Tenure
From SuspireWiki
The power of Tenure is the Annunaku's best defense against intruders and interlopers on her lands. While initially, people might view the powers of Tenure as a skill from a bygone era, the truth of the matter is that the powers of Tenure have stood the test of time and are as strong as ever. Dangerous are elder Annunaku, who can use the very strength and essence of their territories to empower themselves - or worse. There are hundreds of tales spun around these Landlords and their territories, and while some are fantastically impossible, others are scarily realistic.
- To be noted: for powers that say they require a territory, that means you must have Domain Merit at Level 3 for it to count. If there are powers that say "primary" that means that secondaries cannot be used, and you should denote on your sheet or with a Storyteller which is going to be your primary territory.
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Level 1 – The Master's Property
At the most rudimentary level of the power of Tenure, the Landlord has developed such a keen sense of his "property" that he can focus in on it's whereabouts at any given time and gain a vague sense of it's location, who may have it (or who it is with) and what it is being used for.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Roll: Wits + Investigation + Tenure (the Gangrel weakness does not apply)
Action: Instant
Roll Results:
Dramatic Failure: Not only does the Landlord gain false information from his check, but he also is lead to believe that his property is being harmed or otherwise in jeopardy.
Failure: The Landlord cannot sense anything about the object in question.
Success: The Landlord succeeds and gains an intuitive sense as to where the object is located, who may have it (or who it is with) and what, if anything, it is currently being used for.
Exceptional Success: An exceptional success on this power grants no additional benefits, unless the object is within the boundaries of the Landlord's primary haven. If this is the case, the Landlord is able to gain an intuitive sense of all things within said Haven – including intruders (subject to a Clash of Wills, if necessary, with Tenure substituting for Auspex).
- Suggested Modifiers
- +2 Specifically defined. Examples include: "my Mercedes S-class", "my car keys", "my retainer, Jacob".
- -2 The object is in motion.
- -2 The Landlord is not within his own territory when the power is cast.
- -3 Vaguely defined. Examples include: "my jewelry", "my computer disks", "my ghoul".
To be noted, this does not allow for a continued intuitive feeling, thus it is entirely possible that a location that was originally found does not lead to the object in question if it has been moved. Furthermore, if you give someone something it is no longer your "property" – but if you let someone borrow something, it still is considered yours.
Level 2 – The Hills Have Eyes
Having learned and expanded upon the first, basic power of the Landlords' this power allows a certain amount of understanding and awareness within the carefully defined main territory of the Landlord. The Landlord must touch a spot within an area he wishes to see the recent history of and enter a trance like state to glean information.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Roll: Wits + Occult + Tenure (the Gangrel Weakness does not apply)
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: Not only does the Landlord fail to grasp the understanding and awareness of the area in question, but he also suffers a backlash from his attempt. All Intelligence or Wits rolls for the remainder of the evening are at -2 due to muddled confusion stemming from the spectacular failure.
Failure: The Landlord is unable to connect with his land to glean information.
Success: A success yields the following information about the area in question: who was there the most recently, and what occurred.
Exceptional Success: An exceptional success gives all information that happened within a span of days equal to successes gained in the area, including who was there, who talked and what, if anything, occurred, in exact chronological order.
- Suggested Modifiers
- +2 The power is used at the character's Primary Haven.
- +1 The power is used at a character's Haven within one of the Landlord's territories.
- - Run of the mill checks.
- -2 A place the Landlord has never been before.
- -5 The Landlord has no idea what or who he is looking for.
While garnering information, the Landlord is in a trance-like state and any interruptions to such a state will render the whole attempt null, even if successes were gained on the roll.
To be clarified, this power can only be used within the main territory of the Landlord. It may not be used outside of it.
Level 3 – Guiding Hand
A fearsomely unknown power in it's own right, the intermediate level of Tenure allows a Landlord to channel his understanding of his own territories and people into a truly tangible force that assists him in similar tasks.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Roll: Intelligence + Persuasion + Tenure
Action: Instant
Roll Results:
Dramatic Failure: Not only does the Landlord fail to pull upon his knowledge and understanding of his territories, but he also suffers a backlash from his attempt. All Intelligence or Wits rolls for the remainder of the evening are at -2 due to muddled confusion stemming from the spectacular failure.
