Sheriff's weird powers

[ProgRockGhoul]

could be a *Spoiler*



I've been wondering what power the Sheriff uses in bat (Chiropteran) form to stun and slow you down on the roof. It starts with a sort of hideous screech, then the screen gets all blurry and your movement rate is slowed considerably. Is this caused by his using Celerity? (since your speed appears to slow, while it just might be his speed increasing)

Also, is the Sheriff (in anthropoid bipedal form) using the same sort of Obtenebration power that those Sabbat guys (Lasombra, I guess) use in the Hallowbrook Hotel? It's the one where he vanishes in a puff of purplish-black smoke* once he's hit, then he reappears instantly somewhere else, usually right behind you. What is this power called?

On a related note, does Obfuscate work in Bloodlines like Obtenebration-based invisibility works in the PnP game? It seems that in Bloodlines, Obfuscate literally makes you disappear - cameras can't detect your presence, you pass unseen through crowds - whereas Vampire PnP rulebooks say that Obfuscate doesn't make you disappear like Obtenebration does (by actually merging into shadow or something), rather it's more of a hypnotic power that works by making others *think* you're invisible.



*not unlike the X-Man Nightcrawler's bamf! teleporting power, at least as it's depicted in this game and in the X-Men movies

[Anaximander]

Well, bats use sonar rather than vision to "see" where they're going. I always assumed this attack was some kind of extremely powerful sonic blast. As you said, the Sheriff emits a loud screech just before it hits you.

Also, is the Sheriff (in anthropoid bipedal form) using the same sort of Obtenebration power that those Sabbat guys (Lasombra, I guess) use in the Hallowbrook Hotel? It's the one where he vanishes in a puff of purplish-black smoke* once he's hit, then he reappears instantly somewhere else, usually right behind you. What is this power called?

The Sheriff's real clan is unknown, and we don't know for sure what disciplines he has. It certainly looks like the same power used by the Lasombra in the Hollobrook, but who knows.

On a related note, does Obfuscate work in Bloodlines like Obtenebration-based invisibility works in the PnP game? It seems that in Bloodlines, Obfuscate literally makes you disappear - cameras can't detect your presence, you pass unseen through crowds - whereas Vampire PnP rulebooks say that Obfuscate doesn't make you disappear like Obtenebration does (by actually merging into shadow or something), rather it's more of a hypnotic power that works by making others *think* you're invisible

I could go on about the story of Absilimard and the origins of the Obfuscate power, but for the sake of brevity I won't. You're right. Obfuscate makes others see you as something you're not. Another person, a lamp, a chair, a shadow, heat waves blurring the air, whatever. It hides you in plain sight by making people see something innocuous - or nothing at all. In more recent decades, the Nosferatu have developed an advanced form of Obfuscate that fools cameras and electronic devices (laser grids, motion sensors, pressure sensors, etc) as easily as it does human beings.

Obtenebration, on the other hand, allows a vampire to become one with the shadows, use shadows as portals, even create servants composed of... shadow. A vampire hidden with Obetenbration would be completely invisible to the naked eye. It's not "true" invisibility, in that light doesn't pass right through them or get deflected around them. Rather, they can't be seen because they're hiding literally in a shadow.

[Jhereg]

*** Spoilers ***

Well, bats use sonar rather than vision to "see" where they're going. I always assumed this attack was some kind of extremely powerful sonic blast. As you said, the Sheriff emits a loud screech just before it hits you.

I'm inclined to believe the sonic attack theory, and here's why. I've taken to fighting the Chiropteran Behemoth with handguns. No it's not as crazy as it sounds. Quite effective, actually. What it provides is the ability to very quickly repurpose your targets.

Maybe you're keeping a bead on a wandering gangrel, or just looking around, and all of a sudden the Bat comes in at three-o'clock high. I can have him in my sights instantly and start shooting. He'll start the screech, as one would expect, but if I can hit him a couple of times rapidly, he is forced to veer off his attack vector before he gets into full cry, and the screech attack does nothing. It fails. The Bat still finishes the screech, but it's not pointed at me anymore. If don't get him to veer off soon enough, the attack succeeds - he doesn't even touch me, but I get all the effects.

