The Adroanzi have always seen themselves as gods of nature. While ancient history holds the secrets of how and why the bloodline came into being, their defining power has survived throughout time. Nburu is the discipline that allows their control over nature. This discipline not only has a specific set of powers, but a Gardener’s understanding of it also improves his chances of successfully cultivating mandragora.
Adroanzi, being self-proclaimed masters of nature, reinforce their mystery by use of this power. They can move through the wilderness without fear of being heard or discovered. Even animals have trouble finding evidence of a Gardener’s presence.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: This power involves no roll.
Action: Instant
When activated, Silent Passage provides the character with a number of benefits related to moving about in a natural setting. He must be walking through grass, on soil, through water, or across a naturally occurring surface. The power does not function if the character is walking across concrete, wading in a constructed fiberglass-bottom pool, or traveling on or over any sort of similarly worked or artificial surface. The power lasts for the duration of the scene.
First, he is virtually silent when walking or even running. Observers using Heightened Senses have the potential to hear the character, but this requires a successful Clash of Wills (see Vampire: The Requiem, p.119). The Adroanzi’s player rolls Resolve + Survival + Nburu during this contested action. Users of this power also mask evidence in regards to scents. This, too, can be subject to a Clash of Wills. Finally, Silent Passage also hides evidence of the vampire’s passing. He does not leave tracks in the sand, break the grass as he walks through, or disturb the surface of water as he is walking or swimming. In the case of traveling through water, the character may move no faster than his normal walking speed. Moving any faster will disrupt this power and cause it to fail. Tracks and other evidence are not completely hidden, but any roll made to track or investigate the area receives a -5 modifier.
Centuries ago, when the Adroanzi were lording over the tribes of the Lugbara, they used a number of tactics to keep their mortal followers obedient. From time to time, the chieftains and their people needed to be punished. The most despicable of Adroanzi’ punishments struck the people indirectly. Without the land and all that grew from it, the people likely starved and were deprived of materials for building their homes. With this power, the Adroanzi could destroy swaths of smaller plants, kill trees and insects, or even render tools useless.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: Strength + Survival + Nburu
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The entropic energies meant for the plant life around him backfire, inflicting one point of lethal damage on the user.
Failure: The Vitae is spent, but the character is unable to summon the energies needed to destroy the intended object or plants.
Success: If the character was attempting to destroy larger amounts of insects and/or smaller plants such as grasses, weeds, flowers, small shrubs, and the like, he kills all of the plant life and insects in a radius of one yard per success. Larger plants, such as trees, that are within the affected area are not harmed (though they may show signs of disease or rot). If the character was attempting to destroy a single larger object, the object loses one point of Structure per success rolled. This bypasses the object’s Durability.
Exceptional Success: No additional damage is inflicted, but anything destroyed is utterly gone. The plants or object becomes little more than ashes, as if it was completely burned or decomposed.
In order to destroy a plant, group of insects, or object, the vampire must touch the item or the ground where the living things are located. Simply standing on the ground where the plants or insects are located qualifies. Objects that may be affected by this power must be wholly organic. This power can destroy a cotton shirt, leaving behind only the polyester collar tag and the plastic buttons. However, a shirt made of a synthetic polyester and cotton blend could not be affected. Leather jackets, baseball bats and simple doors are all candidates for defiling. More complex items may require Storyteller adjudication. A couch or sofa, for example, might be susceptible to this power, depending on a number of factors — is the fabric natural or not, does it have a steel frame for the hideaway bed inside?
Suggested Modifiers
Modifier - Situation
-1 - Per point of an object’s Size that exceeds the user’s Nburu rating.
-2 - The target object has been worked into its form (baseball bat, door).
-2 - The character is unable to directly touch the object (wearing shoes or gloves).
-4 - The target object has been manufactured (cotton shirt, leather jacket).
Another tool for stalking prey, watching their mortal charges, and hiding from superior enemies, the Adroanzi developed the ability to meld with the largest of plants. Typically, trees or larger cacti were the most appropriate candidates for applications of this power, which bears some resemblance to the Protean power Meld with the Earth.
