° Sue Young's page

Bon Vivant: The Bon Vivant knows that life — and unlife — is shallow and meaningless. As such, the Bon Vivant decides to enjoy her time on Earth. The Bon Vivant is not necessarily irresponsible. Rather, she is simply predisposed to having a good time along the way. Most Bon Vivants have low Self-Control ratings, as they are so given to excess. Hedonists, sybarites, and dilettantes are all examples of the Bon Vivant Archetype. A Kindred Bon Vivant may sire a brood of fawning childer, or he may spend his time gorging on the blood of drug abusers for the contact high.
— Regain a point of Willpower whenever you truly enjoy yourself and can fully express your exultation. At the Storyteller’s option, a particularly fabulous revel may yield multiple Willpower points.

Soldier: The Soldier is not a blindly loyal follower. While she exists for orders, she does not adhere to them unquestioningly. More independent than a Conformist but too tied into the idea of command to be a Loner, the Soldier applies her own techniques to others’ goals. While she may seek command herself someday,
her ambitions lie within the established hierarchy and structure. The Soldier has no compunctions about using whatever means necessary to do what needs to be done, so long as the orders to do so came from the right place.

System: Each point of Celerity adds one die to every Dexterity-related dice roll. In addition, the player can spend one blood point to take an extra action up to the number of dots he has in Celerity at the beginning of the relevant turn; this expenditure can go beyond her
normal Generation maximum. Any dots used for extra actions, however, are no longer available for Dexterity-related rolls during that turn. These additional actions must be physical (e.g., the vampire cannot use a
mental Discipline like Dominate multiple times in one turn), and extra actions occur at the end of the turn (the vampire’s regular action still takes place per her initiative roll).
Normally, a character without Celerity must divide their dice if she wants to take multiple actions in a single turn, as per p. 248. A character using Celerity performs his extra actions (including full movement) without penalty, gaining a full dice pool for each separate action. Extra actions gained through Celerity may not in turn be split into multiple actions, however.

Auspex gives the vampire uncanny sensory abilities.
She starts with the capacity to heighten her natural senses significantly, but as she grows in power, she can perceive psychic auras and read the thoughts of another being. Auspex can also pierce through mental illusions such as those created by Obfuscate — see the sidebar
“Seeing the Unseen” on p. 142 for more. However, a vampire with Auspex needs to be careful.
Her increased sensory sensitivity can cause her to be drawn in by beautiful things or stunned by loud noises or pungent smells. Sudden or dynamic events can disorient an Auspex-using character unless her player
makes a Willpower roll to block them out (difficulty of at least 4, although the more potent the source of distraction, the higher the difficulty). Failure overwhelms the character’s senses, making her oblivious to her surroundings for a turn or two. While the Malkavians and Toreador are more prone to these kinds of distractions, the Tremere and Tzimisce aren’t immune. Dots in Perception are very useful for using Auspex powers, as more successes help the character gain more sensory information.

• Heightened Senses
This power increases the acuity of all of the vampire’s senses, effectively doubling the clarity and range of sight, hearing, and smell. While her senses of taste and touch extend no farther than normal, they likewise become far more distinct; the vampire could taste the hint of liquor in a victim’s blood or feel the give of the board concealing a hollow space in the floor. The Kindred may magnify her senses at will, sustaining this heightened focus for as long as she desires. At the Storyteller’s option, this may make hunting easier. Occasionally, this talent provides extrasensory or even precognitive insights. These brief, unfocused glimpses may be odd premonitions, flashes of empathy, or eerie feelings of foreboding. The vampire has no control over these perceptions, but with practice can learn to interpret them with a fair degree of accuracy. Expanded senses come at a price, however. Bright
lights, loud noises and strong smells present a hazard while the vampire uses this power. In addition to the possibility for distraction, an especially sudden or potent stimulus (like the glare of a spotlight or a clap of thunder) can blind or deafen the Kindred for an hour
or more.
System: It takes a reflexive action to activate this ability, but no roll or other cost is required. In certain circumstances, dice rolls associated with using the character’s sense (such as Perception + Alertness) decrease in difficulty by a number equal to the character’s
Auspex rating when the power is engaged. The Storyteller may also use this power to see if the character perceives a threat. In this case, the Storyteller privately rolls the character’s unmodified Auspex
rating, applying whatever difficulty he feels best suits the circumstances. For example, sensing that a pistol is pointed at the back of the character’s head may require a roll of difficulty 5, while the sudden realization that a rival for Primogen is planning her assassination may require a 9. Note that even this “precognition” comes
only as a result of interpreting details the Kindred is able to notice. It’s not an all-purpose insight or miraculous revelation.
At the character’s discretion, she may selectively heighten one specific sense, rather than leaving them all on. In these cases, the difficulty to perceive stimuli using that sense drops by one, but the difficulty to
avoid distraction or temporary bedazzlement increases by one.
This power does not let characters see in pitch darkness, as does Eyes of the Beast (p. 199), but it does reduce difficulty penalties to act in such darkness from +2 to +1, and the character may make ranged attacks
in pitch darkness if she can hear, smell, or otherwise detect her foe.

