quickening is triggered. Immortals with a high Desolation or Temporary Urge rating may feel particularly uncomfortable, and those with a high Quickening rating will trigger a stronger sensation. ■ Duration: N/A or Passive