Crown of Serpents (Setite Trait, OWoD) PEACH

[Nada Rakshasa]

While looking over the old World of Darkness books, I felt inspired to create a gorgon-esque Follower of Set. I imagined this being a Vicissitude induced trait, a blessing for a monstrous Settite or a curse for a Settite who specializes in blending in with humanity. I tried to balance it's bonuses (Perception/Eyes of the Serpent enhancement) with penalties (Obviously inhuman and somewhat difficult to conceal). Also, I know that it's a bit wordy for a merit, and that the wording probably needs to be cleaned up. This is basically a first draft.
Thoughts?

Crown of Serpents: (3 pt Merit)
Like the gorgons of lore, your scalp is lined with snakes instead of hair. While too fragile to make physical attacks, these serpents offer several benefits: As long as your head is uncovered, your vision encompasses a 360-degree arc with your normal degree of visual acuity. Due to their unblinking vigilance, visible enemies are denied the normal bonus attack dice for flanking or rear attacks. Also, while focused in front of you, your snakes can assist in maintaining eye contact for purposes of your Eyes of the Serpent power. They do not, however, transmit the gaze or vision effects of other Kindred to you.
Upholding the Masquerade becomes difficult for you. While the snakes can be concealed under a hood or shawl, you have only moderate control over your head-serpents, which writhe and coil constantly. You may expend a Willpower point to still them for the remainder of the scene. This suppresses the above benefits.
You must have at least the first level of the Scales Flaw.

Edit 3/4/11: Rephrased Eyes of the Serpent bits. Added extra defenses against flanking/rear attacks.

[Super_Dave]

How would they assist in helping you maintain eye contact? Why could they only do so when focusing straight ahead of you? If you can see through their eyes in all directions, you should be able to use them to maintain eye contact in any direction.

[Nada Rakshasa]

How would they assist in helping you maintain eye contact? Why could they only do so when focusing straight ahead of you? If you can see through their eyes in all directions, you should be able to use them to maintain eye contact in any direction.

To be honest, I'd originally intended for them to allow the user to do just that. But I suspected that having the ability to potentially lock-down an entire room might be a bit overpowered for a first level discipline boosted by a merit. So I decided that, due to the character's limited control over the snakes, she can only cause a portion of them to focus they're gaze (and her power) in the direction she's currently facing. Thus, she's able to remain alert to what's going on around her, but should she need to break eye contact or glance away briefly, the snakes can temporarily maintain the effect for her.

[stainboy]

I think this should be a flaw, not a merit. 360-degree vision doesn't have any concrete mechanical effect, but being a walking Masquerade violation definitely matters.

Clarify whether you can be Dominated through all those extra pairs of eyes. It'll come up.

Have you come up with fluff for the Vicissitude thing? Is this Serpents of the Light who got infected through Vinculum, or is it regular Setites? Is this 2e Souleater Vicissitude or revised Kupala Vicissitude?

[Nada Rakshasa]

Fair enough. I admit, I'm torn on the matter of whether this should be a merit or a flaw. I'm not sure if the benefits outweigh the problems it presents. Hence my posting it here. :smallconfused:

I labeled this as a Merit because most of the Vicissitude-created traits (Masquerade violating or not) are Merits. The Masquerade issue is a valid concern, but this trait can be (mostly) concealed with a hood or shawl. Granted, that reduces the usefulness of the trait, but I considered that more of a balancing issue. It seems, to me, that vampires often have to limit themselves in order to maintain the Masquerade.

On the matter of Dominating through the snakes... I'm leaning toward no. While hooked into the Setite's senses, they're pseudo-independent (sort of like the theoretical saurian "second brain") and likely not viable for transmitting Domination effects. Does that rationale seem unreasonable? I'm open to suggestion here. I'm trying achieve some form of balance.

I built this trait for a specific character: A Setite whose failed machinations left her at the mercy of a Tzimisce fleshcrafter. I didn't intend for this to be a "regular" Setite trait. Using Revised Kupala Vicissitude, by the way.

[stainboy]

If the character can see through the snakes and can't be Dominated through the snakes, I could see it as a merit. She can close her eyes and ignore Dominate without being blind. There's the mechanical benefit.

[Nada Rakshasa]

I also added that they negate the bonus attack dice that (visible) rear or flanking opponents would receive, the mechanical benefit to 360-degree vision.

Edit 3/7
To any WOD story tellers or rules lawyers; As a merit, does the point cost for this seem reasonable? Should it be higher or lower? And, again, does the rationale for its interactions with Dominate make sense, or is it overpowered? Feedback is greatly appreciated.

