Dominate

Dominate

Snake Charming, Mesmerism, Mentis Imperium

Clan affinity:

Lasombra Malkavian Salubri
Tremere Tzimisce Ventrue

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Type:Mental

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Masquerade threat:Low

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Resonance:Phlegmatic

Overview

Dominate gives Kindred the ability to control the actions of others, alter their memories and force others to act not of their own volition. From erasing the memories of a recent feed to enslaving mortals for the vampire to do with them as they please. Dominate gives the feeling of power, although wiser Kindred know this is only a guise from the Blood. At most levels, it requires eye contact with a single victim unless otherwise stated. At the base levels, it can wipe superficial memories or command small immediate actions of their victims and in turn, higher levels allow for more sophisticated uses. The victim needs to understand the Kindred and the Kindred needs to speak their commands. Exceptions exist with Irresistible Voice and Telepathy, the former allows commands without eye contact, and the latter without spoken words. While Dominated, victims are mindless puppets who cannot be interrogated and can only do things they could do on demand. Commands that cause social backlash or cause minor injury are always contested with the victim. The victim cannot be commanded to directly cause serious injury or death to themselves without Terminal Decree. When used against other vampires they must contest this and those with a lower generation may use Willpower to shirk off the attempt. Once Dominate has failed against a target, the user will not be able to use it against them for the rest of the story.

The Lasombra are shameless in their use of Dominate, enjoying crushing wills and commanding obedience callously. Some Malkavians use Dominate to lift victims' minds from distraction or hide a messy feed, but the clan is infamous for Dementation, used to shatter mortal and kindred minds alike. The Salubri use Dominate to soothe others by removing troubling memories or fortify another kindred against their darker nature. Rumor has it the Tremere use Dominate to hide their ruthless pursuits of knowledge. In contrast, Tzimisce uses Dominate to acquire their possession, but also conditions servitors to never question their will. Ventrue consider their mastery of Dominate to be absolute; bending victims, enemies, and followers to will as well as maintaining the Masquerade.

List of available powers

Level 1

Name	Effect	Cost	Prerequisite	Amalgam	Duration	Dice pool	Opposing pool	Additional Notes	Source
Cloud Memory	Make someone forget the current moment.	Free	None	No	Indefinitely	Charisma + Dominate	Wits + Resolve	No rolls are needed when the target is an unprepared mortal.	/ Corebook, page 256
Compel	Issue a single command.	Free	None	No	No more than one scene	Charisma + Dominate	Intelligence + Resolve	No rolls are needed when the target is an unprepared mortal. However, mortals who have been Dominated in this scene already or this goes against their nature may roll to resist.	/ Corebook, page 256

Level 2

Name	Effect	Cost	Prerequisite	Amalgam	Duration	Dice pool	Opposing pool	Additional Notes	Source
Mesmerize	Issue complex commands.	One Rouse Check	None	None	Until command is carried out or the scene ends	Manipulation + Dominate	Intelligence + Resolve	No rolls are needed when the target is an unprepared mortal. However, if this goes against their nature they may roll to resist.	/ Corebook, page 256
Dementation	Drive others insane.	One Rouse Check per target per Scene	None	Obfuscate ●●	One scene	Manipulation + Dominate	Composure + Intelligence	To use this power, the user must have had a conversation with them.	/ Corebook, page 256
Domitor's Favor	Make defiance while under a Blood Bond more difficult.	One Rouse Check	None	None	One month	N/A	N/A	Total fail on defiance rolls means the bond does not weaken that month.	Companion, page 25
Slavish Devotion	Those already underneath Dominate find it easier to resist other kindred's Dominate.	Free	Mithras	Presence ●	Passive	N/A	N/A	Difficulty cannot rise above 7.	/ Cults of the Blood Gods, page 104

