This Discipline relates to the powers of darkness. It allows the user to manipulate darkness and possibly the abyss in a powerful manner. This Discipline is primarily practiced by the Lasombra.

The vampire can manipulate shadows and dim (though not extinguish) light in an area. Among other uses (such as eliminating the vampire's own shadow), this power gives the vampire an extra die on Stealth rolls and Intimidation rolls ( the vampire is able to subtly manipulate the shadows around her body to make her appear more menacing).

System: This power requires no roll, but a Blood Point must be spent to activate it.

The vampire can evoke an area of inky black matter. The darkness obscures light and even sound; most opponents trapped within are completely blind, and even characters with Gleam of Red Eyes or Heightened Senses suffer penalties of three dice to their Pools. The darkness is normally static; the vampire may move it about (at walking speed), but must fully concentrate on such a task.

System: For every success on a Manipulation + Occult roll (difficulty 7), a 10' area may be covered in the shadowy stuff. The range of this power is 50 yards. The Shroud may even be summoned in an area the vampire cannot see (such as the room behind a closed door at which the vampire stands), but the difficulty of such a feat is increased by two, and a Blood Point must be spent.

The vampire can summon one or more tendrils of darkness from a shadowy area to grasp foes. Each tendril has a Strength of 4, a Dexterity of 3 and a Brawl of 2 (for the purpose of grasping).

System: A Manipulation + Occult roll must be made (difficulty 7); successes must be spent to call up the tentacles (one per success) and to increase their length (the base tendril is six feet long, plus another six feet per success spent) .

The vampire may evoke murky and indistinct shadowy images. They may be of the vampire himself (useful for a diversion), monsters or even inanimate objects. The images are completely incorporeal and attacks merely pass through them. They are man-sized; however, successes may be spent to create larger images. Alternately, this power may be used to shroud and obscure the general area with a bewildering array of flitting forms, confusing and disorienting the vampire's enemies.

System: The vampire may create one Nightshade for each success on a Wits + Occult roll (difficulty 7). Successes may also be used to double the size of the object.

Alternately, one success can be used to cover a 10-foot area with flitting shadows; each additional success adds five feet to the diameter. Opponents (and allies who do not possess Obtenebration!) in the display have their initiative difficulties increased by three and suffer a one die penalty to all Dice Pools.

The vampire can turn her body into an oozing form of shadow. In this form, the vampire may see in pitch darkness, slither through the tiniest of cracks, and is immune to physical harm (although she may not attack physically either). Fire and sunlight still do their normal damage, and indeed are more painful to a vampire in this form-- to the extent that difficulties to avoid the Rotschreck ( if the terror is induced by these substances) are one higher in this form. Shadowy vampires may not fly, but may slither along surfaces at normal speeds.

System: Three Blood Points must be expended to evoke this power, and the change takes three turns.

This power enables the vampire to summon the dark force within himself. The darkness emerges from the mouth of the vampire and envelops a chosen target, draining her life force. The Lamprey, as this darkness is named, sucks one point of blood from the victim per turn. The damage takes the appearance of hundreds of tiny bites. This power can be used to kill mortals but may not drain blood from other vampires. It will, however, increase all their difficulties by three; furthermore, the terrifying feeling of being chewed upon forces the vampiric victims to successfully roll Courage (difficulty 8) or enter Rotschreck. The Lamprey returns through the mouth of the user and gives him Blood Points equal to half the amount of blood drained.

System: While the Lamprey is in action, the vampire cannot perform any action other than concentrating on the Lamprey itself. The Lamprey is immune to all physical harm but may be destroyed by magical attacks (Stamina 4 to soak, but any damage destroys it). If the vampire is attacked while controlling the Lamprey, it automatically returns to the vampire's body.

The vampire can walk through one shadow and exit another up to 50 feet away. This power acts as a limited form of teleportation. The vampire may use it to bypass solid walls, ascend a floor in a building, and get around other obstacles. The vampire may also try to use this power to pull others through a shadow to him. The vampire may do this by reaching into the shadow, grabbing the victim and pulling the victim through the shadow to his own location.

