5 XP
Kindred who peer behind the veil of sleep can sometimes drain such insights from their prey. By means of this Devotion, a vampire can find the moment at which a sleeper dreams, and drink that dream for herself along with the blood of the dreamer. She will dream along with the sleeper until the dream stops, and can “replay” the dream in her own mind, dreaming it again at any time until her next feeding. Tasting new blood, even from the same dreamer on the same night, washes the dream away.
Ordinarily, dream threats pose no real danger to a dream-drinking vampire. The Storyteller may still call for Composure rolls to avoid waking up or fear frenzy (if the sleeper is dreaming about his Boy Scout Jamboree bonfire). If the stories of a “dream world” are correct, it may be inhabited by spirits or dream entities of some sort, which might be able to harm a dreamer — or a dreamer’s leech. Giving powerful dream entities the equivalent of the Nightmare Discipline is probably a good start; Storytellers who really want to escalate can have a vampire awaken from a mortal nightmare to discover claw marks in his own chest, an eye missing or some other dream-inflicted wound.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: Wits + Empathy + Auspex
Action: Extended. Target number equals subject’s Resolve + Composure; one roll represents three minutes.
Dreams occur during REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, which sets in about 90 minutes after falling asleep or 90 minutes after the end of the last REM phase. The average human sleeper goes through three or four REM phases per night, each one usually longer than the last. Humans familiar with lucid dreaming, or with the visualization exercises common in some esoteric traditions, have better instinctive control over their subconscious minds; they add their Occult score to their target number.
A vampire who has shared the proper dream (or dreams) with a mortal will be at an advantage when manipulating him. Such a vampire should add +1 (or more for more intense or frequent sharing) to Social rolls against him, especially Empathy, Intimidation and Seduction. Pure information gathering is also possible through dreams, replacing Empathy in the activation dice pool with Investigation or Subterfuge.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure:
The subject awakens in a panic, and the user accidentally drinks (and manifests) any derangements present in the target for the rest of the night.
Failure:
Failure means no dream found or consumed.
Success:
Success allows continued dream-drinking; when the required total is reached, the user has drained the subject’s dream, and can experience it herself.
Exceptional Success:
A dream is fully drained, and the user can nudge the sleeper into a new dream, retaining previous successes.
Suggested Modifiers
Modifier — Situation
+2 — Power is turned on a vampire with whom the user has a blood tie.
+1 — The character has drunk the dreams of the subject before without incident.
— — Not looking for any specific dream.
–1 — Each derangement the subject possesses.
–1 — Seeking a specific flavor of dream (erotic, heroic, nightmarish, etc.).
–2 — Seeking a specific setting or element of dream (ideal lover, childhood home, the character, etc.).
–3 — Seeking a specific memory or experience (security codes, a witnessed murder, etc.).
“THEY’RE SIPPING OFF COUNCILMEN AND STATE SENATORS. TWO A.M. ON TUESDAYS IS WHEN THEY GO LOBBYING.”