Serendipity

• Turn of Phrase

The vampire seems to know the exact thing to say to defuse a tense situation or spark a violent confrontation. Normally, she needs to be part of a conversation for a few minutes before enacting this power, but very skilled Zelani seem to instinctively know what to say.

The character must be capable of communicating with the target to use this power. That is, they must have a language in common. Turn of Phrase functions over telephones and even over non-verbal forms of communications, including instant messaging programs and even written letters (though of course the latter takes some time to have an effect).

Cost: —
Dice Pool: Wits + Expression + Serendipity
Action: Instant
The player can make this roll immediately upon entering a social situation: a conversation, a diplomatic debate, writing a letter and so on. The power doesn’t take effect immediately, though (see below).

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: Whatever effect the character was going for, her words have the opposite effect. A phrase meant to calm an angry comrade might push him into frenzy, while a letter meant to poison an ally against the Zelani’s enemy encourages his trust.
Failure: The character receives no bonus or penalty, and must rely upon her raw social acumen.
Success: A number of turns equal to (5 – the character’s Serendipity rating) after the initial roll is made, the character receives a burst of inspiration on what to say to achieve her desired result. This can have one of two game effects. The Storyteller can either suggest an appropriate phrase (by passing a note, in private conversation, etc.), or theplayer can simply receive a +5 modifier to an appropriate Social roll. Letters, obviously, do not suffer from this delay, as the character can simply wait until inspiration hits to start writing.
Exceptional Success: The character can apply the effects of the power immediately.

Suggested Modifiers
Modifier — Situation
+1 Characters are already predisposed toward the Zelani’s goal.
–1 Characters are opposed to the Zelani’s goal.

•• Guided Steps

Lorna Zelan was not a combatant by nature, but over the course of her career saw her share of violence. Strangely, though, attackers tended to miss her — guns jammed, knives became caught in clothing and opponents stumbled at critical moments. It was this kind of happenstance that earned her the nickname “Lucky Lorna,” but she consistently claimed that luck had nothing to do with it. She knew when it was time to dodge, time to strike and time to run. With this power, the Zelani takes advantages of such circumstances, avoiding danger and harm.

Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: No roll is necessary. The Zelani can activate this power any time as a reflexive action, but only during a turn in which the player declares a Dodge.

The character’s Serendipity rating is applied to her Defense Trait after it is doubled. All other Defense-based effects, including Merits that alter Defense and reductions for multiple opponents work normally, except that the character’s Serendipity rating is applied as Defense toward firearms attacks. If the character also has the Celerity Discipline and activates it for that turn, her entire Defense is applied to firearms attacks.

Example: Lorna Zelan is in a fight with a Mekhet assassin. Biding her time, she activates Guided Steps. Her Defense is normally 3, but as she is Dodging, her Defense is doubled to 6. On top of that, her player adds her Serendipity rating (5), for a total Defense of 11 for that turn. If the Mekhet shoots at her, however, her Defense is only considered 5, since her normal Defense does not apply to firearms.

Attacks that miss due to the character’s augmented Defense seem to fall victim to unfortunate, but completely plausible, twists of fate. Guns jam, attackers (or the Zelani herself) trip, a sudden crack of thunder startles an attacker into jumping back and so on. Likewise, a dramatic failure on such an attack indicates that the attacker has had a particularly disastrous turn of events. Perhaps he encounters an unforeseen motorcycle as he charges across the street at the Zelani, or perhaps his bullet misses and the ricochet hits him.

••• Perfect Timing

The Zelani are known for their uncanny ability to arrive, strike, speak or otherwise act at exactly the right time. They always seem to have an edge over others, simply because the Zelani don’t seem surprised by anything. Again, Lorna Zelan’s explanation was simply existing in accordance with the universe, but most Kindred reject such ramblings and claim the Zelani simply have the Devil’s luck (to which Lorna responds, “Same thing”).

Cost: 1 Vitae or none
Dice Pool: No roll is necessary. The character can activate this power as a reflexive action at any time, in combat or out. The effects are different, however, when used in a violent situation.

