Obfuscate (VTM)

Obfuscate
Pronounce	ob-few-skate
Nicknames	Stealth Mode, Cloaking, Veiling, Occulto
Clans	Assamites, Followers of Set, Malkavians, Nosferatu, Ravnos (V5)
Bloodlines	Baali, City Gangrel, Samedi, Shango, Tlacique

Obfuscate is a Discipline that allows vampires to conceal themselves, deceive the mind of others, or make them ignore what the user does not want to be seen.

Overview

Obfuscate is part of Caine's curse on the Antediluvians in blotting them out from creation. Frequent users of the Discipline find themselves divorced from society, never participating in social interactions, only observing. Some advanced users find themselves unable and unwilling to deactivate the discipline, believing themselves surrounded by similar hidden creatures that wait only to attack them.

It is one of the more popular Disciplines practiced by Cainites, and is the source of legends surrounding the ability of vampires to vanish and appear seemingly from nowhere. Obfuscate is mentally based; its powers achieve their effects by manipulating the minds of others, not in creating any real changes, and thus will not work against creatures immune to such mental effects or technological sensors. Vampires with levels of Auspex may also bypass the effects of Obfuscate.

Official Abilities

Included below are the official powers described in supplements for Vampire: The Masquerade and Dark Ages: Vampire. Sources are described below in the order they were printed.

Standard Powers

• 
  • Cloak of Shadows ^[1]: Remain hidden so long as you do not move
• 
  • Unseen Presence ^[2]: Become invisible to others so long as you do not attract attention
• 
  • Mask of a Thousand Faces ^[3]: Change your appearance and mannerisms to mimic someone else
• 
  • Vanish/Fade from the Mind's Eye ^[4]: Disappear right from in front of someone
• 
  • Cloak the Gathering ^[5]: Extend your Obfuscate powers to a group

Advanced Powers

• ^[6]
  • Blithe Acceptance: People nearby will ignore you no matter what you do so long as you do not become violent
  • Busy Doing Nothing: Makes you appear to be doing nothing
  • Conceal: Hide an object independent of you up to the size of a house
  • Confusion of the Eye: Make a target mentally view someone else differently as with Mask of a Thousand Faces without making any visible signs to others
  • Diastasis: Lets the user fade away and replace themselves with an illusionary self they can control
  • Displacement: Appear to be shifted a little to one side
  • Gemini's Mirror: Move around invisible while an image of you continues to act normally
  • Invisible Weapon: Hide a weapon so that it cannot be seen even when you are attacking with it
  • Manifold Guise: Make everyone in an area look like someone else as with Mask of a Thousand Faces, whether they want to or not
  • Mask of Janus: Exchange your appearance as with Mask of a Thousand Faces with someone else
  • Mask The Devil: Blank your aura and become immune to all powers affecting your beast
  • Mental Maze: Make someone unable to find their way out of an area
  • Mind Blank: Protect your mind from attempts to read it
  • Scrawl: Hide messages in writing legible only to an intended viewer
  • Soul Mask: Disguise your aura to appear differently or not at all

• ^[7]
  • Cache: Extend an Obfuscate power so that it continues after you have left the area
  • Cloak: Hide yourself from Auspex powers searching for you
  • Fortress of Silence: Cut any noises off, allowing clarity of thought and heightened awareness of self, or use on a target to drive it mad with the sound of its own heartbeat
  • Veil of Blissful Ignorance: Make it so no one will see a person no matter what he does
  • Veil the Legions: Hide a small army from a distance
  • Visit Faerieland: Step into the Dream

• ^[8]
  • Horrid Countenance: Take on the appearance of a monstrous entity that every person sees as their personal nightmare
  • Old Friend: Make someone view you as a trusted friend and confidant
  • Phantom Haunter: Take on the visage of a figure that haunts and terrifies the target

• ^[9]
  • Create Name: Create a whole new identity for yourself that overcomes any suspicions
  • Obscure God's Creation: Remove a person or object from another's perceptions

• ^[10]
  • Memories Fading Glimpse: Remove your existence from reality
  • Plot Device

Standard Powers (V5)

