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 Engagement:
An Alternate

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Presence Power
e “Picasso had a saying he said good artists copy great artists steal.
And we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.”
- Steve Jobs
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Introduction
Once Cynthia learned Engagement, she recognized the
intense similarity between this new Discipline and the
powers of Presence. Testing a theory, she approached a
In the autumn of 2015, a 13th Generation Toreador fellow Toreador who had mastered Presence through the
named Cynthia Frost embraced Cameron Paul, a Vine power of Dread Gaze, and offered to teach the neonate
creator, whose work she discovered and fell in love with. a new ability. With moderate effort, Cynthia was able
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Due to his thin blood, Cameron effectively became a
Caitiff, and lacked the Toreador “appreciation” for art.
This served as a great embarrassment to Cynthia, who
became abusive and cruel to her progeny.
Thanks to Cameron’s thin blood, lack of formal
training in Disciplines (one of many areas Cynthia
neglected,) and inborn charisma, he became an Inceptor.
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to teach the neonate Toreador how to use the power of
Share. This confirmed Cynthia’s theory that Engagement
and Presence were so close enough in function as to be
interchangeable.
Cynthia immediately recognized the prestige that would
come along with such a discovery. She knew that by

presenting this ability to her fellow Toreador, she would be

Through experimentation, trial and error, and a few
rather unfortunate incidents with adoring fans, Cameron
ended up creating his own Discipline, which he refers to
as “Audience Engagement,” or simply, “Engagement.”
It did not take Cynthia long to figure out that the power
Cameron was exerting was different from the standard
array of Presence abilities. As soon as she realized that
her childe had managed to create something unique, she
flew into a fit of jealous rage. She demanded that he teach
her (and only her) this new power. After a few months of
fumbling and false starts, Cameron managed to confer
understanding of the powers of Engagement to Cynthia.
the toast of the Clan. Especially, if they had no idea that
the power originated with her mongrel childe. Cynthia
made it very clear to Cameron that as far as anyone else
was concerned, she was the creator of this new art, and
he was simply aiding her in teaching it. Having tasted
Cynthia’s wrath basically since his embrace, Cameron
was scared enough to play along with the plan, giving the
credit to Cynthia.
Now, the powers of Engagement are being passed
around the Toreador clan as alternative Presence powers.
Engagement is, in actuality, a separate discipline. However,

ENGAGEMENT: AN ALTERNATE PRESENCE POWER 5

 its function is so similar to that of Presence, that the
progression of the two Disciplines are fundamentally
interchangeable. Characters may purchase powers from
Engagement as alternates to Presence, and vice versa.
Much like elder Disciplines, characters who select one
of the options of Engagement or Presence, may elect to
purchase the other option later by spending additional
experience as if buying the same dot in the Discipline again
on resisting this effect, as the target is no experiencing
anything unusual, even on an imperceptible level, without
the stimuli generated by the vampire. As soon as an
individual spends a number of Willpower points equal to
the successes rolled when Like was activated, she shakes
off Like completely and remains unaffected for the rest of
the duration of the power. Once a target has been affected
by this power, she cannot be affected by it again until the

to acquire it. For the moment, this power is an unbroken
secret among the Toreador, but given the penchant for
gossip shared by most Degenerates, it is anyone’s guess
how long this will continue to be the case.
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original power’s duration expires.
If the vampire botches while activating Like, all Charisma-
based rolls made by the vampire targeting those who are
in the affected area suffer a +2 difficulty.

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Successes Result Duration
Engagement Botch Everyone in the vampire’s One week.
immediate vicinity (an
As of now, Engagement consists of four levels, which is
entire auditorium, a mob)
the maximum that Cameron can create. If he were to lower
is rendered immune to the
his Generation via Diablerie, he may be able to unlock or
vampire’s use of Like.
invent the fifth level of Engagement. Cynthia has told other
Toreador that she is working on something truly wonderful Failure Subsequent uses of Like One night.
suffer a +1 difficulty.