Level 3

Name	Effect	Cost	Prerequisite	Amalgam	Duration	Dice pool	Opposing pool	Additional Notes	Source
Forgetful Mind	Rewrite someone's memory.	One Rouse Check	None	No	Indefinitely	Manipulation + Dominate	Intelligence + Resolve	Each point of margin on the test allows one additional memory to be altered.	/ Corebook, page 257
Submerged Directive	Implant Dominate orders as suggestions for victims.	Free	Mesmerize	No	Passive	N/A	N/A	These orders never expire until completed and targets can only have one at a time.	/ Corebook, page 257

Level 4

Name	Effect	Cost	Prerequisite	Amalgam	Duration	Dice pool	Opposing pool	Additional Notes	Source
Ancestral Dominion	Compel a descendant to act even if against their own opinion.	One Rouse Check	Mithras	Blood Sorcery ●●●	One scene or when the directive is fulfilled	Manipulation + Dominate	Intelligence + Resolve	For each generation after the first separating them, the target gains an additional die to resist.	/ Cults of the Blood Gods, page 104
Rationalize	Convince victims of Dominate it was their idea the entire time.	Free	None	No	Indefinitely	N/A	N/A	If pressed on their actions the victim can make a test and if successful they question their actions.	/ Corebook, page 257
Tabula Rasa	Erase the victim's memory to the point they don't know who they are.	Two Rouse Checks	Sabbat	No	Permanent	Resolve + Dominate	Composure + Resolve	Following this power's use is generally a string of lies and Path Indoctrination.	/ Sabbat, page 47

Level 5

Name	Effect	Cost	Prerequisite	Amalgam	Duration	Dice pool	Opposing pool	Additional Notes	Source
Mass Manipulation	Extend effects of Dominate to multiple targets.	One Rouse Check in addition to power it's added to	None	No	As per power amplified	N/A	N/A	The victims need to see the eyes of the user. The user makes the roll against the strongest of the group.	/ Corebook, page 257
Terminal Decree	Bolster effects of Dominate to be able to circumvent victims' self-preservation.	Free but will give Stains	None	No	Passive	N/A	N/A	Terminal commands are always resisted instead of auto failing.	/ Corebook, page 257

Other Amalgams

Below are the amalgams from other Discipline trees that require Dominate;

	Name	Power Level	Dominate Level Required	Effect	Cost	Dice pool	Source
	Irresistible Voice	Presence ●●●●	●	The user's voice alone is enough to use Dominate on a target.	None	N/A	/ Corebook, page 268
	Mask of Isolation	Obfuscate ●●●	●	Force the effect of Mask of a Thousand Faces onto a victim	One Rouse Check	Manipulation + Obfuscate	/ Sabbat, page 48
	Mental Maze	Obfuscate ●●●	●	Remove all sense of direction and location from a victim in a location	One or Three Rouse Checks	Charisma + Obfuscate	/ Cults of the Blood Gods, page 85
	Unerring Pursuit	Auspex ●●	●	Tracking a victim	One Rouse Check	Resolve + Auspex	/ Sabbat, page 46
	Fleshcrafting	Protean ●●●	●●	Extends the mastery over the flesh	One Rouse Check	Resolve + Protean	Companion, page 27
	Horrid Form	Protean ●●●●	●●	Take on a monstrous shape	One Rouse Check	N/A	Companion, page 28
	Vicissitude	Protean ●●	●●	Sculpt the flesh of bodies	One Rouse Check	Resolve + Protean	Companion, page 27
	Clear the Field	Presence ●●●	●●●	Force others to leave the area in a calm and orderly manner	One Rouse Check	Composure + Presence	/ Fall of London, page 177
	Possession	Auspex ●●●●●	●●●	Possess a mortal body	Two Rouse Checks	Resolve + Auspex	/ Corebook, page 251
	Unburdening the Bestial Soul	Auspex ●●●●●	●●●	Stain removal or protection from Stains	Two Rouse Checks, 1 Stain	Composure + Auspex	Companion, page 24

Gallery

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  Dominate being used to make another kindred burn themselves. Source: Vampire: The Masquerade Winter's Teeth Issue #3

Game concepts

Antagonists

Second Inquisition • Sabbat