The founder of the Dragolescu bloodline, Ioan Dragolescu, was always fascinated by the spirits of the dead, even when he was mortal. After his Embrace and during his subsequent journey through unlife, Ioan developed what he called “the Essentiaphagia theory.” In his treatise, which he made available first to the Blue Hand in 1905 and then to the Ordo Dracul in 1913, he posits that Vitae is nourishing to Kindred not because blood contains some mysterious but vital chemical or alchemical ingredient, but because it is charged with the soul — the essentia — of the vessel. Animals, as creations of the Lord, carry enough of this essentia to nourish young Kindred, but God’s curse on vampires quickly develops a more serious appetite, barring them from feeding on lower beasts. Since ghosts are beings of pure essentia, Dragolescu supposed it would be possible to feed on them directly, not only allowing a vampire to consume a more potent version of Vitae, but sidestepping many of the morale issues of feeding (since a ghosts cannot die again). The biggest stumbling block for Dragolescu, of course, was that his theorized method of ghost-consumption, called Essentiaphagia, hinged on taking physical sustenance from an incorporeal source. The Blue Hand labored long and hard with this problem, but it wasn’t until Dragolescu spoke with an elder Dragon about the forbidden practice of diablerie that he realized how he could change his theory into a practice. To teach his undead body how to drink an incorporeal soul, he would first consume a soul still housed in a physical body. This epiphany led to the Blue Hand Massacre (see p. XX). Shortly thereafter, Dragolescu began experimenting on ghosts more directly, in ways the covenant had never before seen.
The Essentiaphagia Discipline doesn’t require the practitioner to have ever committed diablerie, or even to really understand Dragolescu’s complex and arcane theories, though members of the bloodline are usually encouraged to read his works while honing their abilities with this Discipline. Each level of the Discipline includes an excerpt from Dragolescu’s writings on the subject.
Dragolescu’s Theory: “The wandering ghost is composed of pure essentia, and the place in which it lurks is thus saturated by it. With proper training, a strigoi can focus his hunger on this essentia, rather like the Beast focuses on blood. In this manner, we can see ghosts, though pure hunger does not facilitate communication; if a ghost does not wish to speak with us, we cannot force it to do so. Haunts become evident to the trained Essentiaphagist. Interestingly, sometimes mortals also appear significant when viewed in this manner, as though they are saturated with essentia. What makes a mortal appear thus? I cannot say, but faith and strength of will alone do not seem to be the only factors.”
This power allows the user to perceive ghosts and haunts by sensing the raw spiritual power they emit. The Kindred experiences this first as a sensation of hunger, even if she is currently sated. This feeling is followed by the sight of a luminous apparition (in the case of ghosts) or a faint, yellow glow seemingly cast by the air of a space itself (in the case of haunts).
Successful use of Hunger of Essentia allows the user to delineate the exact boundaries of a haunt and gain some inkling as to how powerful a ghost is. As Dragolescu’s theory mentions, however, it in no way compels a ghost to communicate with or even acknowledge the vampire.
Cost: —
Dice Pool: Wits + Occult + Essentiaphagia
Action: Extended. If the character is performing a quick check to see if any ghosts are in the vicinity or if an area is a haunt, this power requires just a single success. If the user wishes to see a ghost more clearly or delineate the boundaries of a haunt, she may continue to roll on subsequent turns to accumulate more successes. Seeing a ghost clearly requires a number of successes equal to that ghost’s current Essence score (see p. 208 of the World of Darkness Rulebook for more information on ghosts and Essence). Marking a haunt’s boundaries requires a number of successes based on how large the haunt is:
Haunt Size — Successes Required
A small apartment or underground chamber — 5
A larger apartment or small house — 10
A small warehouse, church or large house — 15
A large warehouse or a mansion — 20
A sprawling estate or vast network of tunnels — 25
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The character becomes hyper-attuned to essentia. Everything and everyone glows to her eyes, imposing a –2 penalty on all rolls involving her sight for the rest of the scene.
Failure: Failure indicates that the power simply does not activate, and no successes are achieved. The character knows this immediately and may try again next turn.
Success: With a single success, the character sees a ghost as a ball of light or a faint glow, while the heart of a haunt appears tinted with a faint, dusky glow. With more successes, the character manages to make out more details. When the necessary number of successes have been accumulated, the character sees a ghost clearly (and may be able to identify it) or knows the exact boundaries of a haunt.
Exceptional Success: Extra successes are their own reward, as the character is able to make out more of a ghost’s or haunt’s features.
This power allows the user to see a ghost or haunt normally, until the glow leaves her sight (this can occur if the ghost flees the area or if the character moves so that the haunt is no longer in her field of vision, for example). If this happens, she must use the power again to regain sight of her subject.
