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Obtenebration

Obtenebration in Age of Redemption. Obtenebration is selected with a gold border in the top list; the cursor is hovering over the Serpentis discipline group. The skills are increased in power and sometimes cost and therefore have more red dots

See Tomes and Gameplay

Disciplines are supernatural abilities used by Kindred in Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption. The origin of Disciplines is unknown, but many believe they are gifts from Caine or Lilith, and a few Antediluvians are thought to have invented unique Disciplines that have been passed down through their Childer.

Vampire's skill tree is evocatively, even exquisitely named. The disciplines and their methodology, as much as Vampire's story, are fed from a deep reservoir of White Wolf's creative work in pen and paper roleplaying gaming

Saving and reloading is recommended, if the player wishes a chance to try out the wide range of fun without really hurting their Gameplay. If in doubt, stick with improving character Attributes (concentrating on Dexterity to start, and Wits once Christof stops missing). There are a few power Disciplines, some of them more adaptable, some mutually exclusive. Celerity is a jack of all trades skill. Awe is good for almost all vampire foes. Theft of Vitae one-shots humans. Firestorm and Prison of Ice are for the tough enemies. Shambling Hordes is one of the few sources of infinite and easy XP and potentially coin.

The computer game system is quite adaptable to experimentation with specialized skillsets. In the pen and paper/live roleplay version, higher level skills can not be used at all without the full expenditure of 'Experience' resources, and a five dot skill is as good as it ever will be when first purchased. In the computer game, higher skills in the group can be expanded to the maximum of five dots with no more than the single prerequisite dot in each of the preceding skills

There are two important ways to make the game easier, neither of which involve disciplines directly, and one that does

One is saving and reloading; the second is coterie control, and the third, most definitely, is disciplines. There are three 'power Disciplines' in Vampire that stand head and shoulders above the rest: the starting Presence, the mid-game Blood Rituals, and late game Serpentis

Discipline Tomes given to Wilhem in the Dark Ages reportedly are wasted because his disciplines are reset when he rejoins in the modern age.[1]

Storyline and Tomes[]

Main article: Tome
Main article: Characters

Tomes are items which gives a permanent acquisition of the Discipline to the controlled character which uses it so they can develop further.

Discipline Tome Christof Wilhem Serena Erik Pink Lily Samuel
Animalism Josef 2
Flesh 1
Vysehrad Clan Clan
Auspex Ardan Clan Clan
Blood Magic Chantry 2
Blood Rituals Haus
Celerity Clan Clan L.Black Clan Clan Orsi
Dementation*
Dominate Clock
Factory 2
Set L.Black Set
Fortitude Josef Clan Clan Tower Sewers
Hands of D Vysehr.2 Etrius
Lure of Flames Teutonic 3
Leopold 2
Ardan
Mortis Giov 2 Giov Clan
Obfuscate Set 2 L.Black Josef Giov Clan
Obtenebration*
Potence Tower 1 Clan Clan Clan* Clan
Presence Clan Clan Clan* Clan
Protean Petrin Start Clan
Quietus*
Serpentis Set

Single Player[]

Common[]

Main article: Common

Common is the name given in Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption to a Discipline which groups all playable abilites that are common to all vampires regardless of their Clan, Bloodline or Sect.

Although Walk The Abyss and Awaken abilites are often considered as Common in the game because of their transcendent and universal condition, this abilities are not listed in Discipline section of characters nor inherent to vampiric condition.

Common ability Ability description Blood cost Requirement
Feed Draws blood from target into your Blood Pool. 0 None
Blood Healing Restores an amount of HP in exchange for blood. 5 None
Blood Strength Gives a temporary Strength increase in exchange for blood. 5 None
Blood Dexterity Gives a temporary Dexterity increase in exchange for blood. 5 None
Blood Stamina Gives a temporary Stamina increase in exchange for blood. 5 None

Animalism[]

More fun than they are efficient. A tome that gives this Discipline to the user is available in the Dark Ages; it is quite redundant to give it to Christof, as he receives this ability after the Vozhd in Vysehrad Castle is dealt with. Erik the Gangrel and Samuel the Nosferatu, and characters of those clans in multiplayer, start with it. The Tome requires 25 Manipulation.