System: The vampire must decide where he will emerge before he enters and inform the Storyteller of the decision. He must make an Intelligence + Stealth Roll (difficulty 6) to go anywhere. Failure means he goes nowhere, while a botch.... ouch. Pulling someone through requires at least two successes on an Intelligence + Brawl roll (difficulty of 7). One success means the target is grabbed but goes nowhere.

The vampire is able to see anything that goes on within the dark force created by any other use of this Discipline. Thus, the vampire could evoke the Shroud of Night (Level Two) in another room and clairvoyantly scan the area within. The vampire also automatically receives the Protean power Gleam of Red Eyes. Finally, as long as the vampire is not in a well-lit area, she may view her surroundings from anywhere within 50 feet of her own body just by closing her eyes and concentrating.

The vampire may animate his/her own shadow, employing it as a sentry and even combatant. The vampire must be in an area where she cast a shadow for this power to be effective. One unnerving side effect of prolonged use of this power is a growing semi-independence and even sentience on the part of the shadow. A vampire who uses this power occasionally finds her shadow leaping and capering about of its own accord, trailing unnaturally far behind the vampire, or even mocking the vampire behind her back.

System: The vampire must spend a Blood Point and roll Willpower (difficulty 8). Any success brings the shadow to life, while a botch animates a shadow hostile to its creator. The shadow is incapable of communication. It has ratings equal to half its creator's in her Attributes and Abilities (round down), except for Stealth, which is equal to that of its master. It has no Disciplines save Obtenebration, which is likewise equal to half its creators. The shadow may separate from its master and travel up to 150 feet away, and can slither under cracks and up walls. The shadow lasts for one hour per success on the Willpower roll, but disappears at sunrise in any case. The shadow may be physically attacked as normal, and if it is "killed" the vampire loses half her Willpower, must immediately roll to avoid the Rotschreck (difficulty 9), and may not employ this power for a month.

This power allows the vampire to encase a single person in impenetrable darkness. The darkness is so potent that a victim trapped within will suffocate after a number of minutes equal to her own Stamina. Once within, the victim cannot break free by normal means. The vampire may manipulate the darkness so that it will entrap a victim without causing suffocation. The darkness lasts as long as it is not exposed to sunlight, but once exposed to sunlight, it dissipates immediately. If the victim is a vampire, she will not suffocate, but may end up under direct sunlight.

System: Trapping a victim requires a Wits + Security roll (difficulty equals the target's Dexterity + Occult).

The vampire is able to summon three (or fewer) shades, creatures made of solid darkness. While shades may be injured normally, they act as if they are uninjured until they reach the level of Incapacitated, at which point they dissipate (i.e., they suffer no wound penalties). The shades will serve the vampire for one full night at a time if they are not destroyed in combat. While they do possess a limited degree of sentience, they fully serve the vampire's verbal commands.

System: When using this power for the first time, the creator must spend five Blood Points and one point of Willpower to evoke each shade (the blood is spilled in a pool on the ground and the shade emerges from the darkness to drink it), and must do the same to call forth a new shade if one is destroyed. Each time the shades are called up, their master must spend one Blood Point per shade (a "snack" for the creatures). Shades can appear only if there is a shadowy area from which to emerge.

This power allows the vampire to draw forth a darkness so powerful that it sucks the life out of all caught within it. The abyss takes the bodies of the slain with it when it returns to the place from whence it came. The abyss springs forth from the hand of the vampire and stays for only one turn before leaving. The abyss attacks everyone other than the caster within a 50-foot radius of the vampire.

System: The summoner must spend two Willpower points and spend three turns in concentration. At the end of that time, she makes an Intelligence + Stealth roll (difficulty 6). Everyone still within that area takes that much damage; this damage can only be soaked with Fortitude.

The vampire can remove his victim from this world and send him to the abyss from whence the darkness originates. None have ever escaped this doom on their own.

What happens in the abyss is left to the Storyteller's fiendish imagination.