Failure: The Landlord is unable to gain any benefit from the understanding he has with his territory and peoples.
Success: The power works and the Landlord is able to enjoy the benefit of 9-again on a number of rolls equal to successes that involve the following skills: Investigation, Persuasion, Survival or Streetwise. These rolls can be done whenever the Landlord wishes in one scene, and do not have to be done one after the other. After the scene, however, the power's benefit fades. This benefit cannot be used on Discipline rolls.
Exceptional Success: The power works exceptionally well, and the Landlord is able to enjoy the benefits of an 8-again, rather than the standard 9-again mentioned above.
The bonuses granted by this power are only available for the scene they are activated in, and this power cannot be activated more than once per scene.
Level 4 – Insult Me In My Own Home? Idiot.
This dangerous power from the advanced levels of the Landlord's power Tenure allows a Landlord to use the benefits and comforts of being in his own land and territory as a visibly palpable force against people who earn the Landlord's ire.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Roll: Presence + Intimidation + Tenure – Highest Resolve
Action: Instant
Roll Results:
Dramatic Failure: Not only does he fail at his attempt, but he fails spectacularly, all rolls he makes within the scene are at a -3 due to his own land revolting at the attempt to force it's energy into the Landlord. The Storyteller is encouraged to be creative in their description of such penalties as they come up.
Failure: Nothing happens. Not a damn thing.
Success: The Landlord is able to do one of the following: add the number of successes gained to his initiative score, add the number of successes gained as a dice bonus to the very next combative maneuver he takes or the character is able to add the number of successes gained to his base speed score for one round.
Exceptional Success: The Landlord is able to split up his successes however he chooses among the three choices above.
The bonuses granted by this power are only available for the scene they are activated in, and this power cannot be activated more than once per scene.
Level 5 – Strength of the Home Ground
By forcing individuals within his territory to accept his rules, the Landlord is able to make it appear that there is no escape for individuals within his domain that he does not wish to escape. Such trickery is supernatural – roads do not bend and shift, the individuals in question just tend to take rights instead of lefts when they should, and wind up going in circles should they attempt to flee the territory. However, the most fearsome part of this power lies in the fact that while the victims may be confused, the Landlord who is exceptionally connected to his territories can know at all times during the power's usage where his quarry is.
Cost: 1 Vitae
Roll: Presence + Streetwise + Tenure – Highest Resolve
Action: Instant
Roll Results:
Dramatic Failure: The Landlord fails spectacularly, and in the process, the supernatural elements of confusion and deceit come back to haunt him. For the rest of the evening, he is afflicted with a -3 penalty to any rolls involving other supernatural creatures.
Failure: Nothing happens. The character may not try again for the rest of the evening.
Success: The Landlord succeeds and the victim immediately finds himself unable to flee the territory of the Landlord no matter how hard he tries. The power fades at sunrise, but for most vampires, that's a [i]bad[/i] thing...
Exceptional Success: The Landlord puts the mental block against the individual in question as per a regular success, however, the Landlord also gains the insight as to where the victim is at all times during this power's usage down to the inch.
- Suggested Modifiers
- +2 Power is turned on or applies to a vampire with whom the user has a blood tie.
- +2 The character victim is under a full vinculum to the Landlord.
- +1 The character victim is under a partial vinculum to the Landlord.
- +1 The character victim considers the Landlord an associate or ally.
- -1 The character victim does not like the Landlord.
- -2 The character victim considers the Landlord an enemy.
- -4 The Landlord is not within his territory when the power is cast.
To be noted: this power only works within a vampire's primary territory and fades at sunrise. This power does not stop a character from performing any task except fleeing the Landlord's territory in question – for instance, they can still phone for help. However, if other characters not affected by the power attempt to take the character in question over the Landlord's boundaries against his will, they will force the victim character into a fear frenzy instantly which can wind up being a messy and dangerous circumstance if the perfectly fine (if not shaken a bit) vampire in the backseat of your Mercedes starts to try and claw through anything and everything to get back to where it was previously entrapped...