Out of combat, Perfect Timing adds an equipment bonus equal to the Zelani’s Serendipity rating to any roll that could conceivably benefit from acting at precisely the right moment. This bonus cannot take the total bonus, including any other modifiers, above +5, however. This power cannot be used for extended actions, and the player must spend one Vitae for the character to gain this bonus. Note that this bonus applies only to rolls in which timing matter. For example, the bonus would apply to an attempt to catch a thrown object, but would not apply to an attempt to interpret a message written in a foreign language.

In combat, Perfect Timing adds the Zelani’s Serendipity rating to the character’s Initiative score. This has no cost and lasts for the rest of the scene, and is cumulative with any Initiative bonus gained from Celerity or other effects.

•••• Prescience

One of the things about Lorna Zelan that amazes other Kindred is her ability to learn and assimilate new information almost immediately. Although she is at least an ancilla (and probably an elder), she has had no trouble learning how to use computers, cars and other technology that was not in existence the last time she drew breath. She claims that this isn’t any kind of prodigal talent, but simply that she can “see” the path of progress and be carried along with it. Lorna knows, she says, what she needs to know. Whatever the truth, her bloodline has the same capability — they are much more knowledgeable than would seem possible.

Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Wits + Serendipity
Action: Instant

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The character becomes confused and loses access to much of his knowledge. All of the character’s Skills effectively drop by one dot (meaning that Skills at one dot disappear, imposing the normal Unskilled penalty if the character tries use them). These effects last for the remainder of the night.
Failure: The character gains no knowledge, but can attempt to use this power again after the current scene ends.
Success: The character can distribute a number of dots equal to the successes from the roll among any Skills that he does not possess. No Skill can rise higher than 2 in the manner, however. For instance, if the player rolls four successes and the character has no rating in Computer, Brawl or Persuasion, he can give herself Computer 2, Brawl 1 and Persuasion 1 or Brawl 2 and Computer 2, but not Computer 3 and Brawl 1. This knowledge lasts for the remainder of the scene. Alternately, the player can choose to duplicate the effects of the Encyclopedic Knowledge Merit for the scene (see p. 109 of the World of Darkness Rulebook).
Exceptional Success: Instead of temporarily raising Skill ratings, the character can apply successes toward the experience cost of purchasing new Skills. The usual “cap” of two successes per Skill still applies, though, but the character can apply successes toward Skills in which he already has a rating. For instance, if the character has Computer 1 and wishes to buy Computer 2 (normally six experience points), and the player rolls five or more successes for this power, he can apply two successes toward the cost and pay only four. This must occur in the standard flow of the story; this cannot be used during downtime (because there’d be no reasonable way to control how many times the player could attempt to learn in this manner).

••••• Stars in Alignment

Lorna claimed that no will or action was necessary for her phenomenal good fortune, but this power puts lie to that. It requires the vampire to spend as much as several hours in meditation, but after that, everything she does seems to succeed, bad luck doesn’t touch her and her enemies are well-advised to leave her alone. This power is exhausting, however. Even Lorna doesn’t use it every night.

Cost: 2 Willpower and 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: Resolve + Composure + Serendipity
Action: Extended. (10 successes required; each roll takes one hour.)

The character can enact this power at any time during the night, but must remain in deep meditation the entire time. If she is interrupted, all successes are forfeited and the attempt is considered a failure. She can break off the attempt at any time and simply does not enjoy the benefits. Only one attempt at this power can be made in a given night.

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: Events are decidedly not going to go the character’s way tonight. Every roll the player makes for that night suffers a –3 penalty. The player can make a Wits + Composure roll (subject to that penalty) to notice that things have gone horribly awry and that it would be a good idea for the character to simply stay in her haven, but if this roll fails, she has no idea that the power failed.
Failure: No progress is made toward the goal.
Success: The character makes progress toward her goal. If the player achieves 10 successes, the character has found her rhythm, so to speak, for the night. All actions she undertakes receive a +3 modifier, as do any resistance traits even if they aren’t rolled (including Defense). She cannot, however, regain Willpower during this night or for the following night.
Exceptional Success: Significant progress is made toward the goal. As per a normal success, though the character may regain Willpower as normal.