Animalism ability Ability description Blood cost Requirement
Feral Whispers Makes target temporarily fight for your coterie. 5 Manipulation > 25
Beckoning Summons an animal to fight along side your coterie. 19 Charisma > 25
Quell the Beast Calms target if targets an enemy. Reduces frenzy if targets a friendly coterie member. 10 Manipulation > 50
Subsume the Spirit Temporarily possess an animal. 15 Manipulation > 60
Drawing out the Beast Transfer caster's frenzy level to another target. 20 Manipulation > 70

Auspex[]

A utilitarian discipline. Heightened Senses helps a lot against the enemies that use Obfuscate: Nosferatu, and in the multiplayer game, Malkavians. Christof receives this ability after Ardan is defeated. Serena the Cappadocian starts with this, as do Clan Tremere, Toreador and Cappadocian characters in multiplayer

Auspex ability Ability description Blood cost Requirement
Heightened Senses See invisible doors, objects and enemies. 5 Perception > 25
Aura Perception View target type, and health and blood status. 5 Perception > 35
The Spirit's Touch Identify an unidentified object. 10 Perception > 30
Psychic Projection Summons and control an astral form to explore. 15 Manipulation > 60

Blood Magic[]

A discipline from Tremere Thaumaturgy powers and perhaps a signature discipline. One tome available in game in the Dark Ages. Theft of Vitae kills humans by taking the last of their blood while it serves to make vampires enemies unable to use their skills by blood missing, and combined with Awe and Feed it is a very quick kill. The other skills are all good, although Blood Rage is, as is so often the case with even skills in the same discipline, almost entirely redundant to Cauldron of Blood.

Blood Magic ability Ability description Blood cost Requirement
Blood Rage Evaporate blood from target. 5 Intelligence > 25 / Wits > 25
Blood of Potency Causes other disciplines to consume less blood while active. 10 Intelligence > 40
Theft of Vitae Drains blood from target feeding of it from a distance. 15 Intelligence > 40
Cauldron of Blood Boils target's blood making a large blood lost 20 Intelligence > 50


Blood Rituals[]

The best control ability in the game, Prison of Ice, and one of only two spells that damage the target instantly, Call Lightning (Cauldron of Blood being the other, and the most powerful damage spell by far is Firestorm)

Prison of Ice is the ultimate defensive skill. Call Lightning can hit targets even if they are moving, but Firestorm is two to three times stronger against distant targets that will not move, or stay in one place to attack. No vampire clans start with this skill; it is only available as a tome (one in the single-player game)
Blood Rituals ability Ability description Blood cost Requirement
Heart of Stone Prevents character from being staked. 5 Intelligence > 25 / Wits > 25
Prison of Ice Freezes target. 10 Intelligence > 35 / Wits > 35
Call Lighting Cast a lighting over target making unavoidable damage 20 Intelligence > 50 / Wits > 50
Ignore the Searing Flame Raises resistence to fire. 5 Intelligence > 60 / Wits > 80
Summon Elemental Summons a Golem to fight for your coterie. 20 Intelligence > 70 / Wits > 70

Celerity[]

It has a dual purpose, movement speed and attack speed; it makes sense that it is less effective at increasing damage than Potence. Erik receives this skill after the encounter with Luther Black, after the party has left Stephansdom; Samuel, after the modern age encounter with Orsi. Brujah and Toreador in single- and multi-player get this skill; Christof, Wilhem, and Pink start with it, as does the Toreador Lily. Within the Darkness and other modifications to the game may create characters of other clans not normally in Redemption that also use this skill.

Celerity ability Ability description Blood cost Requirement
Celerity Move and attack at enhanced speeds. 5 None

Dominate[]

Since all the spells are Generation-based (only work on a target of the same generation or lower) and there is nothing here that Presence does not do better, this is mostly useless in single-player. In Redemption, even the roleplaying game's use of The Forgetful Mind, to make humans forget they were fed on, is subsumed by Awe, and The Forgetful Mind becomes an inferior version of Majesty. The real deficiencies of Ventrue are well expressed by the storyline; it seems overkill to have nerfed what is, in Redemption,[2] a skill shared by the Tremere, Giovanni, and Lasombra. Wilhem receives this skill after the encounter with Luther Black, after the party has left Stephansdom. Christof and Lily receive it after they first encounter Lucretia. There is a tome in the Stephansdom clock tower. Even the Tremere are somewhat nerfed by having this spell in their attack routine; they will occasionally use Command on Christof, and always miss, since he is by then a higher generation than they. Christof and Lily both receive this after the first encounter with Lucretia in the Setite temple

Dominate ability Ability description Blood cost Requirement
Command Grants brief control of target. It cannot be used on Kindred of lower generations than user. 5 Manipulation > 25
Mesmerize Makes target stand still or makes it go toward you. It cannot be used on Kindred of lower generations than user. 10 Manipulation > 35
The Forgetful Mind Creates dazer effects on target, clears an enemy's hate list. It cannot be used on Kindred of lower generations than user. 15 Wits: 50
Possession Grants control over the target. It cannot be used on Kindred of lower generations than user. 15 Manipulation > 60


Fortitude[]

This ability is given to Christof after navigating Josef's Tunnels, to Pink at the top of the Tower, and to Samuel at the end of the Sewers.