~

Seeing the Unseen
Auspex enables Kindred to perceive many things beyond the limits of lesser senses. Among its many uses, Auspex can detect the presence of a supernatural being who is hidden from normal sight (a vampire using Obfuscate, for example, or a ghost) or pierce illusions created by the Discipline of Chimerstry.
Note: “Normal sight” includes regular, non-Auspex use of the Awareness skill.
• Obfuscate: When a vampire tries to use her heightened perceptions to notice a Kindred hidden with Obfuscate, she detects the subject’s
presence if her Auspex rating is higher than his Obfuscate, and she succeeds at a Perception + Awareness roll (difficulty equals 7 minus the number of dots by which her Auspex exceeds his Obfuscate). Conversely,
if the target’s Obfuscate outranks her Auspex, he remains undiscovered. If the two ratings are equal, both characters make a resisted roll of Perception + Awareness (Auspex user) against Manipulation + Subterfuge (Obfuscate user). The difficulty for both rolls is 7, and the character with the most successes wins.
• Chimerstry: Likewise, vampires with Auspex may seek to penetrate illusions created with Chimerstry. The Auspex-wielder must actively seek to pierce the illusion (i.e., the player must tell the Storyteller that his character is trying to detect an illusion). The Auspex-user and Chimerstry-wielder then compare relative ratings, per Obfuscate, above. The process is otherwise identical to piercing Obfuscate.
• Other Powers: Since the powers of beings like magi and wraiths function differently from vampiric Disciplines, a simple comparison of relative ratings isn’t applicable. To keep things simple, both characters make a resisted roll. The vampire rolls Perception + Awareness, while the subject rolls Manipulation + Subterfuge. Again, the difficulty is 7, and the character with the most successes wins.

Serpentis is believed to be the legacy of Set himself, a gift to his children. The Followers of Set are very careful to guard this Discipline’s secrets, only teaching the art to those who they deem worthy. Most vampires fear the Setites because of the powers of Serpentis and its connection to snakes and reptiles; this Discipline can evoke a primordial fear in others, particularly those who recall the tale of Eden.

• The Eyes of the Serpent
This power grants the vampire the legendary hypnotic gaze of the serpent. The Kindred’s eyes become gold with large black irises, and mortals in the character’s vicinity find themselves strangely attracted to him. A mortal who meets the vampire’s beguiling gaze is immobilized. Until the character takes his eyes off his victim, the person is frozen in place.
System: No roll is required, but this power can be avoided if the mortal takes care not to look into the vampire’s eyes. Vampires and other supernatural creatures can also be affected by this power if the Cainite’s player succeeds on a Willpower roll (difficulty 9). If attacked or otherwise harmed, supernatural creatures can spend a point of Willpower to break the spell.
Note: This is different than normal eye contact detailed on p. 152. The target must be able to see the vampire’s eyes for Eyes of the Serpent to work.

During your Embrace, something went horribly wrong, causing your blood to mutate under the stress of dying and rising again. All those you try to Embrace die. No matter what you do, you may not create any childer. However, your blood can still be used in blood rituals like Thaumaturgy and the Vaulderie, or for any other vampiric needs like making ghouls.

You’ve just arrived in your new city of residence, and don’t know anyone in the place. Existing factions may try to recruit or eliminate you, while vampires in positions of authority size you up and take your measure. Meanwhile, your ignorance of the city’s current events, history, and politics (not to mention the personality quirks of the vampires already in place) may cause you to make a serious blunder.

The whole matter has been explained to you, but you’re still not quite sure how things in your Sect work. Your imperfect understanding of the rules and regulations of your new existence means that sooner or later, you’re going to make a mistake. It’s only a matter of time ….