• ​
  • Cloak of Shadows: The vampire can become invisible while standing motionless.
  • Silence of Death: The vampire can nullify all sound that they make.
• 
  • Unseen Passage: The vampire can move around while staying invisible​.
  • Chimerstry: The vampire can create brief, but vivid single-sensory hallucinations. Amalgam: Presence 1.
  • Ventriloquism: The vampire can throw their voice so only the intended recipient hears them. Amalgam: Auspex 2.
  • Ghost's Passing: The vampire can extend their Obfuscate powers to animals under their influence. Amalgam: Animalism 1.
  • Doubletalk: Say one thing, but convey something else in secret. Amalgam: Auspex 1.
• 
  • Ghost in the Machine: Other Obfuscate powers work on electronic recording devices.
  • Mask of a Thousand Faces: The vampire can assume the voice and appearance of a generic person who blends in the current setting, i.e. a worker in a factory or a nightwatchman in an office.
  • Fata Morgana: The vampire can craft elaborate multisensory hallucinations. Amalgam: Presence 2.
  • Mental Maze: The Vampire can make the victim unable to escape the building, leaving him feeling that the building folds back on itself. Amalgam: Dominate 1.
  • Mask of Isolation: The vampire can apply the effects of Mask of a Thousand Faces, to a single subject. Amalgam: Dominate 1
  • Mind Masque: Hide and replace emotions and thoughts against those who wish to read them, be it through mundane or supernatural means. Amalgam: Dominate 2.
• 
  • Conceal: Amalgam of Auspex 3. The vampire can cloak an inaminate object up to a small building from sight.
  • Vanish: Requires Cloak of Shadows. The vampire can activate Cloak of Shadows or Unseen Passage even under direct observation.
• 
  • Cloak the Gathering: The vampire can Obfuscate their companions.
  • Imposter's Guise: The vampire can disguise themselves as a specific person.

Gallery

Mask Of A Thousand Faces

References

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^  Level 1

Cloak of Shadows	Vampire: The Masquerade Rulebook	Pg. 98
Cloak of Shadows	Vampire: The Masquerade Second Edition	Pg. 163-164
Cloak of Shadows	Vampire: The Dark Ages Rulebook	Pg. 154
Cloak of Shadows	Vampire: The Masquerade Revised Edition	Pg. 166
Cloak of Shadows	Dark Ages: Vampire Rulebook	Pg. 197
Hide	Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
The Silence of Death	Vampire Twentieth Anniversary Edition: The Dark Ages	Pg. 225
Cloak of Shadows	Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition	Pg. 261
Silence of Death	Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition	Pg. 261

^  Level 2

Vanish	Vampire: The Masquerade Rulebook	Pg. 98
Unseen Presence	Vampire: The Masquerade Second Edition	Pg. 164
Unseen Presence	Vampire: The Dark Ages Rulebook	Pg. 154
Unseen Presence	Vampire: The Masquerade Revised Edition	Pg. 166
Unseen Presence	Dark Ages: Vampire Rulebook	Pg. 198
Limited Invisibility	Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
Unseen Passage	Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition	Pg. 261
Chimerstry	Vampire: The Masquerade Companion	Pg. 25-26
Ventriloquism	Fall of London	Pg. 148
Ghost's Passing	Forbidden Religions	Pg. 18
Doubletalk	Blood-Stained Love	Pg. 152

^  Level 3

One Thousand Faces	Vampire: The Masquerade Rulebook	Pg. 99
Mask of the Thousand Faces	Vampire: The Masquerade Second Edition	Pg. 164
Mask of a Thousand Faces	Vampire: The Dark Ages Rulebook	Pg. 154
Mask of a Thousand Faces	Vampire: The Masquerade Revised Edition	Pg. 166
Mask of a Thousand Faces	Dark Ages: Vampire Rulebook	Pg. 198
Hidden Killer	Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
Ghost in the Machine	Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition	Pg. 262
Mask of a Thousand Faces	Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition	Pg. 262
Fata Morgana	Vampire: The Masquerade Companion	Pg. 26
Mental Maze	Vampire: The Masquerade, Cults Of The Blood Gods	Pg. 85
Mask of Isolation	Sabbat: The Black Hand	Pg. 48
Mind Masque	Vampire: The Masquerade Player's Guide 5th Edition	Pg. 78

^  Level 4

Unseen Presence	Vampire: The Masquerade Rulebook	Pg. 99
Vanish from Mind's Eye	Vampire: The Masquerade Second Edition	Pg. 164
Vanish from the Mind's Eye	Vampire: The Dark Ages Rulebook	Pg. 155
Vanish from the Mind's Eye	Vampire: The Masquerade Revised Edition	Pg. 167
Vanish from the Mind's Eye	Dark Ages: Vampire Rulebook	Pg. 198
Advanced Invisibility	Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
Conceal	Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition	Pg. 262
Vanish	Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition	Pg. 262

