When Blood Bonding an animal, the vampire can make it a famulus, forming a mental link with it and facilitating the use of other Animalism powers. While this power alone does not allow two-way communication with the animal, it can follow simple verbal instructions such as“stay” and“come here." It attacks in defense of itself and its master but cannot otherwise be persuaded to fight something it would not normally attack.
Dice Pools: Charisma + Animal Ken.
Cost: The animal must be fed the
user’s Blood on three separate nights, each of which requires a Rouse Check by the user. The amount of Blood needed to sustain the ghoul-state of the animal after this is negligible. Players starting with this power have completed this process and can chose a famulus for free.
System: Without the use of Feral Whispers, below, giving commands to the animal requires a Charisma + Animal Ken roll(Difficulty 2); increase Difficulty for more complex or- ders. A vampire can only have one famulus, but can get a new one if the current one dies. A vampire can use Feral Whispers(Animalism 2) and Subsume the Spirit(Animalism 4) on their famulus for free.
Duration: Only death releases a famulus once bound. As long as it receives vampire Blood on a regular basis, the famulus does not age.
Sense the Beast
The vampire can sense the Beast present in mortals, vampires, and other supernaturals, gaining a sense of their nature, hunger, and hostility.
Cost: Free.
Dice Pools: Resolve + Animalism vs Composure + Subterfuge.
System: A win allows the user to sense the level of hostility in a target(whether the person is prepared to do harm or even determined to cause it) and determine whether they harbor a supernatural Beast, marking them as a vampire or another type of supernatural creature. On a win, a critical gives the user information on the exact type of creature(for example, a werewolf), as well as their Hunger(or equivalent) level, and their Resonance.. This power can be used both actively and passively, warning the user of aggressive intent in their immediate vicinity.
Duration: Passive
Level 2
Feral Whispers
The vampire can commune with the beasts of the wild and the city. Feral Whispers allows two-way communication with animals. A cat might not be interested in debating Matisse’s use of color but happily discusses the lack of prey around the brownstone building across the street. Depending on the vampire’s skill, they can even persuade animals to perform services; like humans, animals seldom agree to things that go against their nature or endanger them.
Vampires can also use Feral Whispers to summon a chosen type of animal(see Animalism limita- tions above) but the animals must be present to answer. Nothing pre- vents a vampire trying to summon an orca in Central Park, but success seems unlikely. Summoned animals listen to the summoner, but scatter or attack if endangered.
Cost: One Rouse Check per type of animal chosen for the scene. Allows one summoning and unlimited communication. Free when used on famulus.
System: Simple communication requires no dice pool test. Persuading an animal to perform a service requires a Manipulation + Animalism roll; the Difficulty depends on the task required. Having a bird keep an eye out for anyone entering the park at night is Difficulty 3, while ordering any animal to defend a place with their lives is Difficulty 6. Summoning animals uses a Charisma + Animalism roll; Difficulty depends on the scarcity of the animals summoned. The number of animals summoned depend on the margin on the test; a critical win summons most, if not all, animals of the type in the area.
Bond Famulus
Sense the Beast
Feral Whispers