[Kerghan]

This merit works well with Setites not just for flavor reasons but because the clan gets the ability to mask it as a clan discipline, i.e. Obfuscate. Getting to the three dot power Mask of Thousand Faces is expensive, but Serpentis after level three, stops being as powerful as the previous three dots (this is assuming you aren't able to take disciplines passed five dots). Turning into a giant snake can be cool, but it never helps. And if character creation didn't institute a 7 point limit on flaws, then there could be an issue as the merit could potentially pay for itself.

[Super_Dave]

I think that it would make sense that you couldn't be Dominated through the snakes. In my mind, Dominate functions as it does because the eyes are "windows to the soul". The snakes are a part of you, and they respond to your commands, more or less, but they aren't part of your innermost being or soul*, merely an extension of your body. You could use them to send out commands, but the rest of the time they're merely passive observers. The connection they have with your brain isn't strong/direct enough to support being Dominated.

A few more important questions: Can the snakes eat anything? And where does it go if they do? (EEEWWWWW!) Are they poisonous? Could they constrict small animals, or hold small objects, either in their coils or their mouths? Could they be used to drain vitae? How long are they? (As stainboy said, it will come up.)

Overall, this is a really cool power. I'm going to mention it to my Storyteller, or use it in my own WoD campaign the next time I need a Setite NPC.

*However much of a soul a Cainite can be said to have is up for debate.

[Nada Rakshasa]

Thank you for expressing so much interest in this idea. I particularly appreciate your thoughts on how the snakes interact with Dominate. A much more eloquent explanation of what I was trying to get across. Also, should you get a chance to use Crown of Serpents, could you let me know how it goes?

While I did consider some of the options you describe, I think they'd create an overlap with the Serpentis powers. I decided that the snakes (which would be roughly ten to sixteen inches long) would have limited mechanically-independent physical functions. They don’t coordinate well enough, with each other or their host, to hold items or really grapple effectively. I doubt that they'd have a functional digestive system and, being attached to a vampire, I imagine they'd have some issues with solid meals. The thought does put a disturbing spin on the idea of "brain food".

But mulling over your questions led me to wonder how the snakes might interact with The Tongue of the Asp power. If that power is active, I could see the snakes being used to make attacks instead of the Setite’s tongue. Similarly, while they’re not inherently venomous, a Setite with the Poisonous Bite merit and The Tongue of the Asp power active could likely make use of them to deliver venom. I wonder if that’s worth working into the Merit? I do like the idea of them altering one’s use of the early Serpentis powers. I guess I might as well spell it all out… But it feels too wordy as it is.

I must say, I do appreciate the visual of a Setite feeding from a victim while their snakes similarly gorge themselves.

And thanks to all who've responded, with questions or feedback. It's been most helpful.

Edit: 3/8 2nd draft. Just feels excessively verbiose for a merit. Might pare it down to a more concise version with a break-down of the mechanics below.

Crown of Serpents: (3 pt Merit)
Like the gorgons of lore, your scalp is lined with snakes instead of hair. While normally too uncoordinated to be physically useful, these serpents offer several benefits: As long as your head is uncovered, your vision encompasses a 360-degree arc with your normal degree of visual acuity. Due to their unblinking vigilance, visible enemies are denied the normal bonus attack dice for flanking or rear attacks.
They may also alter your use of the Eyes of the Serpent and Tongue of the Asp disciplines. While focused in front of you, your snakes can assist in maintaining eye contact for purposes of your Eyes of the Serpent power. They do not, however, transmit the gaze or vision effects of other Kindred to you. When using The Tongue of the Asp, you may invest the power in your snakes instead of your tongue. This grants you the normal benefits of the power, but the serpents will also transmit venom, if you have that capability.
Upholding the Masquerade becomes difficult for you. While the snakes can be concealed under a hood or shawl, you have only moderate control over your head-serpents, which writhe and coil constantly. You may expend a Willpower point to still them for the remainder of the scene. This suppresses the above benefits.
You must have at least the first level of the Scales Flaw.

[Nada Rakshasa]

It's a bit more concise. Thoughts?

CROWN OF SERPENTS (3 pt Merit)
Like the gorgons of lore, your scalp is lined with snakes instead of hair. You can see in a 360-degree arc, negating the normal bonuses for flanking or rear attacks. While you may channel your Eyes of the Serpent and Tongue of the Asp powers through the serpents, they do not transmit the gaze or vision effects of other Kindred to you.
While the snakes can be concealed under a hood or shawl, upholding the Masquerade becomes difficult for you. You must expend a Willpower point to still your writhing locks for a scene, This suppresses the above benefits.
You must have at least the first level of the Scales Flaw.