Instead of going into the current disciplines of clan Ventrue, which
will most likely be getting changed as the discipline system is getting
re-coded, I will use this page to give an overview of all the current disciplines
from a Ventrue's point of view.
Protean , abilities : Nightsight, Claws, Change.
Nightsight is one of those abilities that is useful, depending on which
other disciplines you have.
If you have Auspex for instance, Truesight renders this power useless,
but, for those lacking the
Auspex discipline, Nightsight is the next best thing, as there is nothing
more annoying than having
to carry a light around with you.
Claws kind of speaks for itself, handy if your hitting, and especially usefull if you also have Potence.
Change is a strange one, there is not much you can use Wolf or Bat form
for, unless you do not have the
abilities that they bestow upon you, mist form thankfully is a little
more useful, and can often allow
you to reach areas you could not normally get to.
Celerity.
Hmmm, a difficult one this, on the one hand, you should never turn
down the chance of getting more attacks
per round, on the other hand, if you are not hitting that much, if
at all, there are other disciplines that
do so much more for you, one for only the most specialist of kindred
warriors I think, and they had better
hope that they are really that good in a fight, as they have probably
sacrificed something more important
to get it.
Fortitude.
Now this one is nice, very nice in some situations.
Granted, in some situations, and among neonates it can do very little,
but in a prolonged fight between veteran
warriors, it can mean the difference between killing, and being killed.
I like it.
Potence.
Again, another discipline for the pure warrior, but a very handy one
at that.
Can be of little use if your not actually making contact with your
target, but, there are ways and means of using
it to great effect, very great effect if you use ir correctly in fact.
Obfuscate , abilities: Mask, Shield.
Mask is by far the most potent weapon in the arsenal of any deciever,
the ammount of damage it can do to an opponants
reputation is quiet frightening, and if used properly, can also be
useful for spreading confusion, and paranoia
amongst one's enemies.
Shield is something no kindred should be withought, not if they don't
want to be hunted easily anyway.
It's ability to hide ones location, and true nature is a most useful
tool, and allways helps to keep the opposition
guessing.
Obtenebration , abilities: Shadowplane,
Shadowsight, Nightsight.
Shadowplane has the same basic uses as the Protean, Mist From ability,
but with the disadvantage of not being able to
see where you are, not as useful in my opinion.
Shadowsight again is of little use if you have Auspex, but is a handy
addition to the Shadowplane ability.
Nightsight being exactly the same as the Protean ability of the same
name, has the same advantages and
disadvantages.
Dominate , abilities: Command, Evileye, and Shield.
Command is Dominates main function, and (should) allow you to control
those who are less powerful than yourself.
Note: Command currently does not work too well, and is in need of recoding,
however it is still of some use.
Evileye compels those stupid enough to meet the gaze of it's possessor,
to follow a single action.
Note: Evileye is out for recoding at the moment.
Shield: this is the same as the Obfuscate discipline shield command.
it renders you immune to Readaura, and Scry,
two of the Auspex abilities, and is very useful if used properly (ie.
if your not in damn mortal form all the time).
Serpentis , abilities: Serpent, Poison, and Darkheart.
Serpent unsurprisingly causes it's possessor to shape shift into serpent
form, handy for getting no-remove equipment
off, but other than that, not a lot of use, especially as everyone
can still see who you are.
Poison allows you to poison a blade, or other such weapon, and it's
use is pretty obvious, allthough I wouldn't put it on
any weapon I wanted to keep (don't say you wern't warned). Poison can
have some 'interesting' uses...
Darkheart can be very useful, as it renders you immune to staking (handy
if caught in a clan war).
unfortunatly, it doesn't render you immune to decapitation.
Auspex , abilities: Truesight, Readaura,
and Scry.
The usefullness of this discipline 'cannot' be stressed too much.
Truesight is a must for all kindred, only the gods and deities can hide
things from this, you will never have to fumble for
that ball of light again.
Readaura is a must both for a Ventrue, and more combat oriented clans,
allowing you at a glance to see the strengths
and weaknesses of a potential opponant (or ally). Of course, if they
are kindred, and have any wits about them, they will
have 'Shield'ed their aura from you.
Scry again is a must for the serious hunter, allthough if they are a
good hunter they can get by withought it.
It also has some more subtle uses, and is an invaluable aid to questing,
combined with the locate object spell.
That just about sums up the current disciplines, others may, or may
not, agree with the conclusions that I have come to.
Overall, each individual must choose what they choose, and make best
use of the disciplines that suit them, it really all
depends on exactly what you want to do.