vampire the requiem - bloodline - black widows

8/3/2019 Vampire the Requiem - Bloodline - Black Widows

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T he Black Widows

This bloodline is somewhat of a modern night phenomenon. An offshoot of the Gangrel

line, its members are almost entirely

female, although a few effeminate menhave joined its ranks. The hallmark of

this line is its affiliation with spiders,

obviously. More to the point, the members

of this bloodline can manipulate and emulate

arachnids with startling efficiency. Whereothers find that arachnids and insects are

impossible to control, and the informationgleaned from them worthless, the Black Widows find effortless manipulation and a

goldmine of secrets. After all, not even

the most jaded elder fears the prying eyes

of the miniscule vermin inhabiting his lair.

That is, unless he’s heard of this bloodline.

Most, however, have not learned of the Black

Widows. The bloodline’s founder was only

embraced in the 19th century. A follower, or some

would use the modern slang ‘groupie’, of Alistair

Crowley (1875 - 1947), she was a modern-day

occultist. The Gothic trend has stayed with her, and to a great extent, the rest of the bloodline, with many

members truly fascinated by death, the occult, dark

arts, and demons. The founder’s name is Elizabeth

Bately, and she is rumored to still be active inEngland.

Being Gangrel as their parent clan, all Widows suffer

from the weakness of thought. Many joke that this isthe reason that many Widows are mired in pseudo-

gothic rites and pagan rituals, rather than the truer

forms of occultism as practiced by the Ordo Dracul

and the Circle of the Crone. However, those few

who have joined those factions can be surprisinglyscary. In addition to the Gangrel weakness, the Black

Widows suffer from a form of curse, such that they

may never be loved by mortals, without the death of

that loved one. This leads many to eschew their dealings with mortals, and few if any Widows make

ghouls, as they never last.

Parent Clan: Gangrel

Nickname: Black Widows

Covenant: Most of the Black Widowsare unaligned, and like it that way.

They try to make personal connections

with each other vampire they meet, rather than side with one faction and be restricted

to those members. However, some few

Widows do find themselves part of the Ordo

Dracul or the Circle of the Crone, as both seek

the occultism many Widows seek. NoWidows are yet part of the Carthians, The

Lancea Sanctum, or the Invictus, as all

three spend too much time on government

for the tastes of most Black Widows.

Appearance: The archetypal Black Widow is

a stunning gothic beauty a la Morticia Addams

or Vampirella. Other than a spark for thedarkside, though, individuals run the gamut from

punk raver to boardroom secretary. All, however, are

marked by the sign of the clan, the red hourglass of

their namesakes. This appears as if a tattoo, in the

small of the Widow’s back, between the shoulder blades, or at the base of the skull. An individual can

move the mark to any of those areas with the

expenditure of a willpower point, but can never causeit to disappear. This ability has saved several

Widows embarrassment or shame when selecting

certain attire. After all, Goths are nothing if not

fashionable, and open-backed dresses can be popular.

Long hair can easily hide the mark at the base of theskull, as long as no one is looking for it.

Havens: This bloodline, like all Gangrel, can find their havens just about anywhere, thanks to the

Protean discipline. In fact with a little trick passed from Widow to Widow, the bloodline can hide in a

cocoon, if they know the right Devotion. It doesn’t

protect from sunlight, but it will protect from other

assaults when other suitable materials (like soil)cannot be found. It is not subtle, however. No

mortal is going to like finding a six-foot cocoon in

their basement. When the Black Widows can settledown, they tend to favor old mansions and haunted

manors, crawling with spiders everywhere.



Background: As stated previously, most Widows

are embraced from gothic hopefuls. Those that are

searching for something dark in this world, don’t

usually regret the change. Let’s face it , what self-respecting Goth likes sunlight?

Character Creation: Social and mental attributestend to be the most common among the Black

Widows, the Gangrel weakness notwithstanding.

Social merits are also common, as the Widows make

their webs of social ties. It’s also not uncommon for

most Widows to be well-versed in the occult (or equally, mired in the bullshit of modern occultism).

Some Widows, however, have Physical primary

attributes, and make wonderful dancers… or assassins.

Favored attributes: Composure or Stamina.

Bloodline Disciplines: Animalism, Gossamer, Protean, Resilience.

Weakness: In addition to the Gangrel weakness, the

Widows are forever barred from MortalCompanionship. Mortals who drink the Widow’s

blood are slowly poisoned. The first two times a

mortal partakes, nothing happens. They may be

addicted, ghouled, etc. However, upon the third taste

of a Widow’s blood, the mortal dies a most

horrifying death, as his nervous system is slowly and painfully destroyed by the poison in the blood.