You were born lucky — or else the Devil looks after his own. Either way, you may repeat any three failed rolls per story, including botches, but you may try only once per failed roll.

When you are determined and your mind is set, nothing can thwart you from your goals. Characters using Dementation, Dominate, or any other mind-altering magic, spell, or Thaumaturgy path against your character are at +3 difficulty. Elder levels of powers like Dementation and Dominate may overwhelm even this resistance. Against Level Six powers, the expenditure of a Willpower point through Iron Will only raises the difficulty of the Discipline roll by two. Against Level Seven powers, the difficulty is increased by only one. Level Eight and higher powers cannot be resisted with Iron Will. This Merit does not affect Presence or other powers dealing with the emotions. Characters with Willpower scores below 8 cannot take this Merit.

You are naturally calm and do not easily fly off the handle. You receive two extra dice when attempting to resist a frenzy. Brujah may not take this Merit.

Your afterlife is protected in some way: you don’t face the same dangers as others. Maybe it’s pure luck. Whatever the reason, you can ignore a single 1. In every test you perform. This greatly reduces the chance that you will suffer a critical failure, and gives you more successes than others can achieve.

You come from hardy, thick-skinned stock, or perhaps the gods have favored you. You shrug off damage easier than most. All soak rolls are made at -1 diff.

— 10 for Merits
— 5 for Willpower

More than hundred years ago in Egypt, Dr. Nefer Abdel-Rahman was an ambitious young archaeologist from Cairo. His passion for uncovering the secrets of the ancient world had led him to many exciting discoveries, but nothing could have prepared him for the night he was embraced by a mysterious vampire. It happened on a dig site in the Sahara desert. Nefer had been working tirelessly for weeks to uncover the remains of an ancient Egyptian tomb. As he descended into the darkness, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his neck, and everything went black. The vampire who had embraced him was nowhere to be seen, but he could feel his presence all around him. He had been left with a powerful gift, the ability to manipulate the minds of others with ease, but also with a terrible curse, the knowledge that he was no longer human. Nefer struggled to come to terms with his new existence as a vampire, and it wasn't long before he discovered that he had been embraced without the permission of the local Camarilla authorities. As a caitiff, he had no respect within the established vampire society of Egypt, and he was forced to flee into the night to avoid being hunted down and destroyed.
For many years, Nefer wandered the world as a lonely outcast, searching for a place where he could belong. It wasn't until he met a British vampire of the Followers of Set clan that he finally found the acceptance he had been seeking. The British vampire, Lady Alexandra, was intrigued by Nefer's unique powers and his knowledge of ancient Egyptian lore. She took the caitiff under her wing and taught him the ways of the Followers of Set. With Lady Alexandra's guidance, Nefer learned to embrace his vampire nature and to use his powers to influence those around him.
Although Nefer remained a caitiff, he found a new sense of purpose and belonging within the Followers of Set clan. He dedicated himself to uncovering the secrets of the ancient world. As time went on, he began to embrace the darkness within him and become more and more corrupted by the true evil of the Setite worship of Set.
Under the tutelage of the Setite vampire Alexandra, Nefer began to explore the depths of his own darkness and the twisted allure of Set's teachings. He was drawn deeper into the path of Typhon, the Setite path of destruction and corruption, and he found himself reveling in the destruction of everything he had once held dear. As his power grew, Nefer became more and more fanatical in his devotion to Set, and he longed to spread the word of his master to all who would listen. And so, when Alexandra proposed that they travel to the Americas to found a cult devoted to the worship of Set, he eagerly agreed.
Together, they journeyed across the ocean to the New World, where they found a land ripe for corruption and deception. Nefer used his considerable powers of manipulation to seduce mortals into the worship of Set, promising them occult revelations and secret knowledge in exchange for their devotion.
As the cult grew in strength and influence in a rural area near the city of Phoenix, Alexandra left him and Nefer reveled in the power and adoration that came with being a leader in the worship of Set. He became more and more ruthless in his dealings with those who opposed him, and he was quick to resort to violence and bloodshed to further the cause of his dark master.
In the end, Nefer became a feared and revered figure among the cultists that he gathered around him, a powerful and charismatic leader who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals. And even as the darkness within him consumed him, he knew that he was exactly where he was meant to be, serving the will of Set and spreading his dark gospel to all who would hear it.

