Disciplines — Powers of the Blood

Core Lore — Neutral Foundation

What Are Disciplines?

• Disciplines are the supernatural abilities of vampires, flowing from vitae itself.

• They are both instinct and inheritance — some powers arise naturally, others are taught.

• Each clan favors certain Disciplines, seen as their birthright.

• To mortals, they appear as miracles, curses, or horrors. To Kindred, they are tools of survival, control, and war.

Themes of Disciplines

• Animalism: Command over beasts, and the Beast within.

• Auspex: Heightened senses, second sight, telepathy.

• Blood Sorcery: Magic shaped from vitae — Tremere formulas, Banu Haqim rites, Hecata necromancy.

• Celerity: Inhuman speed, faster than the eye.

• Dominate: Hypnosis, mental control, the bending of wills.

• Fortitude: Supernatural resilience, shrugging off fire and sunlight longer.

• Obfuscate: Cloaking from sight, vanishing into shadow.

• Oblivion: Command over death, darkness, and wraiths. (Lasombra shadows, Hecata necromancy.)

• Potence: Superhuman strength, the power to shatter steel.

• Presence: Awe, seduction, dread — bending emotions with charisma.

• Protean: Shapeshifting — claws, mist, animal forms, melding with earth.

Learning Disciplines

• Clan Inheritance: Every Kindred begins with access to three Disciplines tied to their clan.

• Tutoring: Some Disciplines can be taught by other clans, at a cost of blood and time.

• Experimentation: Thin-bloods sometimes manifest Disciplines erratically or in hybrid forms.

Limits of the Blood

• Younger vampires (higher generations, lower blood potency) struggle with greater powers.

• Elders unlock terrifying heights of Disciplines, but at the cost of needing stronger blood.

• Even masters risk Messy Criticals — their Beast seizing control of the power.

Mortals and Disciplines

• Mortals rarely recognize Disciplines for what they are.

• A flash of speed is “adrenaline.”

• A command is “hypnosis.”

• A monstrous visage is “a mask or drugs.”

• This is why the Masquerade holds: mortals invent lies to explain what their eyes see.

Disciplines as Myth & Faith

• Tremere codify Disciplines as sciences of blood.

• Ministry preach them as gifts of Set, divine corruption.

• Lasombra see Oblivion as proof they are shadows made flesh.

• Anarchs treat Disciplines as street-level weapons.

• Sabbat see them as holy tools in Caine’s war.

Index of Disciplines (V5 Core)

• Animalism

• Auspex

• Blood Sorcery

• Celerity

• Dominate

• Fortitude

• Obfuscate

• Oblivion

• Potence

• Presence

• Protean

(Thin-Blood Alchemy often listed separately as a “proto-discipline.”)

⚜️ Neutral Summary:

Disciplines are what make vampires monsters. They are both inheritance and addiction — gifts from Caine, curses from the Antediluvians, tools of the Beast. Every vampire wields some fragment of these powers, and every use risks feeding the hunger that defines them.