City of Shadows Mux City of Shadows Mux

OBERLOCHS

Parent Clan: Gangrel Sobriquet: Brood Source: Bloodlines: the Hidden, p. 96 Disciplines: Animalism, Dominate, Protean, Resilience Revised by: skew and Ganymede

Background

Most vampires haunt cities, making the urban landscape their hunting grounds. Few are willing to dwell outside metropolitan areas. Not only are the dangers abroad unseen and untold, but the feeding is meager. Before the Fall, the vampires of the Oberloch bloodline purposefully choose to stay away from cities and suburban sprawls.

The Oberlochs began as a bloodline in the most literal of senses, as an actual mortal family. The human clan, running a successful coal-mining company in Pennsylvania, grew wealthy on the blood and suffering of immigrant laborers. The workers had their revenge in 1869, forming a mob and murdering some of the family after dragging members down into the mines. The rioters, shepherded into fury by a Gangrel vampire, unknowingly left a few Oberlochs clinging to life. The Savage decided to “test” the family’s survival skills by Embracing the survivors.

He didn’t stay around to shepherd his childer through those first nights. Left with little understanding of the curse levied upon them, the remaining family were forced to endure. And they did. The undead clan not only grew, but its blood changed in subtle ways, deviating from that which created it.

The vampiric Oberlochs continued to consider themselves a family. Indeed, they did so obsessively. They believed that the blood that sustained them, while technically dead, still carried their lineage, regardless of its bodily origin. They sired more “members of the family,” gathering runaways and castoffs, and brought those chosen mortals into the unliving fold of the Brood. By selecting miscreants and outcasts with cruel, tough demeanors, the bloodline grew slowly but constantly.

After the Fall, the family found a world more suited to their liking. Pockets of humans were easy to find and prey on, and the meddling affairs of vampire politics were more chaotic and less structured. The Oberlochs’ influence spread west from the Appalachians into the rest of the Midwest, fueled by wanderlust combined with growing numbers. Now, subordinate members have formed their own Broods, and it is not uncommon for one family of Hatfields to go after their brethren McCoys.

Bloodline Gift

The Oberlochs are even more attuned to animals than other Gangrel. As a latent power, the Brood may add their Animalism score to any Animal Ken roll, save for those in connection with that or any other Discipline. Any time an Oberloch uses a Discipline or Devotion that allows him to assume the form or the body of an animal, the Oberloch may use Animalism or Dominate, or any Devotions using one of those Disciplines, in that form (see, e.g., Subsume the Lesser Spirit).

Bloodline Bane

While undead, the Oberlochs still age. Their skin becomes sallow and wrinkled, their muscles atrophy, joints fuse and ligatures tighten over time. A family member Embraced at age 50 who exists as a vampire for an additional 50 years appears more or less as a 100-year-old person. An Oberloch who has spent 200 or more years on this Earth looks exactly like a 200-year-old might look: skin desiccated like sun-dried vellum, face pressed tightly to a withering skull, fingers curled in like the legs of a dead spider.

For every 50 years that an Oberloch exists as a vampire, a single dot is removed from each of his Physical Attributes. Physical Attributes may not be reduced below 1, though. This weakness leads some of the Brood to speculate that they are not indeed vampires, or dead in any sense, but exist with prolonged lives whose inevitable march is slowed to a freakish crawl. It’s for this reason that many choose to Embrace young men and women, often teenagers. (Few Oberlochs ever Embrace children. A child’s body may appear young for a long time, but it also never grows past the stunted frame of early youth.)

In addition, the Oberlochs are not known for their political acumen, and are rightfully or wrongfully considered bumpkins. They cannot possess Politics above 2 or Status in any Clan or Covenant above 2.

Bloodline Devotions

Beloved Pet (Animalism **, Protean **, Undying Familiar)

The Oberlochs are known for keeping large beasts as pets and for protection. This Devotion works in conjunction with Undying Familiar (V:tR 2e, p. 148), and represents an added cost to invest into a familiar animal.

Cost: 1 Vitae

By spending an extra point of Vitae, the Undying Familiar becomes invested with the Beloved and Vitae Hound Merits (V:tR 2e, p. 300). The Undying Familiar also gains an additional 1 to each Physical Attribute.

This Devotion costs 2 Experiences.

Immutable Mind (Dominate *, Resilience *)

The Oberlochs are not known for their sophistication. This is perhaps why they seem especially resilient to other Kindred’s ability to impose their will on them.

Cost: 1 Vitae Duration: One scene

For the rest of the scene, the Brood may add his Resilience score to attempts to resist any Dominate power or Devotion that requires the Dominate Discipline.

This Devotion costs 1 Experience.

Indomitable Aura (Dominate ***, Resilience ***)

Oberlochs utilizing this Devotion wear their preternatural toughness on their sleeve, so to speak. The vampire exudes an appearance of being unbeatable, as if his fortitude is so intense that any and all attacks against him are futile. He becomes frightening to behold, an undefeatable bully and monster. Oberlochs of particular Blood Potency (4 or higher) appear to grow taller and darker, whereas Oberlochs who possess Protean may appear to have skin made of stone or wood. (A combination of the two is possible.)

Cost: 1 Vitae Dice Pool: Presence + Intimidation + Dominate vs. highest Composure + Blood Potency Action: Contested; resistance is reflexive Duration: One scene

One roll is made for the vampire performing the feat, and successes are recorded. All beings who can see the Oberloch may be subject to the power (a contested roll is made for each, with successes achieved compared to those for the Oberloch). If the Brood has the most successes, an onlooker is overwhelmed by a sense of futility in challenging him physically. Attacks of all affected beings suffer a –3 penalty. That includes use of Disciplines that inflict physical damage. The Oberloch’s Resilience dots are also added to any rolls involving Intimidation or Dominate, assuming actions are performed against those who lost their contested rolls.

This Devotion costs 3 Experiences.

Man to Beast (Animalism ***, Dominate ***, Protean ***)

With this power, an Oberloch is able to reduce a subject’s mental acuity to that of a common animal’s. The victim’s higher brain functions give way to base, feral needs (i.e., the reptilian urges of food, sex, sleep and shelter). In some cases, a subject can even be made to manifest bestial features, further degrading identity. The Oberloch can suggest a type of animal to the subject, but the influence is not necessarily followed. A victim could react based on the kind of animal to which he feels most connection. How an animal behaves is also open to interpretation. (People might have different opinions on how a hog acts, for example.)

Cost: 1 Willpower Dice Pool: Wits + Expression + Animalism – subject’s Resolve Action: Instant

Roll Results Dramatic Failure: The Devotion fails and the subject may not be affected by any uses of Dominate (including this and other Devotions that require Dominate) from the character until the next sunset.

Failure: Willpower is consumed, but the power fails with no effect. A successive attempt may be possible.

Success: The subject is reduced to feral, bestial behavior. Each success on the activation roll removes one die from the victim’s Social and Mental dice pools for a number of hours equal to the Oberloch’s Animalism score.

Exceptional Success: The victim also manifests animal features. One quality is gained for each success rolled at and in excess of five. (Five successes means one animal feature, six means two, seven means three, and so on.) A single feature could be a pig’s snout, ears, tail or hooves. In addition to the dice-pool penalties imposed by a success, the victim suffers a mild derangement based on the experience that can be overcome only through roleplaying or therapy. A victim of this power can be subject to only one application of it at a time. The target must also be within direct earshot of the user. Trying to use the power over the telephone has no effect.

This Devotion costs 4 Experience.