The wobblyness, blurryness, and slowness are a result of the sonic effects of the screech itself. I have no idea what this is called, or even if it's actually a discipline as such. Maybe it's just a result of the Sheriff's warform, much as a gangrel's claws are not actually a discipline, just a consequence of their warform.

[ProgRockGhoul]

Those are interesting clarifications re: the differences between Obfuscate and Obtenebration. Now I'm going to dig through my books to look up Absilimard and advances in Obfuscate.

I found a list of Obtenebration powers in the 'Guide to the Sabbat' that seems relevant. The Lasombra Sabbat, and the Sheriff, seem to be using Shadowstep:

"The vampire has such fine control over the darkness that he may become it briefly and reform himself from other darkness close by. The vampire may Shadowstep through walls, floors, and even mystical barriers. The Cainite simply steps "into" a shadow and re-emerges from another shadow a short distance away."

Even if the Sheriff is a Nagloper (with Animalism and Vicissitude) as some people suspect, maybe he acquired Shadowstep through diablerizing one of the Sabbat he encountered while carrying out his various sheriff duties.

The Sabbat Guide also describes the Vicissitude-based Chiropteran Marauder power, which looks to be what the Sheriff uses to assume that bat form. His sonic blast screech is still a question mark, at least in terms of exact powers and disciplines. It works a bit like Ming-Xiao's hurled ball of gloop, which really slows you down if it hits.

That's a neat trick to shoot the bat when he starts shrieking, I have to try that. Using guns against him seems to work pretty well, nothing crazy about it. The wackiest I ever got was jumping up to catch him with Pestilence, that was pretty neat.

[Anaximander]

Or he learned it from someone. Kindred can teach their disciplines to other Kindred. This is generally not done, however. While some clans have certain disciplines in common, each clan has it's own unique combination of disciplines, and teaching them to other clans is tabu. If you display the powers of a discipline from another clan, members of your own clan may begin to distrust you. After all, if you've learned the secrets of another clan, who's to say you're not giving away the secrets of your own?

Those are interesting clarifications re: the differences between Obfuscate and Obtenebration. Now I'm going to dig through my books to look up Absilimard and advances in Obfuscate.

Decieve the Machine is the power I was describing that tricks electronic devices. Now, that information is not posted on an official White Wolf site, so it may be something that some clever Storyteller (equivilant of the Dungeon Master in D&D) just made up for one of their own campaigns. It sounds reasonable enough, though.

[DarkMasta]

Well....his clan...i think its ganrel-tzimisce-nosferatu because of the disciples and that he is ugly has tzimisce and nosferatu...but the apperance might be because of the person that he was before...what if he was like a native or something....(or maybe even a gorila lol)...about that thing that he uses while in "bat form"...i dont think that that has anything to do "with vampire disciples"(not exacly)...because bats use sonic waves...its like their vision...they send a sonic wave, them if the wave "hits" something in the way it will return to the bat them he will know that theres something in there...well...the sheriff makes a bigger one...a really BIIIIG one....

[J-Sun]

There are a couple of Tzimisce revenant families, the Danislav and the Basarab (cf. Transylvania by Night) that have Protean. Vlad Tepes, aka. Dracula, is a Basarab in the PnP game. Thats why Dracula can turn into a bat, and not just a Chiroptean Marauder. The Protean/Vis combo could be explained this way.

Dude might be ugly just because he bought a Horrific Appearance flaw, or maybe because of Vis.

I wonder... Could he have picked up a sonic attack from the Daughters of Cacophany? He might even be Caitiff, to display so many varying powers. Also, though from a PnP perspective, Koldunic Sorcery is the purview of the Tzimisce again, and you can do a lot with Koldun. So maybe thats what he is. <shrugs>