Therefore a Black Widow may never create a blood

oath in a mortal. In Kindred, something even moreinsidious happens. Instead of the Blood oath, the

unnatural love of the regnant, a Blood Curse is

created. The would-be thrall finds themselves

reviling and despising the Widow, and seeks to do

harm to her at every opportunity. Note, however,only the third taste creates the Blood Curse. The first

two tastes create the partial Vinculum’s that all other

vampires’ blood does. This can make the break allthe more painful for the Widow, as love turns to hate.

As a tradition in the bloodline, no new fledgling is

told about this weakness. The Widows believe that

the new vampire must learn the pain of trying to

make someone love you, only to have them destroyed.

Organization: The bloodline is organized like aloose web. All Black Widows either know, or know

of, all other Black Widows. Some form covens of 3

to 5 members to perform or learn occult rituals.Widows may call on each other for help, but there is

always a price to be paid for such. The clan knows

no titles or positions, nor do they acknowledge any

leader, not even the creator of the bloodline. Each

Widow is her own person, at the center of her ownweb. But any intelligent spider keeps tabs on where

each strand of that web goes, and attempts to

maintain the connection there-in. Thus, to be powerful in this bloodline, is to know, and have the

respect of, the most other Widows.

Concepts: Goth Chick, Raver, Pagan Spiritualist,

Entomologist, Socialite

StereotypesDaeva: A lot of passion, but they go nowhere with

it. If only they knew the sorrow of our souls.

Mekhet: They like the shadows too. Be sure to

have our little spies in their shadows.

Nosferatu: They are kindred spirits, as their souls

suffer like ours. Oh the humanity!Ventrue: Fucking bureaucrats! I’ll give you some

bugs to shove up their with that stake up your ass!

***Lupines: You can have the wilderness. The urban

sprawl is ours. See, now we’re both happy, no

rending of limbs necessary!Mages: Oh! To only know what they know! They

are truly the shit when it comes to spells and hexes.

Mortals: Try not to lament over them too much.

They are lost to us as anything more than food and

temporary company.



Ne w Discipline Gossamer:

Gossamer is the Discipline of spider-like abilities that the Black Widows possess.

Arachnid Acumen: This basic power gives the Black widow her powers over arachnids and

insects. While providing no real benefit on its own, it does modify other disciplines, making it easier to

control vermin, or providing other spider-based powers.

Animalism: Black Widows are able to command all arachnids and insects the size of a penny or larger, without the penalties. That is, they are treated as normal mammals as far as modifiers are

concerned. In addition, the vermin are treated as if they had intelligence 1, instead of zero. No

eye contact needs to be made; the user merely has to look at the creature. This is ONLY for

spiders and insects. Normal eye contact must be made for other creatures.

Feral Whispers: The most useful, the character can speak with a host of spidersat the same time, and is given an amalgam of the creatures’ experiences, if asked. They

can obey only simple commands, and only one at a time. Obedience: The character needs only look at a small host of vermin, and issue

commands, the group will attempt to perform the request.

Call of the Wild: As normal, but be careful. Summoning every spider in a one-

block radius could be overwhelming!

Protean: Possessing Arachnid Acumen allows the Widow to change into large versions of

spiders.

Shape of the Beast: As a 3 point experience expenditure, the character may buy

a large spider (about the size of a rat) form. The results are: Strength reduced to 1,

Dexterity gets an additional dot, the user may climb up walls and ceilings, and defense is

increased by 3. Bites do lethal damage, but by spending a Vitae for Claws of the Wild,

the bite does Aggravated damage.

Strands: This is the signature power of the Black Widows, the ability to make strands of

webbing like a spider does. The strands emerge from under the fingernails, and can be made to any

length. The cost for the discipline is one vitae per scene (though the storyteller may increase the cost for

truly extravagant creations). No roll is generally needed for the discipline to work, though making netting

or a web to catch foes will take a Dexterity + Crafts + Gossamer roll, as will other creative uses. The

successes on the roll create the Structure of the web, how much damage it can take before being swept

away.