Sue’s parents, Li and Zhou Young, were born and raised in a small, conservative village in China. They had always felt stifled by the strict expectations and traditions of Chinese culture. She a librarian and he a historian, both longed for a better future for their four little girls. They were convinced by a charismatic stranger they met at a night market to join a new spiritual movement that promised to fulfill their desires and provide them with an enlightened way of life. After meeting some people of this secret society that held ancient knowledge and promised great power, they became intrigued. Sue’s parents were initially drawn to the positive message of the cult, which focused on personal empowerment, growth, and freedom from societal constraints and were convinced to move with the group to the Americas. However, as they arrived in a rural area near the city of Phoenix and became more involved, they began to realize the darker side of the cult's beliefs and practices. They were told that the cult was dedicated to the worship of an ancient serpent god, Set. The couple was horrified and feared for their children’s safety, but by then, they were already deeply committed to the cult and were afraid to leave as they knew nobody else in the US.
The cult in the states had a charismatic leader, Dr. Nefer Abdel-Rahman, who promised them even greater knowledge and power if they followed his teachings. The parents were ultimately convinced that they had found the path to enlightenment and eagerly immersed themselves in the cult's rituals and teachings. As they became more involved, they started to neglect their four daughters. The cult became their priority, and they even allowed the cult's leadership to involve their children as part of the ritual blood sacrifices. They believed that they were offering their children as vessels for the power of Set.
As the cult's power grew, it became more dangerous, and Li and Zhou Young found themselves caught up in a web of deceit and manipulation. They were forced to endure brutal rituals and were slowly indoctrinated into the cult's twisted beliefs. Despite reservations coming up again and again, they remained because they believed that their commitment would lead to a better life. But ultimately, Sue’s parents became deeply involved in the cult of the Followers of Set, neglecting their responsibilities as parents. They believed that their involvement in the cult would bring them great power and knowledge, and so they spent all their time and resources on their cult activities, leaving their children to fend for themselves.
As a result, the children grew distant from their parents and became vulnerable to the indoctrination techniques used by the cult leaders. Dr. Nefer Abdel-Rahman and the other leaders of the cult used the children's emotional vulnerability and need for attention to further indoctrinate them into the Setite teachings. The cult leaders manipulated the children into believing that the cult was their true family and that the Setite teachings were the only path to true power and enlightenment.
Over time, the children became completely immersed in the cult and lost touch with their traditional Chinese culture and family values. They saw their parents only as fellow cult members and not as their caregivers or protectors. However, one day, during a particularly gruesome ritual, the Setite leader Dr. Nefer Abdel-Rahman demanded human sacrifices to appease their god. The cult leader chose Li and Zhou Young as the offering, and Sue’s parents were brutally killed in a dark ceremony. When their parents were lost in a dark ritual, the children were left alone, with nowhere to turn but to the only family they had ever known - the cult and the sisters themselves. Despite the twisted environment that Sue and her sisters were raised in, they were able to remain close and rely on each other for comfort and support.

The four daughters’ lives were forever changed. The cult's teachings of indulgence and ecstasy were a central part of the sisters’ indoctrination. Dr. Nefer Abdel-Rahman almost saw them as an experiment to form them into effective tools. First, four children were raised with the belief that pleasure and hedonism were the highest virtues. As a result, the children grew up with very little self-control and they were encouraged to give in to their every whim and desire, and were often rewarded for doing so. But more and more they also were taught to use their willpower to show discipline when they had to prevent their inner nature from taking over to fulfill the tasks that the cult was giving them!
Each child was trained to fulfill a different role and to overlay their true hedonistic nature with a given demeanor. Sue’s older sister, Mei-Hua, was trained in the art of torture and interrogation, becoming a valuable tool for the Setites in their dealings with outsiders. Sue’s second sister, Wei-Ling, was guided down the path of seduction and manipulation, learning to use her looks and charm to get what the cult wanted from others. Sue’s third sister, Xiao-Lan, was taught the ways of the occult and became adept at performing some strange form of blood magic that Dr. Nefer Abdel-Rahman taught her.
As the youngest of the four sisters, Sue had always been the most impulsive and hot-headed, and although she was physically the weakest, Sue was raised as a warrior, trained in the use of firearms and hand-to-hand combat because the cult leadership wanted her to be able to surprise any target with her youth and frail features.
In all this time only Sue’s third sister, Xiao-Lan, knew more of the vampiric nature of the Followers of Set but Sue, the remaining sisters and almost all of the cult’s members had no idea of that their exotic masters were Vampires, but all of them they knew that they were supposed to be indebted to their masters and had to serve them unquestioningly.

