Makeover

In show-biz, you can never be too good-looking — at least if you want to be a star and not a (shudder) character actor. The same goes for modeling. Really, good looks don’t hurt for any branch of the entertainment industry, especially when there are potential groupies around. So how is a poor, ordinary-looking Mekhet to achieve the look she craves? Obfuscate (The Familiar Stranger) lets you look like anyone, but it’s an advanced Discipline power. Presence (Entrancement) simply makes a specific person not care what you look like. A little of both Disciplines, however, can make people see you as yourself — only much better looking. Presence attracts them to you, and Obfuscate makes them overlook anything less than perfect about your appearance. The Makeover lets any Wannabe seem attractive, and a Player who really is attractive looks stunning.

Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: Presence + Persuasion + Blood Potency
Action: Instant

If the roll succeeds, other people react to the character as if he had Striking Looks •• (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 117). If the character already has this Social Merit, he seems to have the four-dot version instead. The Devotion has no effect on a character who already has Striking Looks ••••; such a character is already as attractive as a person can be. Unlike The Familiar Stranger, the character cannot impersonate other people, and people who know the character well can still recognize him. Alas, the Makeover has no effect on camera images (even if the vampire spends the Willpower to overcome the Tradition of Masquerade): the character’s improved appearance is all in people’s heads. The effect lasts a full scene.

(Players sometimes refer to The Familiar Stranger as an “Extreme Makeover,” because it can change a vampire’s appearance so completely.)