Since the strands are supernatural, they take on different properties according to the powers of the

Black Widow in Question. If the user possesses no Vigor or Resilience the strands created are identical to

those woven by normal spiders. It’s slightly sticky, but not enough to restrain animals or humans, and

easily ripped down or torn with one dot of strength. However, for each dot of Vigor the user possesses,

the stickiness of the strand increases. Each dot of Vigor possessed translates to that another dots of

strength required to break free, or successes needed on a feat of strength roll. As for Resilience, each dot

possessed increases the durability of the strand, making it harder to break. Each dot of Resilience is one

point of Durability.

Example: Zara the Black Widow is forming a webbing to block a passageway in the tunnels

below the city. She spends a vitae and rolls Dexterity + Crafts + Gossamer, in this case 9 dice. She gets

4 successes, thus the web can take 4 damage before being swept out of the way. However, she also has

Vigor 2 and Resilience 3. This means that the web has Durability 3, and anyone touching the web must

have strength 3 to pull free of the web.



Later on, Arnold the nosferatu comes across the web in his tunnels, and seeks to rip it down. He

brazenly swipes at it with his hand. He rolls an attack of Strength + Brawl and gets 3 successes. To his

surprise, the web remains unharmed, having the strength of steel, with Durability 3. In addition, he finds

his hand stuck to the web! Using his 4 strength, he easily rips his hand free from the strength 3 stickiness.

Realizing this is a supernatural web of some kind, he activates his vigor and grabs a lead pipe. He is now

rolling Strength + Weaponry + Vigor +3 (for the pipe) for a massive 12 dice. He scores 6 successes. He

exceeds the durability of the web by 3 dice, and the web takes 3 damage to its Structure of 4. The web istorn badly, but still in place, with 1 Structure left. He will have to take another swipe at it. He begins to

wonder what manner of creature is in his lair…This discipline also creates a new ability for possessors of Protean’s Haven of Soil. As a 3 point

experience expenditure, the character may buy a cocoon haven, where the Widow makes a cocoon of

webbing around herself. It does not protect against sunlight or fire, but it is as tough as the webbing

produced by the vampire, and so may protect her from other forms of harm.

Finally, the webs last until they are touched by sunlight, or until the Widow touches the web withthe desire to dissolve it. The Widow’s own web never sticks to her, so it may be used as rope or other

such without hindrance.

Spider Gait: This ability allows the Widow to literally walk like a spider. Her limbs

supernaturally stick to any surface, allowing her to walk up walls, hang from the ceiling, or any other such maneuvers. If something tries to pull her off the wall, it is a contested roll between the puller’s

strength, and the Widow’s Strength + Gossamer. The cost is one vitae per scene to activate the power.

Carapace: By spending a vitae this power is enacted for a scene. The Widow’s bones dissolve

and then form again on the outside of the Widow’s skin, forming an armored carapace. The effect is most

disturbing for onlookers, as the Widow’s skin seems to turn black and shiny, and is almost always a

breach of the Masquerade. Many practitioners of this power develop spiky or haired versions, to match

their favorite form of spider. The result is that the Widow now has an armor rating equal to her Stamina.

She cannot add this to any other armor, she must choose between this protection or the other. Also, for all

purposes except intimidation, Presence drops to zero.

Venom: Widows with this power have the weak venom in their veins turned into a powerfulneurotoxin, similar to the actual black widow spider. But unlike the spider, the Widow need not bite her

victim to administer the poison. Spending an additional vitae per square yard of web, she may envenom

anyone who touches the web with bare flesh. The Widow rolls Stamina + Gossamer, the result of which

is the virulence of the venom. Anyone who touches the web with bare flesh must roll Stamina + Blood

Potency. Mortals who fail the roll die a slow painful death over the next 4 hours, as if they were bit by a

large spider. Kindred who fail the roll take a number of aggravated damage equal to the difference in the

rolls (the extra successes the Widow rolled). The venom is a once-and-done thing. The web loses its

venom after the first person touches it with bare skin. The web must be re-woven in order to re-venom it.

It is this discipline that allows for the Black Widows to be such successful assassins. In one night,

the Widow could leave webs where mortals would innocently touch them, or worse, the strands could be

used in an attack. Such as an envenomed strand shaped like garrote-wire, or even just the lone strand

lowered from the ceiling to brush against a mortal’s cheek as he sleeps. The venom leaves no traces as tohow it entered the body, but autopsies will reveal the neurotoxin in the blood.

This document © 2004 by Aaron Keener

Inspiration drawn from Raoul ''Violence'' Borges’s Bloodlinebook: Black Widows, and White-Wolf’s books and supplements.

vampire the requiem - bloodline - black widows

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