As Sue grew older, the Setite cult nurtured her natural talent for combat and her ability to overcome her low self-control with pure willpower and iron will. They trained Sue, using both positive and negative reinforcement to mold her into a disciplined and efficient enforcer. The training was brutal, both physically and mentally, and her carefree spirit was slowly broken down. The kindred used torture and other extreme measures to instill obedience and loyalty. Sue learned to suppress her own desires and instead focused solely on completing her missions for the Setite kindred. Her low self-control was still part of her and the hedonistic acts of passion still part of her life but she became a valuable asset to the cult in her new role as she was able to suppress her own desires and focus solely on her mission. After some time Sue was a fully trained enforcer and bounty hunter. However, the trauma she experienced during her training sometimes left her with a deep-seated need to rebel, which would manifest itself in unpredictable and dangerous ways.
Even though Sue is a very soft and physically weak woman now, her high dexterity and stamina give her an advantage in combat situations. She can use her agility and quickness to dodge attacks and move around her opponents, making it difficult for them to land a hit. Additionally, her high stamina allows her to fight for longer periods of time without getting tired, giving her the endurance needed to outlast her opponents. Her high perception can also aid her in identifying weaknesses in her opponents or finding tactical advantages.

It wasn't until the night that the cult was attacked in the middle of the night that her life completely changed. Sue fought alongside the leaders of the cult and was utterly shocked when she saw the supernatural ferocity and nature of the attackers, who identified themselves as a pack of the Sabbat. The attackers killed many of the Setite kindred of the cult and it was only through Dr. Nefer Abdel-Rahman’s actions that the Sabbat shock troop was destroyed. The loss of Nefer’s progeny drove him to a frenzy, and in his bloodlust, he attacked Sue. For some strange reason Dr. Nefer Abdel-Rahman had always been drawn to Sue’s fiery spirit and recklessness, and had taken a special interest in her from a young age. At first, Sue thought he was going to kill her too, but instead, Nefer stopped himself and chose to embrace Sue instead. Looking back, Sue realizes that the embrace was a way for him to channel his grief and rage into something new and powerful. When Nefer embraced Sue in an act of passion, the rush of emotions and sensations overwhelmed him. Nefer was devastated by the destruction of what he had built over decades and controlled himself only long enough to leave before he hurt those children that he had molded most.
Only Sue’s third sister, Xiao-Lan, understood what had happened because Dr. Nefer Abdel-Rahman had secretly trusted her with the true knowledge about the Followers of Set and had made her into his blood bound ghoul. Xiao-Lan did not know what to do when Sue immediately succumbed to frenzy and in her bloodlust attacked their older sister, Mei-Hua, and drank all her blood and eventually killed her.
The horror and guilt of what Sue had done hit her like a ton of bricks as soon as the frenzy subsided. She was inconsolable, and her surviving sisters were equally devastated. But Xiao-Lan understood that they could save their sister Mei-Hua and asked Sue to give their dead sister her blood! But Xiao-Lan did not know that during Sue’s Embrace, something went horribly wrong, causing her blood to mutate under the stress of dying and rising again. Mei-Hua could not be turned into a vampire and Sue was not able to create a child.

Despite her shock and horror, the last sister Wei-Ling did not flee from Sue. Instead, Xiao-Lan could convince Wei-Ling to stay at Sue’s side, offering what little comfort and support they could. Xiao-Lan explained to Sue and Wei-Ling everything she knew about the vampiric aspects of the cult and made her sisters understand that Sue was not in control of her actions during the frenzy, and that she was just as much a victim of her vampiric nature as their dead sister.
Together, the sisters made the decision to flee the cult and the Setites' grasp. It was a difficult and dangerous journey, with constant obstacles and threats, but the sisters relied on each other for strength and courage to get to Phoenix. Xiao-Lan never once blamed Sue for what happened to their older sister but for Wei-Ling it was hard to forgive Sue. But they both knew that Sue had not meant to harm her sister, and that Sue was just as devastated as they were.
In the end, it was their bond as sisters that allowed them to escape the cult and start a new life. The sisters still carry the weight of their past with them, and the memory of their lost sister is never far from their minds.