Dead enemies do less damage; putting one's efforts into killing them first is the rule in games. When that strategy comes up short, evasive maneuevers is a good idea, and when that is not enough, there is Fortitude and other damage prevention. This rule might not have survived the roleplaying game's very solid damage prevention, which prevents damage against all types of damage, but Fortitude was hit very hard with the Nerfbat, and only adds an invisible soak (cannot be seen on the 'character sheet', as opposed to the Blood Ritual Ignore the Searing Flame, whose resistance shows up clearly in red on the resistances wheel). The Fortitude soak is said to be against Aggravated damage. Its damage prevention effects are similarly hard to detect.
Fortitude ability Ability description Blood cost Requirement
Fortitude Rises resistance to damage. 10 None

Hands of Destruction[]

The first and second spells in this set require 60 or less Humanity and 50, which are sufficient to see the "Good" ending. The next requires 35 or less and the final, 25 or less. They are all spells delivered at close combat range, which sort of makes the fact that they are spells pointless; at that range, swords may do better damage. Serena obtains this skill after Etrius is defeated, and there is one tome in the Dark Ages, with a Humanity requirement

Hands of Destruction ability Ability description Blood cost Requirement
Decay Causes an aggravated damage on target on touch by rot. 5 Intelligence > 25 / Humanity < 60
Acidic Touch Causes an aggravated damage on target on touch by corrosion. 10 Intelligence > 35 / Humanity < 50
Atrophy Causes an aggravated damage on target on touch while reduces it's Dexterity and Strength. 15 Intelligence > 50 / Humanity < 35
Turn to Dust Causes an aggravated damage on target on touch. 20 Intelligence > 60 / Humanity < 25

Lure of Flames[]

So good, the developers gave the players two of its tomes. Only available as a tome. More than one dot in the lesser skills is unnecessary; save it all for Firestorm. Spot enemies before they spot you, and it is half over. Wait until they are close to melee range, and it is a rare one that can survive the full duration of Firestorm (with the exception of all Setites, who have considerable Fire resistance). Serena receives this ability for free after Ardan is defeated; the player may well prefer to save XP for this, rather than spending points on her physical attributes to make up for their low starting levels. The Ivory Bow found in Ardan's Chantry level 3 makes this easier

Lure of Flames ability Ability description Blood cost Requirement
Torch Creates a light of balefire that follows the user. 3 Intelligence > 25
Fireball Launches a ball of fire against target 5 Intelligence > 35
Flame Ring Creates a ring of flames around the user 10 Intelligence > 60
Immolate Burns touching target 20 Intelligence > 70
Fire Storm Creates a rain of fire 25 Intelligence > 70

Mortis[]

Undead Hordes can be quite good at high levels; hard to kill, and each one summoned can be drained for 7 more blood than it cost. In the meantime, or instead, use Shambling Hordes to get XP and coin every time the servant dies. The Wraith 20 blood cost can be unfeasibly high for multiple repeated battles with no incoming blood supply. Consider, also, that Serena receives Lure of Flames. Do not give the Mortis Tome found in the Sewers to Christof, as he receives the skill for free at the very end of the Giovanni Warehouse

Later in the game, when there is access to Theft of Vitae or at the very least, Tongue of the Asp, and money flows like water from all the Heavy Weapons that can be found in chests, the Mortis Tome found in the Sewers is an easier option to fit into the game plan.
Mortis ability Ability description Blood cost Requirement
Shambling Hordes Awakens dead target to fight on your side. 10 Wits > 25
Vigor Mortis Takes control over dead target. Stronger version of Shambling Hordes. 15 Wits > 30 / Intelligence > 30
Summon Soul Summons a wraith to aid you in fight. 20 Perception > 50
Plague Wind Expells a damage breath cloud at the target. 20 Intelligence > 60
Black Death Causes the disease on target inflicting massive damage. 25 Intelligence > 60

Obfuscate[]

Whether or not an Obfuscate user remains hidden depends on their actions, and the level of Auspex used to detect them. Standing still is the most hidden, then moving; attacking in normal Redemption always reveals an obfuscated attacker. Low levels of Auspex will reveal low level Obfuscators even when standing, but only detect medium level Obfuscators when moving.