Cost: 1 Vitae (or more)
Dice Pool: This power involves no roll.
With this power, a vampire is able to meld into a plant that is at least the same size as he is. The plant may be either dead or alive, but it cannot be worked into any other form. While he is melded with the plant, the character’s senses are extended from the plant, providing a full 360 degree range of sight, hearing, touch, etc. These senses extend throughout the entire plant. For example, if he melds with a tree that is taller than a nearby wall, he would be able to see over the wall from the vantage point of the tree’s taller branches. As his sense of touch extends throughout the tree, he could feel people climbing or damaging it.
When the character “leaves” the plant and ends the Synthesis, he exits the vegetation exactly where he entered it. However, at the cost of 1 Vitae per turn, the melded character can move throughout the plant. He “moves” at half of his Speed within the plant. At the end of the scene, the character is immediately expelled from the plant at the original point of entry (or from where he has “moved” to within the plant). He may end the power at any time, exiting the plant as an instant action. Alternately, he may quickly exit the plant as an element of surprise or to be able to quickly escape. Exiting from the plant in this fashion is a reflexive action and costs one additional Vitae.
One of the most terrifying abilities of the Adroanzi, they can summon nearby insects and imbue them with a thirst for blood capable of killing small animals as well as placing human sized creatures in grave danger. With the first taste of the vampire’s blood, swarms of ants, spiders, mosquitoes, or anything capable of hunting for prey swarms their commanded target, eager to consume it whole.
Cost: 1 Vitae per turn
Dice Pool: Presence + Survival + Nburu – target’s Defense
Action: Instant
Roll Result
Dramatic Failure: The summoned insects attack the vampire using this power. For a single turn, they swarm him and drain one point of Vitae. This power may not be used again for the remainder of the scene.
Failure: While some insects are brought forth, they do not swarm and are not under the vampire’s command. The effect ends and may not be initiated again for the rest of the scene. If this was a roll made to continue the use of the power, the insects simply fail to gain enough access to the victim to have any effect. The power still ends, as the frenzied momentum of the attack has been broken.
Success: The insects follow the user’s command and swarm the victim. See below for details.
Exceptional Success: As with a success, but the insects use the blood from the victim to continue the power on their own. No Vitae is spent for this use of Hungry Swarms.
The Adroanzi initiates this power by shedding his own blood (usually through cutting his hand) and flinging it on the ground or in the air around him. This immediately summons any available insects to him, where they can then be directed by the user of this power. Once focused onto a specific target, they cannot be redirected (though the vampire can use the power again on another target). They simply continue to swarm the victim until the effect is ended. The intended target must be within 30 feet of the vampire. Should the target flee and leave this range, the power’s effect ends.
Once Hungry Swarms is activated, the target takes one point of lethal damage (if living) or loses one Vitae (in the case of a vampire) each turn. Additionally, the swarms obscure the victim’s senses enough to reduce his effectiveness in anything he attempts. All of the victim’s dice pools are reduced by two as long as the power is in effect.
The player must spend one point of Vitae per turn for the effect to continue. If the Adroanzi has Hungry Swarms activated on multiple targets, he must spend Vitae for all of them (unless the player rolls an exceptional success; see above).
Suggested Modifiers
Modifier - Situation
-3 - Character uses the power in an urban setting.
-5 - Character uses this power inside a maintained building.
The Adroanzi terrified the tribes they commanded, as well as their enemies, by forming a reputation for springing seemingly from nowhere. No matter where their targets would hide and no matter how fast they could travel, they were vulnerable to these dark gods of the land. Without any warning, the Adroanzi could step out from behind a tree next to a terrified victim, convincing even the most seasoned chieftain that there simply was no escape from these lords of the night.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: This power involves no roll.
Action: Instant
The vampire must be using the Synthesis power in order to utilize Dark Spirit of the Forest. He may instantly transport himself from the plant he is inside of to any other plant within visual range that would be a suitable candidate for the Synthesis power. This visual range must be true line of sight (not through mirrors, television monitors, etc) and the vampire must be able to clearly see the plant to which he is traveling. He cannot see a forest on a nearby mountain and simply guess that there is a suitable tree where he is looking.