Suggested Modifiers
Modifier Situation
+1 to +3 The character has texts that aid in identifying ley lines and Wyrm’s Nests. (Only applies to haunts.)
+1 to +2 The character has researched the history of the area or ghost to be seen. (+1 per five successes on the research action.)
+1 The character has not yet fed that night. (Only applies to ghosts.)
— The character looks for traces of essentia in a calm space with medium light and noise levels.
–1 to –3 The character is distracted by excess noise or light.
Dragolescu’s Theory: “We have seen the residue left by ghostly visitations, and seen this so-called ectoplasm drip from the mouth, nose and eyes of mediums during states of possession, automatic writing and trance. Mortal spiritualists have their theories, of course, but I hypothesize that this substance is a kind of ‘waste essentia.’ Thus it is no more pure, for our purposes, than human Vitae, but might have other uses. A strigoi who knew nothing of the Coils would very likely have no facility for metabolizing ectoplasm, but I, as a Scholar of Hunger, should find this no challenge.”
This power allows the Kindred to draw Ectoplasm from a ghost or medium and consume it. While Ectoplasm can be used to increase a vampire’s blood pool slightly, it is better used to fuel later levels of Essentiaphagia.
To use this power on a ghost, the character must first find it, usually through the use of Hunger for Essentia, and that ghost must be within a few yards of the character. If the ghost manifests before the Kindred, however, the character may attempt to Draw Ectoplasm at that point (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 210, for details on manifestation). If used on a medium, the subject must be actively involved in contacting or channeling a ghost for this power to have any effect.
Cost: —
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult + Essentiaphagia versus the subject’s Power + Resistance (for ghosts) or Resolve + Composure (for mediums)
Action: Contested; resistance is reflexive
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The vampire’s own essentia becomes caught in a sort of back draft. The Kindred bleeds from the mouth, nose and eyes, losing one point of Vitae for every success the subject rolls.
Failure: The character loses or ties the contested roll. No Ectoplasm is drawn out, but the character may try again on her next turn.
Success: The vampire wins the contested roll. The subject oozes Ectoplasm, which the vampire can then collect and consume. See below for details.
Exceptional Success: The vampire wins the contested roll and tastes the target’s essentia directly. The vampire gains a Willpower point (not to exceed the character’s Willpower dots) in addition to any Ectoplasm drawn forth.
If the vampire succeeds in drawing Ectoplasm, the subject produces one unit (or point, referred to simply as Ectoplasm) of the substance per success on the vampire’s player’s roll. Ectoplasm appears as a milky-white or yellow substance, about the same consistency as very thick mucous. One Ectoplasm amounts to roughly two ounces of material. Ghosts, including those being channeled by mediums, lose one Essence for every Ectoplasm they exude, though mediums do not suffer any adverse effects from the process. Ectoplasm extracted from a medium leaks from his nose, eyes and mouth. If extracted directly from a ghost, it simply falls to the ground. It evaporates by the end of the scene if not consumed. A vampire cannot take more Ectoplasm from a given ghost than that ghost has Essence, and a ghost’s final point of Essence cannot be taken using this power.
A vampire can hold Ectoplasm in her undead body indefinitely. Kindred using the Auspex power Heightened Senses notice a strangely sweet, moldy scent of decay around vampires holding Ectoplasm. A vampire can hold an amount of Ectoplasm in her body equal to her Stamina + Size.
A vampire who consumes Ectoplasm has the following options:
Suggested Modifiers
Modifier Situation
+3 The ghost is a willing participant. (The contested roll is still necessary, however, as this power forces Essence to take physical form through means not natural to the ephemeral stuff of the ghost.)
+2 The medium is a willing participant. (The contested roll is still necessary, however, as the medium’s body cannot be so easily persuaded.)
— The power is turned on an unwitting ghost or medium.
–2 The power is turned on a ghost (or a medium channel ing a ghost) within 2 yards per Power of its anchor.
Dragolescu’s Theory: “A ghost may, if it is so inclined and is powerful enough, wreak great change on the area around it. I have observed ghosts shattering mirrors, coating walls in blood, calling up swarms of flies, dropping the temperature of an area considerably and even terrifying mortals almost to death. These effects, I believe, are nothing more than the result of a ghost’s essentia released from its incorporeal frame and diffused about an area. Indeed, a skilled Essentiaphagist may accomplish the same effects to whatever end, provided he first consumes enough ectoplasm.”
This intermediate-level power allows the Essentiaphagist to cause frightening, ghost-like effects in a given area. Kindred can use this power to simulate a haunted site, to frighten mortals away or even to attract ghosts to be fed upon.
