Liberated Mind

Over the years, Les Gens Libres developed a technique that, when utilized, makes them less susceptible to being dominated by others. Liberated Mind creates a false mind that shields the true psyche of the Freedman from domination, and makes his would-be controller falsely believe the attempt at control was successful.

Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: Resolve + Subterfuge + Obfuscate
Action: Instant

Success on the roll activates Liberated Mind upon the character for one night. The character enjoys a bonus to all resistance rolls to the Dominate Discipline equal to the player’s successes. In addition, if the Dominate power isn’t resisted actively, but involves subtracting a trait from the attacker’s dice pool, the successes on the Liberated Mind roll add to this trait.

Example: Michel uses Liberated Mind every night before venturing into the morass of slavery that is the local vampire court. Tonight, his player rolls three successes. If a Ventrue pig uses Command on him, his player rolls Resolve + Blood Potency + 3 to resist. If, however, the Ventrue tries to remove a memory using The Forgetful Mind, the Ventrue’s player subtracts Michel’s Resolve + 3, rather than just his Resolve, from the Discipline’s dice pool.

One of the other useful facets of this Devotion is that the attacker believes that the Dominate attempt has been successful, provided that he isn’t expecting an immediate result. If the vampire uses Command to force the Freedman to “Sit,” the vampire might ignore the order, which obviously tips the attacker off to the fact that the Dominate attempt didn’t work. However, if the vampire used Mesmerize to issue a more complex command, the Gens Libres vampire is free to pretend to be under the vampire’s spell — and the attacker is none the wiser.