Obfuscate ability is given to Wilhem after navigating Josef's Tunnels. Christof gets it after the encounter with Luther Black, after the party has left Stephansdom. Lily gets it after the Giovanni stronghold is raided. Samuel starts with it. Nosferatu in the single player game all have varying levels of it, making more and more of their actions invisible. at the lower levels, the user can only be seen when moving. Nosferatu NPCs in single player, and Nosferatu and Malkavian NPCs and Player Characters in multiplayer start with this discipline
Obfuscate ability Ability description Blood cost Requirement
Cloak of Shadows Grants temporal invisibility for user. 10 Wits > 25
Mask of a Thousand Faces Disguise user as target including enemies. 5 Wits > 30
Cloak of the Gathering Grants temporal invisibility for user's coterie members. 10 Wits > 40

Potence[]

Dead enemies do less damage; putting one's efforts into killing them first is the rule in games. Potence adds damage to close-combat attacks (melee weapons or fists)

Potence is not available as a Tome in single player, nor is it granted to any of the characters. Brujah and Nosferatu in single- and multi-player get this skill. Christof, Wilhem, and Pink start with it, as does the Nosferatu Samuel.
Potence ability Ability description Blood cost Requirement
Potence Grants user Strength increase. 5 None

Presence[]

Brujah, Toreador and Ventrue in single- and multi-player get this skill. Christof, Wilhem, Lily, and Pink start with it. Master Awe + Feed, and there is rarely any real need for any other spell. Feed will kill any vampire and replenish the user's bloodpool at the same time, and Awe makes it almost automatic. Any party member can feed on the Awed target. Dread Gaze completely shuts down anything it lands on, but if it runs into the middle of more enemies, it can make matters worse than before. Entranced enemies give no XP when killed, which is a very serious drawback. If players like using Entrance, then consider the Awaken exploit to make up for it. Majesty is a very fine spell, but Awe does better in that it calls the target to the caster, and is considerably cheaper.

When attempting to Feed on a target that had Awe cast on it just before it finished casting Obfuscate, run backwards so that it will have to run towards you, and if its Obfuscate is low enough, it will become visible long enough to right-click Feed on. The Feed will occur as long as the command to do so is given before it disappears again. Or feed on it with a character with Heightened Senses active.
Presence ability Ability description Blood cost Requirement
Awe Charms target toward the user stoping enemies from attacking. 5 Charisma > 25
Dread Gaze Causes fear on target. 5 Charisma > 35
Entrancement Grants control of the target to the user 10 Appearance > 50
Majesty Causes all the creatures surrounding the user to stop and gaze at the user. 15 Charisma > 60

Protean[]

Feral Claws begins at 15 Aggravated damage, and gains 5 Aggravated each level, up to 35 Aggravated damage. Shape of the Beast's wolf form never goes above 20 Aggravated, nor does it add stats, it just gets longer duration. Eyes of the Beast makes a red animation and light source under the character's feet, with the duration and intensity of the light increasing with points spent. Most buffs are removed if the character dies, is revived, the game is reloaded or the character moves to another zone, but Eyes of the Beast continues until its duration is expired, regardless of these things. Two tactical defensive skills, Earth Meld (fun to watch the characters 'flatten' into the ground, even if one saves and reloads after gaining the skill), and Shape of Mist, round out the skill group. Christof receives this group after retrieving the fragment of the Book of Nod

Protean ability Ability description Blood cost Requirement
Eyes of the Beast Increases visual senses. 5 Perception > 25
Feral Claws Turns User hands into powerful claws. 5 None
Earth Meld Burrows user in ground alowing to safe rest in a state of for increased regeneration. 10 None
Shape of the Beast Turn user into a wolf. 10 None
Mist Form Turn user into a cloud of mist. 20 None

Serpentis[]

Christof is given Serpentis after the second encounter with Lucretia, whether he chooses to drink from the heart or destroy it. The major skills of this discipline are discussed in its own article; below, the minor skills are described.

