V20 Rules Reference
Obtenebration in V20
Obtenebration lets a Lasombra spend blood points to turn nearby darkness into cover, limbs, or a shadow body.
Looking for the 5th Edition shadow discipline? Read the V5 Disciplines guideThe short answer.
Obtenebration is the Lasombra shadow Discipline in the V20 catalog. It spends blood points, not Hunger, to shape darkness into cover, limbs, or a body of shadow. Dots are bought in order, from Shadow Play up to Tenebrous Form, and a missing lower level blocks the next. Generation still caps how many blood points you may spend in one turn.
What Obtenebration can touch
The Discipline works on darkness you can bring to bear, not on a permanent change to the sheet.
- Nearby shadow
- Shadow Play spends one blood point to push darkness that is already at hand into crude shapes. There is no roll on the catalog row.
- A pocket of night
- Shroud of Night calls unnatural darkness. The catalog notes Manipulation plus Occult at difficulty 7, and one blood point when the spot is outside your line of sight.
- Shadow limbs
- Arms of Ahriman, the shadow-limb power some tables call Arms of the Abyss, spends one blood point. The catalog notes Manipulation plus Occult at difficulty 7.
- Your own body
- Black Metamorphosis spends two blood points. Tenebrous Form spends three. Neither writes a new Attribute onto the character.
Levels in order
Names and order follow the V20 catalog. Each line is the change, not a full system write-up.
| Level | Power | What it changes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shadow Play | Spend one blood point, with no catalog roll, to shape nearby darkness while the Storyteller decides what that shadow hides. |
| 2 | Shroud of Night | Call a patch of unnatural darkness, noted as Manipulation plus Occult at difficulty 7, and spend one blood point if it lies outside your line of sight. |
| 3 | Arms of Ahriman | Spend one blood point and test Manipulation plus Occult at difficulty 7 to raise shadow limbs, the power some tables call Arms of the Abyss, while the Storyteller resolves the grapple. |
| 4 | Black Metamorphosis | Spend two blood points and test Manipulation plus Courage at difficulty 7, a Virtue pool the sheet will not build as an Ability, while the Storyteller applies the armored shadow. |
| 5 | Tenebrous Form | Spend three blood points, with no catalog roll, to become a body of shadow the Storyteller describes. |
Run it in this order.
- Declare the Obtenebration power and the shadow, person, or space it touches.
- Spend the blood points that power requires without exceeding the generation per-turn cap.
- The Storyteller sets the difficulty, because the engine catalogs these five powers and does not roll them automatically.
- Resolve the effect at the table. A check receipt records dice and a fixed blood spend. It does not move the shadow for you.
Shadow is not a free extra action
Declaring Obtenebration does not stack a second power for nothing. If the power has a blood cost, that cost comes out of the pool before you narrate the darkness. A power with no roll still occupies the action you spent the blood on.
Generation caps the blood
An 8th-generation vampire may spend 3 blood points in a turn, which is enough for Tenebrous Form and nothing else that turn. A 10th-generation vampire may spend 1, so Black Metamorphosis and Tenebrous Form cannot be paid in a single turn.
Darkness does not raise an Attribute
Black Metamorphosis and Tenebrous Form change how the scene treats the body. They do not permanently increase Strength, Dexterity, or Stamina on the sheet when the power ends.
Keep the blood on the sheet
Quer jogar a V20 clássica sem pausar a mesa para fazer cálculos de absorção em várias etapas e controlar o sangue? Teste uma crônica solo interativa com o motor V20 do Vampiro Life.
Common mistakes
- Rolling Hunger dice on a V20 Obtenebration check. This edition spends blood points from the pool.
- Spending Willpower after the dice are seen to cancel a botch. Willpower can add an automatic success only when the roll still allows it, and it is not a rewind.
- Activating Shroud of Night and Tenebrous Form together and ignoring the per-turn blood cap.
- Calling level 3 Arms of the Abyss on this sheet, or inserting Nightshades at level 4. The catalog order is Arms of Ahriman, then Black Metamorphosis, then Tenebrous Form.
One spend at the table
The cap and the missing roll should both stay visible.
The chapel door
Inez Vargas, 8th-generation Lasombra, declares Tenebrous Form.
She spends 3 blood points, the whole per-turn cap for 8th generation, from a pool whose maximum is 15. The catalog stores no roll. The Storyteller describes the shadow body, and she cannot spend a fourth blood point to mend in the same turn.
What the V20 sheet tracks
The sheet stores an Obtenebration rating from 0 to 5 and the blood pool, including the generation cap. It does not apply shadow effects.
- Lasombra lists Obtenebration with Dominate and Potence. The rating is one number, not five separate purchases.
- A check is allowed only when the stored rating is at least that power's level.
- None of the five powers is an automatic roll. Shroud of Night's blood cost depends on line of sight, so the check will not invent that spend.
- Where the catalog blood cost is a fixed number, an adjudicated check can record it. The Storyteller still decides what the darkness does.
Frequently asked
Which clan has Obtenebration in this catalog?
- Lasombra. The in-clan trio is Dominate, Obtenebration, and Potence.
Does Obtenebration use Hunger?
- No. V20 spends blood points from the blood pool. Hunger dice belong on a V5 sheet.
Is level 3 Arms of the Abyss or Arms of Ahriman?
- This catalog names it Arms of Ahriman. It is the shadow-limb power. Levels 4 and 5 are Black Metamorphosis and Tenebrous Form. Nightshades is not a level here.
Can a 10th-generation vampire use Tenebrous Form in one turn?
- Not by paying the catalog cost of 3 blood points. Tenth generation may spend 1 blood point per turn. Eighth generation may spend 3, which matches that cost and empties the turn's allowance.
Does Vampiro Life resolve the shadow for me?
- No. The sheet records the rating and can record a fixed blood spend on an adjudicated check. The Storyteller applies Shadow Play, the shroud, the limbs, and both shadow forms.
Regras relacionadas
Keep the blood on the sheet
Quer jogar a V20 clássica sem pausar a mesa para fazer cálculos de absorção em várias etapas e controlar o sangue? Teste uma crônica solo interativa com o motor V20 do Vampiro Life.