Cost: 2 Ectoplasm or 1 Ectoplasm plus 2 Vitae
Dice Pool: Presence + Occult + Essentiaphagia
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Kindred loses control of the effect. The essentia dissipates harmlessly, and the vampire loses any remaining Ectoplasm she has stored in her body.
Failure: The character fails to invoke the desired effect. She may try again.
Success: The character infuses her immediate area with the echoes of ghostly essentia. The exact effects of the character’s successes depend on the power sparked by the Ectoplasm. The Storyteller decides what specific Numina are mimicked by the Ectoplasm’s power, but they are often reminiscent of the ghost from which the Ectoplasm was taken.
Exceptional Success: The character infuses the area with essentia, but the effects are more potent or difficult to resist. The character may be able to select the Numen to be mimicked, if the Storyteller deems he knows enough about ghostly powers to tell one from another.
This power can mimic the effects of the Clairvoyance, Ghost Sign, Magnetic Disruption, Phantasm, Telekinesis and Terrify Numina, described on p. 111–112 of the World of Darkness Rulebook. The Storyteller decides which Numen powers are sparked. This decision may be based on the ghost from which the character’s Ectoplasm was drawn, but Ectoplasm is a strangely reactive substance and may produce altogether different effects when filtered through the curse of vampirism.
The roll to activate this power substitutes for the dice pool normally asked for the manifested Numen. The character may be able to consciously guide the effects of the Numen (to cause a specific message to be written with Ghost Sign, for example), but just as often the effects manifest as a spontaneous reflection of the character’s own psyche. Many Essentiaphagists, therefore, are just as frightened by the effects of this power as an audience might be. Effects of Essentia Diffusion never cause damage and cannot alter their surroundings in devastating ways. For instance, this power has never been known to cause flammable items to ignite, although it might make candles flare brightly or turn blue. Sometimes spectral images appear, but they are always hazy and indistinct. All effects of this power, including physical effects such as blood or fog, fade at the end of the scene.
Suggested Modifiers
Modifier Situation
+3 Area is already a haunt.
Special Any modifier that a ghost would receive to manifest (see p. 210 of the World of Darkness Rulebook) applies to this power.
Dragolescu’s Theory: “Cognito, ergo sum, as the saying goes. Where ghosts are concerned, this statement takes on literal truth. A ghost is often nothing more than an echo of cognition, and even more powerful ghosts are best defined by their knowledge, belief and desire than anything else. If it is true that a ghost’s essentia is its knowledge, by consuming that essentia it should be possible to consume knowledge. Always present, of course, is the risk of learning things that one does know truly wish to know, but as a creature of science, I will take that risk.”
This vile power allows a vampire to steal knowledge and memories from a ghost. A Kindred can temporarily become an expert in various fields of knowledge in this manner, but the skill she accrues fades from memory quickly, often within moments. The damage inflicted upon the ghost “donors,” however, may be irreparable. As such, Dragolescu rarely use this power except in dire situations, and only upon ghosts that they do not wish to have any further contact with. A ghost subjected to this power certainly regards the vampire as a dire enemy from that point on.
As with Draw Ectoplasm, use of Mnemophagia requires that the character be able to see the ghost, and that it is within 10 feet of the vampire. The Ectoplasm used to fuel this power does not have to come from the ghost being targeted.
Cost: 4 Ectoplasm plus 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Resolve + Occult + Essentiaphagia – subject’s Resistance
Action: Contested
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The Kindred inadvertently opens her mind to the ghost. The ghost may possess the vampire automatically if it has the Possession Numen (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p. 212). If not, the vampire loses one Willpower point per success on the ghost’s roll, and the ghost gains a like amount of Essence.
Failure: The character loses or ties the contested roll. The ghost understands that the character has attacked it in some way and may flee or counterattack as it sees fit.
Success: The character wins the contested roll. The vampire gains temporary dots in one or more Skills as described below.
Exceptional Success: The character wins the contested roll. There is no further effect beyond the benefits that come with a greater number of successes.
For every success, the vampire gains one dot of a Skill. This Skill must be one that the ghost knew in life. The vampire can choose, in general terms, which memories she consumes, but has no way to know what specific knowledge these memories impart. In game terms, the Storyteller chooses what Skills gain temporary dots.
The vampire cannot absorb information the ghost does not know. As such, absorbing information from the ghost of a doctor who died in 1950 yields very different information than one who died in 1999, although they can both grant temporary dots in Medicine.
Example: A Dragolescu vampire consumes the ghost of a soldier, looking for skills to help her fight. The dead soldier in question probably had some facility in Brawl and Weaponry, so the Storyteller divides successes up among those three Skills. If she is generous, she may ask the player if his character seeks specific memories (an image of bloodshed and shining steel, the remembered report of a rifle shot) that would narrow the choice down.
