Red Jack is the master (and, he claims, inventor) of the Ars Speculorum, or Art of Mirrors, which he teaches to those Kindred who seek knowledge in the glass. Only Red Jack can teach Ars Speculorum; no vampire can learn it from another, except (possibly) through diablerie. Summoning Red Jack with his chant requires no Vitae, only the fivefold repetition of his name and the reflexive expenditure of a Willpower point. Once summoned into a given vampire’s mirror, Red Jack can return later at will, unless somehow forcibly and magically restrained. Red Jack can even be in two mirrors at once, a trivial use of his mystic powers.
For the Kindred, however, every use of Ars Speculorum requires the vampire to smear at least a drop of his blood on a mirror, “paying the Queen’s silver toll” for access to the power Red Jack grants. A Storyteller who wishes to further explore themes of blood payment and addiction to dark knowledge may allow excess Vitae to translate into extra dice in the activation dice pool, on a one-for-one basis. Every use of Ars Speculorum requires an intact mirror; if the activating mirror breaks, the power ends immediately.
It is important to remember that Red Jack has no sway over non-mirrors such as photographic negatives, video footage or reflections in windows — unless the Storyteller thinks that horror demands it, of course.
This power allows the vampire to manipulate images in mirrors, including his own reflection, for the remainder of the night. He need not spend a Willpower point to “de-blur” his reflection in the mirror as described on p. 170 of Vampire: The Requiem. He can alter, blur or disguise his reflection or any mirrored image. This may be overt (causing a bystander’s reflection to bleed) or subtle (shifting his own position in a security mirror).
To detect anything other than an obvious difference between a reflection and its material source a viewer must make a reflexive, contested Wits + Composure roll and score more successes than those rolled for the activation of the power. A viewing subject with two or more dots in Ars Speculorum gains a +2 bonus on perception rolls to scrutinize the effects of another practitioner — except Red Jack.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: Wits + Crafts + Ars Speculorum (possibly versus Wits + Composure + Ars Speculorum)
Action: Instant; contestation is reflexive.
Catoptromancy is the art of divination by mirrors, practiced by Etruscan sibyls and Vergil Magus. Although Red Jack grandly claims mastery of all such lore, he teaches a subtler power to his Kindred acolytes.
Using this power, the vampire may gaze into a mirror and receive the answer to one question regarding an unknown identity. In response, the slightly murky and distorted face of the person (or Kindred) who most closely answers the vampire’s question appears in the mirror for a few seconds. (Definitively recognizing a face may require a separate Wits + Composure roll.) Questions might range from “Whom will I marry?” to “Who ordered my haven burnt out last week?” to “Who is trying to kill me?” Even if a complete answer would involve many people, only one face appears.
For example, in answer to that last question, if the Prince of Kansas City ordered a mortal assassin to kill the questioner, only the human assassin’s face would appear. If the true answer is “nobody,” a face unknown to the querent appears anyway. A creative Storyteller may answer questions with grinning skulls, severed heads or any number of variations on the general theme. Remember that Red Jack’s mirrors do not provide any clear answers that work against his interests, save perhaps as a cruel taunt or to close a trap.
Catoptromanticks can only be used once per night, and cannot be successfully cast in light brighter than that of a single candle.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: Wits + Occult + Ars Speculorum
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: No face appears, and the mirror is shattered. The subject of the question feels “watched,” and may even suspect the questioner for no good reason — perhaps the subject thinks she catches the questioner’s image in a nearby mirror. Alternatively, a completely misleading face appears.
Failure: No face appears, but the character may try again.
Success: The character sees the face that most closely answers her question.
Exceptional Success: The face appears clearly and without blurring or distortion.
Suggested Modifiers
Modifier Situation
+1 The person sought has gazed into a mirror tonight.
— The face is that of a mortal, or of a vampire with a blood tie to the character.
–2 The face is that of a vampire with no blood tie to the character.
With this power, Red Jack opens a crack into the mirror realm for his pupils’ use. After activating this power, the character can look into a mirror and see out of any other mirror. He may freely switch his gaze from mirror to mirror inside a single dwelling, but to change locations he must pay a Willpower point. The image of the viewer will appear in the destination mirror, but in dim shadows or faint outline. To notice this ghostly image, an observer on the other side must be looking at the mirror and make a Wits + Composure roll; successes from which must exceed those rolled for the activation of the power.
