< Obtenebration | Disciplines | Quietus >
Around a master of Phantasm, nothing is what it seems to be. The fantastic arts of this Discipline allow its users to alter perceptions: transforming rags into riches, filth into luxury or just removing that ever-so-important warning from the sign up ahead. One would be well advised to sign nothing while a Ravnos is anywhere in the area, and trust not even the very closest of friends. Phantasm fosters paranoia and existential despair. When one cannot trust one's own eyes, what can even be said to be real? ⚠ </br>
The illusions created by Phantasm have no physical substance and cannot affect material reality directly, but they do have an existence of their own. They are not merely mental effects; cameras record them perfectly well. Only supernatural perceptions can see through the illusions. The tie between an illusion and the object it's been cast on is not infinitely flexible. If the object is damaged, generally the illusion will "stick to" the largest remaining fragment of the object, even if that makes the illusion patently obvious. If the base object is destroyed, the illusion vanishes instantly.
As with Obfuscate, Phantasm is opposed by and can be defeated with Auspex. If anyone with an Auspex rating higher than your Phantasm score looks at one of your illusions, they see right through it, viewing the illusion only as a ghostly overlay on crisp reality. If your Phantasm is higher than their Auspex, the illusion works normally. Only if your Phantasm is tied with their Auspex is there a Contest of Wills.
This power allows you to craft an illusion that alters the surface appearance of an object, but not its shape or dimensions. A blue car could be made to appear red, but it could not go from a sedan to a station wagon. The text of a contract might change, but it would not become a book, or even a pamphlet. These basic illusions are static and unchanging; a television could not be made to display a different show, though its screen could be blanked or covered up with a single, unmoving image. Illusions can also be aimed at smell or taste, specifically altering the flavor or scent of an object. An illusion cannot be cast without a physical object to tie it to, so tastes and smells cannot be created from nothing. Sounds cannot be created directly with this power.⚠ </br>
System: Roll Wits + Subterfuge (diff 6). The illusion's duration is determined by successes. This power must be used on an object in your line of sight, and it can only affect inanimate objects up to the size of a large automobile, like a trailer. In order to activate this power before another use of it ends, you must spend 1 Willpower. You can always choose to end any particular illusion early; doing so has any cost, effort or roll.
Your illusions can now make an item appear as another object of similar size and shape. A cardboard cut-out of a gun could become a chromed Desert Eagle; a wallet could become a flawless law enforcement ID badge; a puddle of water could become a puddle of blood. As with Surface Blur, these illusions cannot move on their own or cause physical effects beyond the abilities of the original item. If a flashlight is transformed into a torch, it could still provide light, but it would not be able to set fires and it would not leave soot behind. Unlike the most basic illusions, these more complex creations do have a limited tactile dimension. A cardboard cut-out gun would have the heft and feel of a Desert Eagle, but only to the most casual contact. It would still be possible to pass a finger through the non-existent trigger guard with anything but light pressure. Illusionary transformations alter not only the visual appearance of an object, but also its associated sounds, tastes and smells. Minor variations in surface texture, such as the illusory gun mentioned above, are also created, but illusory sandpaper would not function as an abrasive.⚠ </br>
System: Spend 1 Blood Point and roll Wits + Subterfuge (diff 6). The illusion's duration is determined by successes. This power must be used on an object in your line of sight, and it can only affect inanimate objects up to the size of a large automobile, like a trailer. In order to activate this power before another use of it ends, you must spend 1 Willpower. You can always choose to end any particular illusion early; doing so has any cost, effort or roll.
Illusions complex enough to mimic living things or simply moving parts are now within your purview. Using this skill, a box of Chinese take-out rice appears as writhing maggots; a staff thrown to the ground becomes a hissing serpent; a hat rack in a dark corner suddenly looms as a shadowed human figure. But even these dynamic illusions cannot take on a form vastly different from the base they are created upon. A car could not be cast as a dog (unless it was a giant dog), nor could a candle become a squid. The things created with this power can make noises and scents, but they will not respond to the environment. Their actions must be dictated at the moment of their creation. While the illusions created with Uncanny Valley can move and perform limited actions, they are no more mobile than the object they are tied to is. The snake that is really a staff can hiss, writhe, blink and strike menacingly, but it cannot slither across a floor under its own power any more than the staff itself could.⚠ </br>
System: Spend 1 Blood Point and roll Wits + Performance (diff 7). The illusion's duration is determined by successes. This power must be used on an inanimate object in your line of sight, but it can only affect objects up to the size of a large van. In order to activate this power before another use of it ends, you must spend 1 Willpower. You can always choose to end any particular illusion early; doing so has any cost, effort or roll.
At this level of mastery, illusions can be crafted around living beings. A stranger can be made into the perfect decoy; a sick old stray can become a ravening wolf; a bound prisoner could be disguised as a bundle of blankets. These illusions have no physical substance or ability to truly alter reality, but they do follow the creature they're based on and mimic its actions as much as possible. While this power can be used on others, it cannot affect self-perception. Even if everyone else in a room believes that your rugged lumberjack of a victim is a willowy, gorgeous woman, they will see themselves as they truly are.⚠ </br>
System: Spend 1 Blood Point and roll Wits + Subterfuge. The difficulty of the activation roll depends on the degree of change from the illusion's base. It would be very simple to turn a dog into a wolf (difficulty 4); turning yourself or another humanoid into an entirely different person (real or otherwise) would be difficulty 6. A harder problem (difficulty 8) would be making a bat appear as a snake, due to the massive differences in physical structure and behavior. In order to activate this power while maintaining another Glamour, you must spend a Willpower point.⚠ </br>
Illusions cannot cause a more than 300% increase or decrease in apparent size. Extreme size variations can be cause for the illusion to become obvious, as they have only the faintest tangible substance. If someone walks right through the tail of a crocodile, they will quickly realize the crocodile is false, even if they cannot see the gila monster under the illusion. ⚠ </br>
To cast an illusion against an unwilling or unwitting target requires a contested Willpower roll (difficulty 6). If the target wins, the power simply fails. These illusions last for one scene. Due to the complexity of the moving illusions, there are occasional flaws that can allow keen-eyed observers to deduce their false nature, even without physical contact. Anyone attempting to notice the flaws rolls their Perception + Alertness (difficulty 7) against your successes.
You extend your illusion across an entire building or a bounded space, taking almost complete control of the area. A subtle energy permeates the entire space, shifting the items and beings within until their appearance matches whatever you desire. Inside your Dreamworld, a rat-infested studio apartment can become a luxurious penthouse, or a folding table in the middle of a forest clearing can become a high-tech operating room. Such false environments can even shift dynamically, allowing a skilled user to trap enemies in a single room that appears to be an entire castle. Even illusions this complex still cannot affect physical reality, however, and care must be taken to avoid making their limits clear.⚠ </br>
System: Spent 2 points of Willpower and roll Stamina + Subterfuge (difficulty 6). The size and duration of the Dreamworld created is determined by successes, as listed below. Successes must be split between size and duration, though the first success applies to both categories. While within the boundaries of the effect, the costs for all lower levels of Phantasm are suspended, including the surcharges for multiple illusions existing at once. In order to enjoy this benefit, though, the freely activated effects must target only objects or beings within the bounds of the Dreamworld. Uses of Phantasm within the Dreamworld also have their duration automatically set to match that of the Dreamworld itself, eliminating the need for an activation roll on levels 1, 2 and 3.
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