^  Level 5

Cloaking the Gathering	Vampire: The Masquerade Rulebook	Pg. 99
Cloak the Gathering	Vampire: The Masquerade Second Edition	Pg. 164
Cloak the Gathering	Vampire: The Dark Ages Rulebook	Pg. 155
Cloak the Gathering	Vampire: The Masquerade Revised Edition	Pg. 167
Cloak the Aura	Laws of Elysium	Pg. 67-68
Cloak the Gathering	Dark Ages: Vampire Rulebook	Pg. 199
Unseen Force	Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
Cloak the Gathering	Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition	Pg. 263
Impostor's Guise	Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition	Pg. 263

^  Level 6

Conceal	The Players Guide	Pg. 91
Conceal	Laws of Elysium	Pg. 68
Mind Blank	The Players Guide	Pg. 81
Soul Mask	The Players Guide	Pg. 81
Conceal	The Players Guide Second Edition	Pg. 76
Mind Blank	The Players Guide Second Edition	Pg. 76
Soul Mask	The Players Guide Second Edition	Pg. 76
Scrawl	Clanbook: Malkavian	Pg. 28
Soul Mask	Vampire: The Dark Ages Rulebook	Pg. 155
Diastasis	Dark Ages Companion	Pg. 86
Manifold Guise	Libellus Sanguinis 4: Thieves in the Night	Pg. 77
Conceal	Guide to the Camarilla	Pg. 91
Mind Blank	Guide to the Camarilla	Pg. 91
Soul Mask	Guide to the Camarilla	Pg. 91
Gemini's Mirror	Archons and Templars	Pg. 145
Mask of Janus	Archons and Templars	Pg. 145
Scrawl	Clanbook: Malkavian Revised	Pg. 61
Blithe Acceptance	Clanbook: Assamite Revised	Pg. 64
Mental Maze	Clanbook: Followers of Set Revised	Pg. 67
Confusion of the Eye	Clanbook: Followers of Set Revised	Pg. 68
Soul Mask	Dark Ages: Vampire Rulebook	Pg. 199
Invisible Weapon	Players Guide to Low Clans	Pg. 150
Mask the Devil	Vampire: The Dark Ages 20th Anniversary Edition	Pg. 227
Confusion of the Eye	Lore of the Clans	Pg. 67
Mental Maze	Lore of the Clans	Pg. 68
Scrawl	Lore of the Clans	Pg. 143
Busy Doing Nothing	Lore of the Clans	Pg. 163
Displacement	Lore of the Clans	Pg. 163

^  Level 7

Cache	The Players Guide	Pg. 81
Cloak	The Players Guide	Pg. 81
Cache	The Players Guide Second Edition	Pg. 77
Cloak	The Players Guide Second Edition	Pg. 77
Visit Faerieland	Clanbook: Malkavian	Pg. 28
Veil the Legions	Dark Ages Companion	Pg. 86
Cache	Guide to the Camarilla	Pg. 92
Veil of Blissful Ignorance	Guide to the Camarilla	Pg. 92
Veil of Blissful Ignorance	Players Guide to Low Clans	Pg. 150
Fortress of Silence	Vampire: The Dark Ages 20th Anniversary Edition	Pg. 227

^  Level 8

Old Friends	The Players Guide	Pg. 82
Old Friends	The Players Guide Second Edition	Pg. 76
Trusted Confessor	Dark Ages Companion	Pg. 86
Old Friend	Guide to the Camarilla	Pg. 92
Phantom Haunter	Clanbook: Malkavian Revised	Pg. 62
Horrid Countenance	Players Guide to Low Clans	Pg. 151
Reaper of the Heart	Vampire: The Dark Ages 20th Anniversary Edition	Pg. 227

^  Level 9

Create Name	The Players Guide	Pg. 82
Create Name	The Players Guide Second Edition	Pg. 77
Create Name	Guide to the Camarilla	Pg. 92
Obscure God's Creation	Players Guide to Low Clans	Pg. 151
Obscure God's Creation	Vampire: The Dark Ages 20th Anniversary Edition	Pg. 227

^  Level 10

Memories Fading Glimpse	The Players Guide	Pg. 82
Memories Fading Glimpse	The Players Guide Second Edition	Pg. 77
Plot Device	Gehenna	Pg. 182