A Kindred may not use Auspex with Panoptickon alone (but see Childermass Surprise, below). The effects of Panoptickon fade at the end of the scene.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult + Ars Speculorum
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The character sees nothing, but the character’s intended target feels “watched,” and soon realizes why. The target can see the character gazing at him through the nearest mirror. Following this unpleasant reversal, the character’s mirror shatters.
Failure: The character cannot see through the mirror, but may try again.
Success: The character sees through the desired mirror.
Exceptional Success: The character can change locations and switch from dwelling to dwelling without paying a Willpower point.
Suggested Modifiers
Modifier Situation
+2 Power is aimed at a mirror in which the character has previously used Ars Speculorum.
— Power is aimed at a mirror the character has looked into before.
–1 Power is aimed at a mirror the character has noticed in passing, seen in photographs or drawings and so on.
–2 Power is aimed at a mirror the character has had described to him, or can rationally assume must be there (the bathroom mirror in an or dinary apartment or hotel room, for example).
–3 Power is aimed at a mirror in a location the character knows little or nothing about (an enemy vampire’s crypt, the war room of the Mossad and so on).
Childermas, the Feast of Holy Innocents, marks the slaughter of children in Herod’s Judea while his soldiers searched for the infant Christ. Childermass falls on December 28 in the church calendar, and is symbolized by four mirrors. In a sportive mood, Red Jack has been known to call December 28 his birthday.
This power allows a Kindred to use some Disciplines through a mirror, usually against a target spotted using Panoptickon. The exception are targets in the same room as the caster, who may be attacked through any mirror in the caster’s field of vision. Childermas Surprise does not allow any physical attacks, but does allow some Theban Sorcery or Crúac spells.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: — To use a Discipline through the mirror, the character makes her Discipline activation roll as normal, with a – 2 modifier. A mirrorist with five dots in Ars Speculorum suffers no negative modifier.
Action: Instant
Childermas Surprise ends when Panoptickon does, or at the end of the scene.
The final step into the mirror realm, this power allows a vampire to actually travel physically between mirrors, stepping into one and out of the other almost instantaneously. He must be able to physically fit through the frame of both mirrors, so Kindred uncertain of their destinations are well advised to travel in bat or mist form. If the destination mirror proves unsuitable (or broken), he must return to his origin point and try again. A vampire traveling to a given mirror is clearly visible in it, growing larger and closer for a number of turns equal to 10 minus the total successes rolled to activate this power (minimum one turn).
Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: Presence + Occult + Ars Speculorum
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The character enters the mirror realm but becomes hopelessly disoriented and lost. Whatever he was fleeing, there are worse things in here, and chances are that whatever mirror he finally stumbles out of will be in full daylight.
Failure: The character cannot enter the mirror realm, but may try again.
Success: The character successfully transits the mirror realm to the destination in a number of turns equal to 10 minus total successes (minimum one turn). The mirror realm is bizarre and distorting; a vampire who passes through it (whether he reaches his intended destination or not) must succeed at a Resolve roll or be completely disoriented and unable to act on the turn he emerges.
Exceptional Success: The character successfully transits the mirror realm in one turn, and need not make a Resolve roll to reorient himself.
Suggested Modifiers
Modifier Situation
+2 Power is aimed at a mirror in which the character has previously used Ars Speculorum
— Power is aimed at a mirror the character has looked into before.
–1 Power is aimed at a mirror the character has noticed in passing, seen in photographs or drawings and so on.
–1 to –3 The character is rushed or distracted, such as by combat or while being harried by pursuers. This penalty is cumulative with multiple distractions (such as attempting a mirror-walk while in a running gun-battle with pursuing FBI agents in a burning building).
–2 Power is aimed at a mirror the character has had described to him, or can rationally assume must be there (the bathroom mirror in an ordinary apartment or hotel room, for example).
–3 Power is aimed at a mirror in a location the character knows little or nothing about (an enemy vampire’s crypt, the war room of the Mossad and so on).