Skin of the Adder gives the damage soaking ability. Damage dealing abilities are usually preferred by gamers to defensive abilities, especially for killing NPCs, as damage is easily healed outside of battle and the quicker something dies, the less damage it does anyway. However, Skin of the Adder, while not as sexy as Potence and not a gamer favorite, has the distinct advantage of working whether the player chooses a hack and slay or spellcasting approach. The temporary vipers summoned by Hatch the Viper may do more damage than the laughable one damage of permanent enemy vipers, but it is can only be inferred from combat results, as pets' stats are not shown; possessing them with the ST head only shows their controller's stats.
Serpentis ability Ability description Blood cost Requirement
Eyes of the Serpent Mesmerizes target into a daze. 5 None
Tongue of the Asp Drains vitae from target stealing health from a distance. 20 None
Skin of the Adder Protects user from granting snake sking. It affects Appearence stats while it's active. 20 None
Hatch the Viper Summons a viper to aid the user. 30 None

Multiplayer only[]

Multiplayer gameplay allows to build custom characters and gives the option to some few more Disciplines in addition to those which are already available in singleplayer.

Dementation[]

The Malkavian defining discipline. Not available at all in single player. There is a tome in Leaves of Three multiplayer scenario. A concise bag of tricks that plays on vampire's weaknesses. Definitely one of the weaker Discipline groups in the game, though. Voice of Madness is unequivocally inferior to Animalism's ultimate Frenzying spell, and the minor version is not only redundant but practically useless. The Fear caused by The Haunting suffers from the same tactical weakness as Presence's Dread Gaze and the Dread weapons: can backfire if it makes enemies flee towards other enemies, making them stronger as a group. The third skill is the same as Auspex's, showing the enemies' type (Human, ghoul, etc), and more information as it becomes stronger.

Dementation ability Ability description Blood cost Requirement
Passion Messes with a target's emotions. Can cause frenzy. 5 Charisma > 25
The Haunting Distract Kindred and monsters and cause fears in mortals. 5 Manipulation > 35
Eyes of Chaos Detects auras. 10 Perception > 30
Voice of Madness Makes target insane. Can cause frenzy on target. 15 Manipulation > 60

Obtenebration[]

Obtenebration is signature Discipline of Clan Lasombra. Players can only choose a Lasombra character with Age of Redemption Mod and Lasombra enemies in singleplayer use only Dark Hunter skill.

Lasombra skills in the roleplaying version of Vampire are elaborate and powerful; possibly the developers felt, too much. Lasombra enemies in multiplayer can use Dominate and Potence skills as well as Obtenebration only skill used by the Lasombra in the single-player game. The Lasombra clan and powers were added by the Within the Darkness mod, but the powers were still reserved in comparison to the Mind's Eye / tabletop version.

Age of Redemption Mod offers the next abilities:

Obtenebration ability Ability description Blood cost Requirement
Shadow Play Suffocate and paralyze the victim with darkness. It's effectiveness depends on User's Perception and target's Wits stats 15 Perception > 25
Shroud of Night Bring the darkness in around user to protect it from harm and envelop it's enemies. 30 Perception > 35
Arms of the Abyss Summons a shadow tendril to aid you. 30 Perception > 50 / Wits > 35
Black Metamorphosis Transform user into a demonic being of shadow with tendrils that can grapple and paralyze enemies. 40 Perception > 75 / Wits > 45
Tenebrous Form Transform user into a tenebrous shadow that evades harm. 45 Perception > 75 / Wits > 65

Human[]

Faith[]

Also concise as Serpentis, as is appropriate for one of only two human skillsets. This contains Healing and direct damage

Faith ability Ability description Mana cost Requirement
Heal Restores an amount of HP in exchange for mana. 5 Faith > 25
Prayer Damages a target with holy words. 10 Faith > 35
True Faith Damages supernatural creatures within radius around the user with a protective shield. 20 Faith > 50

Numina[]

Point-blank area of effect damage, invisibility and counter-invisibility are handled by this set of abilities

Numina ability Ability description Mana cost Requirement
Invisibility Grants temporal invisibility for user. 10 Intelligence > 25 / Perception > 25
Flash Stuns target. 15 Intelligence > 35 / Perception > 35
True Sight Grants superior sight on User. 15 Intelligence > 50 / Perception > 50


Mod-only abilities[]

Main article: Mod
  • Giant Cobra is only available with modifications to the game such as the Within the Darkness mod.
  • Obtenebration abilities other than Dark Hunter are available with the WtD mod and Age of Redemption mod.
  • Playing as a Werewolf is available with the WtD mod.
  • Quietus is only available in Age of Redemption or similar.

See also[]

Footnotes[]

  1. http://wiki.white-wolf.com/worldofdarkness/index.php?title=Vampire:_The_Masquerade_-_Redemption
  2. In the roleplaying version, Malkavians had Domination instead of Dementation
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