Humans rely primarily on vision to observe their world. But in the universe inhabited by the Baddacelli, that sense is all but useless. So humans and Kindred in this environment fall back to the distant second of their preferred senses: hearing. When the Baddacelli are on the hunt, this is the worst mistake a victim can make. Baddacelli, surviving as they have for centuries in a world without vision, have turned sound into their shield and their weapon. They are mimics of supernatural skill, able to produce auditory tricks that put modern sound studios to shame.
Sounds echoing in the twisting and interconnected tunnels of the subterranean world are often confusing, making it all but impossible to determine their true direction of origin. But the Baddacelli are familiar with these tricks, and are rarely confused.
When this power is active, Baddacelli do not suffer situational penalties when trying to orient themselves by sound (such as, for example, confusing echoes in underground tunnels). Furthermore, they do not have to take an action to locate targets in combat by sound, and they don’t run the risk of losing track of an opponent in succeeding turns. So long as their intended victims make any sound at all, the Baddacelli can find their targets.
Note, however, that the Baddacelli still suffer the –3 dice penalty for fighting an unseen opponent. (See the “Fighting Blind” rules found on p. 166 of the World of Darkness Rulebook.)
Cost: —
Dice Pool: n/a
Action: Instant
The Baddacelli is able to mimic any sound that can conceivably be produced by the human throat, including specific voices, with uncanny accuracy. So long as he has heard the sound at least once in his Requiem, he can reproduce it perfectly.
To fully impersonate a person, the Baddacelli first needs to hear him speak for at least 15 minutes so that she can pick out the varied inflections and accents of the speaker. The speech must be unfiltered (i.e., not conveyed over electronic media) and must involve a variety of statements.
Furthermore, at this stage, the voice the Baddacelli produces may seem to come from any direction she chooses, within a certain radius.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Subterfuge + Mimetismo
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: Not only does the Baddacelli fail to emulate the voice she’s attempting, but she actually damages her vocal apparatus in the attempt. She suffers one point of lethal damage and cannot attempt Mimetismo again until she heals the wound.
Failure: Failure indicates that the power does not activate. The Baddacelli speaks or sings with her normal voice, and can be identified by anyone who knows her.
Success: The Baddacelli mimics the intended voice, and may fool her intended listeners.
Exceptional Success: An exceptional success indicates that the subjects’ Resolve is considered one less than normal for the purposes of determining who is fooled.
The number of successes the player acquires on the roll is compared to the Resolve of each listener. If the number of successes exceeds a given listener’s Resolve, that target is affected by the power and fooled into identifying the voice as the Baddacelli intends. If a subject’s Resolve is equal to or higher than the number of successes, he is unaffected. Every individual who hears the Baddacelli using this power must compare his Resolve against the number of successes accumulated to see if he is fooled or not — the Baddacelli cannot attempt to single out a listener in a crowd and deceive him alone.
Those individuals whose Resolve is exceeded by three successes or more will actually show a preference for the illusion when comparing it to the original voice. (For example, a child hearing his father calling from one tunnel and a Baddacelli impersonating his father’s voice in another will head toward the Baddacelli if his Resolve is exceeded by three successes or more.)
This mimicry may actually fool voice recognition systems, but competently constructed equipment is considered to have a Resolve of 5.
If the Baddacelli attempts to “throw” the sound of her voice so that the source seems to come from a different direction instead of her, the number of successes determining how far away the sound can seem to be coming from:
Successes — Max. Distance
1 success — 1 yard
2 successes — 2 yards
3 successes — 5 yards
4 successes — 10 yards
5+ successes — 30 yards
The Baddacelli may choose the apparent direction of the sound’s origin as long as at least one success is rolled.
The Baddacelli facility with mimicry now extends to sounds that no human could possibly produce. Whether the bustle of a swarming subway station, the soft trickle of water, the screech of a train or the sound of advancing footsteps, all are within the realm of the Baddacelli’s uncanny talent for auditory trickery.
Before the Baddacelli can mimic a sound, he needs to hear it directly, unfiltered by electronic media. While he can easily copy the sound of a train as reproduced on a film, any subject who hears the result will instinctively feel “wrong” about it, knowing that it’s fake. Only the true sound will produce a useful result.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Dice Pool: Wits + Expression + Mimetismo
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: Not only does the Baddacelli fail to emulate the sound she’s attempting, but she actually damages her vocal apparatus in the attempt. She suffers one point of lethal damage and cannot attempt Mimetismo again until she heals the wound.
Failure: Failure indicates that the power does not activate. The Baddacelli makes an attempt at the sound with her normal voice.