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for the fifth level of mastery, but in reality, she is utterly
powerless to do so. If she figures out that Cameron will
need to commit diablerie in order to advance the power,
she may very well find him a rival to dine upon.
1 success One person

2 successes Two people

One hour
or scene
One day
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• Like 3 successes Six people One week
Much like the Presence power of Awe, Like allows the 4 successes 20 people One month
Kindred to exert her personality to a supernatural degree.
However, where Awe affects a large crowd with a potent 5 successes Everyone in the vampire’s One year
but short-term effect, Like subtly impacts the feelings of immediate vicinity (an
those subjected to it for an extended period of time. This entire auditorium, a mob.)
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impact allows the vampire greater influence over her targets

in future interactions.
System: The player spends a blood point and rolls
Charisma + Performance (difficulty 7). The number of
successes rolled determines how many people are affected,
as well as how long the targets are affected, as noted on
the chart below. If there are more people present than
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• • Comment
A single, charismatic voice is potent. Each voice added
to a chorus, chant, or statement, adds power to the
initial voice. In this way, people can be brought together
in harmonious cooperation…or can be forged into an

the character can influence, Like affects those who are
physically closest to the vampire first.
Successful activation of this power reduces the difficulty
of all Charisma-based rolls made by the vampire to affect
the targets by 2. Those affected can use Willpower points
to overcome the effect, but must continue spending
Willpower every scene for as long as they remain in the
same area as the vampire, or in indirect contact with
the vampire (such as communicating via social media,
telephone, or while under the effect of Summon.) If the
target is not in the vampire’s presence, nor in indirect
contact with the vampire, no Willpower may be spent
angry mob. With Comment, the vampire influences a
single target, causing that target to echo a sentiment of
the vampire’s choice.
System: The player spends a blood point and rolls
Charisma + Leadership (difficulty equal to the target’s
current Willpower points). If successful, the target will
become something of a sycophant, echoing statements
made by the vampire, and lending support to the vampire’s
declarations. The number of successes indicates the fervor
with which the target will express support. With one
success, the target will simply offer nods of agreement, and
the occasional, “yeah!” At three successes, the target will

6 Engagement
 express complex ideas supporting the vampire’s position.
At five successes, the target will become passionate, loud,
and possibly violent, in defense of the vampire’s stated
position on the topic at hand.
While Comment represents potent emotional
manipulation, it is not mind control. If the vampire
attempts to make a target agree with something that is
fundamentally opposed to the target’s core beliefs (trying

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to get a devout nun to argue the merits of devil worship,
for example), the power fails. Furthermore, the effects of
this power can be suppressed through the expenditure of
Willpower, as though it were a Presence power.

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Comment lasts for the remainder of the scene. Once
the effect wears off, the target is aware that they were
somehow manipulated, and depending on the topic they
were discussing, may become irate or vengeful toward the
vampire who used this power on them.

• • • Share
At this level of mastery, the vampire gains the ability
to infuse a word or phrase with a fraction of their own

e personality. When heard, this word or phrase infects the

mind of the listener, who further feels compelled to share
it, spreading the idea further.
System: The vampire selects a target and speaks a word
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or short phrase. The phrase can have no more words
than the vampire’s permanent Willpower score. The
vampire then spends a blood point and rolls Charisma
+ Leadership (difficulty equal to the target’s current
Willpower points.) If successful, the target is compelled
to share the word or phrase with others. The target will
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speak the phrase during pauses in conversation, post the

phrase on social media, and use whatever means are at
their disposal to spread the word. Any mortal who hears
the phrase spoken by the target must make a Willpower
roll (difficulty 3+ the number of successes the Kindred
achieved on the activation roll.) If the mortal fails, they
too fall under the spell, sharing the phrase as if they were
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targeted by this power. If the mortal successfully resists

the infection, they are immune to further exposure to
the phrase, no matter how frequently they hear it. If the
mortal does not successfully resist, they too become both
infected and infectious, spreading the word to others who
hear it as if they were the initial target of the power.
Once started, the chain of infectious speech cannot be
stopped, even by the vampire who initiated the power.
The infection must simply run its course. The duration
of the infection is determined by the number of successes
the vampire achieved on the activation roll. Once this
duration ends, all instances of the infection immediately

ENGAGEMENT: AN ALTERNATE PRESENCE POWER 7