Alternately, the vampire can opt to learn specific memories instead of Skills, sifting through the ghost’s memories and consuming images and information pertinent to a given topic. The vampire adds the ghost’s Power as a bonus to any Intelligence-based dice pools involving the recollection of memories or information the ghost might have known.
Whatever information or Skills a vampire takes, it fades at the next sunrise. The vampire can take notes before then, but should take care to write down everything she needs to know, including any context required for the memory to make sense.
The character must choose whether she seeks temporary Skill dots or the ghost’s Power when this power is first activated. Once a ghost has been subjected to this power, it cannot be subjected to it again until the next night. This power unravels a ghost’s mind, causing it permanent damage as memories fade and experiences are confused. A ghost stolen from in this way has its Power trait reduced by one.
Suggested Modifiers
Modifier Situation
+2 The Ectoplasm used to fuel this power came from the target ghost.
-1 Each anchor the ghost has makes it more difficult to consume.
-1 to –5 This power has been turned on the subject ghost before.
Dragolescu’s Theory: “This is the pinnacle of my work, the goal I have worked toward for so long. How many have been ruined, their souls lost to Hell or received by Heaven, for me to find this knowledge? This is the Tree of Knowledge, this is what Our Lord bade us shun. But why? A test? Why should we quake at this threshold? I, for one, choose to stride boldly forward. More must die, more souls must be lost, but if I am successful, I will transcend!”
Ioan Dragolescu’s mad theories aside, this power does not lead to the vaunted transcendence that the Dragons seek. It does, however, open the door to power and knowledge beyond what many vampires achieve. Of course, this power has its price — for Dragolescu, that price was his very existence. The Ordo Dracul strictly forbids use of Ghost Consumption and its use is a violation of the law prohibiting entering the service of spirits. This isn’t precisely fair, as the power doesn’t force the user into a servile relationship with a ghost, but it was enough to convict Dragolescu. The issue has not come up since, but given the other factors involved in Dragolescu’s case, it’s possible that a new “trial” might end differently.
Ghost Consumption allows a vampire to devour a ghost. Unlike Mnemophagia, in which part of the ghost is damaged so that the vampire may gain knowledge, the ghost actually survives the process of being “eaten” with Ghost Consumption. The vampire gains access to most of the ghost’s powers and all of its memories, but the ghost gains the vampire’s memories as well. This, perhaps, is the source of the covenant’s fear of the power.
As with Draw Ectoplasm and Mnemophagia, this power requires the vampire be able to see her target. In addition, the vampire must be close enough to “touch” the subject (even though the ghost may be ephemeral). Specifically, the vampire must be close enough to “breathe the ghost in,” as Dragolescu once described it.
Cost: 5 Ectoplasm and 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult + Essentiaphagia versus subject’s Power + Resistance
Action: Extended and contested; resistance is reflexive. The vampire needs a number of successes equal to the ghost’s permanent Corpus rating. The ghost needs a number of successes equal to the vampire’s Willpower.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: A dramatic failure is rolled for the vampire. The ghost escapes the attack and may retaliate or flee as it wishes. In addition, the vampire can never attempt to use this power on that particular ghost again.
Failure: The character fails to consume the ghost before his will is broken. The ghost escapes and may flee or attack as it wishes.
Success: The character achieves the necessary number of successes before the ghost does and consumes it.
Exceptional Success: The character wins the contested roll. Exceptional success has no effect beyond the benefits of a rapid victory.
If the character successfully consumes the ghost, the spirit takes up residence in the character’s body. The character can only have one ghost inhabiting her body at one time. This has the following effects:
The ghost may attempt to escape in the following circumstances: whenever the vampire enters slumber for the day (which may never happen, depending upon which Coils the vampire knows), whenever the vampire rifles through the memories from the ghost to assign her temporary Skill dots and whenever the vampire uses the first four levels of the Essentiaphagia Discipline. Escape requires a contested roll of the ghost’s Power + Finesse versus the vampire’s Resolve + Occult + Essentiaphagia. The vampire’s resistance is reflexive.
Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The ghost does not escape but the vampire is aware that it tried.
Failure: The ghost fails to escape, but the vampire is unaware that it tried.
Success: The ghost escapes, and may immediately spend a Willpower point to flee to one of its anchors. If it has no remaining anchors, it immediately passes on.
Exceptional Success: The ghost escapes, and tears the vampire’s mind and body asunder as it leaves. The ghost makes a reflexive Power roll, and the vampire suffers aggravated damage equal to the roll’s successes and loses a like number of Willpower points.
Suggested Modifiers
Modifier Situation
+2 Ghost is being channeled through a medium.
+2 The Ectoplasm used to fuel this power came from the target ghost.
+/-1 Each anchor the ghost has penalizes the vampire’s dice pool to consume it and adds to the ghost’s dice pool to escape.