Success: The Baddacelli mimics the intended sound, and may fool her intended listeners.
Exceptional Success: An exceptional success indicates that the subjects’ Resolve is considered one less than normal for the purposes of determining who is fooled.
The number of successes the player acquires on the roll is compared to the Resolve of each listener. If the number of successes exceeds a given listener’s Resolve, that target is affected by the power and fooled into identifying the sound as the Baddacelli intends. If a subject’s Resolve is equal to or higher than the number of successes, he is unaffected. Every individual who hears the Baddacelli using this power must compare his Resolve against the number of successes accumulated to see if he is fooled or not — the Baddacelli cannot attempt to single out a listener in a crowd and deceive him alone.
Those individuals whose Resolve is exceeded by three successes or more will actually show a preference for the illusion when comparing it to the original sound. (For example, a wanderer hearing the sound of street traffic down one tunnel and a Baddacelli emulation in another will head toward the Baddacelli if his Resolve is exceeded by three successes or more.)
As with Mimicry, the Baddacelli may choose the apparent origin of the sound. If they choose to “throw” the sound, use the table listed above to determine the radius of effect.
The Baddacelli are able to sense their surroundings using a form of echolocation. By producing a series of rapid clicks and sensing the echoes, they can get a surprisingly detailed impression of their surroundings. At this stage, even absolute silence cannot hide their prey from them, and they can locate objects concealed from normal sight. The last sounds heard by many a hapless wanderer in the subterranean depths has been the dry, ratcheting call of a hunting Morlock.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Wits + Survival + Mimetismo
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Baddacelli receives only a confusing welter of echoes that fills his head with a distracting buzz. His next action will be at a –2 dice penalty in addition to whatever other modifiers may apply.
Failure: The Baddacelli fails to gain any additional information about his surroundings.
Success: For as long as the Baddacelli maintains this power, he may act without the normal penalties imposed by his blindness. Furthermore, because of the penetrating nature of sound vibrations he may be able to sense objects and events through physical barriers. If the number of successes generated by the activation roll exceeds the Durability rating of an intervening barrier, the Baddacelli can sense what is on the other side subject to the following modifiers.
Exceptional Success: As above. In addition, Echolocation may be maintained even if the Baddacelli speaks or invokes another Mimetismo power, provided that the interruption lasts no longer than a single turn and is not repeated in the turn immediately following.
Note that Echolocation is still not sight. Although capable of sensing shapes and textures in remarkable detail, the Baddacelli will remain entirely blind to changes in color and lighting conditions. This means that a Morlock is still unable to read printed words or interpret a picture using this power. Even perfectly clear glass will appear entirely opaque to this sense unless the Baddacelli has achieved enough successes to penetrate it. The Baddacelli may maintain Echolocation while taking other actions for as long as he does not speak or invoke any other Mimetismo power, or until the end of the current scene, whichever comes first.
Modifier — Condition Roll
-1 — Per 1” thickness of barrier
-2 — Barrier is baffled or soundproofed
+1 — Barrier is crystalline
+1 — Barrier is significantly softer than the object (i.e., cloth over a gun)
At the peak of Mimetismo, this power takes sound from the realm of deception and stalking and turns it into a weapon. By striking the right pitch and volume, the Baddacelli can stun and disorient potential prey with an overwhelming, painful auditory assault. Victims find themselves able to do little other than clutch their ears to block out the sounds, and may even be struck temporarily deaf by the intensity of the abuse to their hearing.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Expression + Mimetismo versus target’s Stamina + Blood Potency
Action: Contested
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: Not only does the Baddacelli fail to create the sound he’s attempting, but he actually damages his vocal apparatus in the attempt. He suffers one point of lethal damage and cannot attempt Mimetismo again until he heals the wound.
Failure: Either the Baddacelli fails to generate a success, or the target’s successes equal or exceed those of the Discipline user. The Aural Assault has no effect.
Success: The vampire achieves more successes than the target on the contested roll. He generates an earsplitting burst of focused sound that utterly stuns the intended target. Victims of this power lose their next action, and may not apply their Defense for that round. For the remainder of the scene, they suffer a –2 penalty to any perception related dice pools that depend on hearing. If the sensitivity of the victim’s hearing has been augmented, such as through the use of the Auspex power Heightened Senses, she is struck entirely deaf for the remainder of the scene.
Exceptional Success: As above. However, victims with ordinary hearing are also struck deaf for the remainder of the scene. Characters with heightened hearing also suffer a level of bashing damage for every bonus die normally granted by their augmented senses.