"One of the most wondrous and terrible properties of Kindred vitae is its ability to enslave nearly any being who drinks of it three times. Each sip of a particular Kindred's blood gives the Kindred in question a greater emotional hold over the drinker. If a being drinks three times, on three separate nights, from teh same Kindred, she falls victim to the state known as the BLOOD BOND. A vampire who holds a blood bond over another being is said to be that victim's regnant, while the being subordinate to the bond is called the thrall.
Put simply, a blood bond is one of the most potent emotional sensations known. A blood bound victim is absolutely devoted to her regnant and will do nearly anything for him. Even the most potent uses of Dominate cannot overcome the thrall's feelings for her regnant; only true love stands a chance against the bond, and even that is not a sure thing."
Above is a quote from the book that explains what a blood bond is. Here in THE EMBRACED we have house ruled how each step works and how one can be removed from the blood bond, please read on.
FAQ:
Can I blood bond to more than one person?
Yes and no. Your character may blood bond to as many level 1 and level 2 as they would like, however only one person can hold sway over your character at level 3. This said, your character will have horrific conflicts of interest if he or she has more than one person that they are bound to at level 2. See below for explanation.
Can my ghoul blood bond someone to me for me?
No, this is a metaphysical not a physical bond. It works like 'magic' connecting someone to your characters essence. Once imbibed the essence of the imbiber starts to take over the blood so, it in turn, is their blood that is causing the metaphysical bond to another.
What if my character doesn't try and break the thrall like how you have spelled out below?
Then the bond of either 2 or 3 drinks remains permanently or until you try and break it (so long as its past the month allotment due to WP).
What happens if I have multiple bonds?
Within THE EMBRACED, we feel that there has to be consequences to such actions as a bond is not something to be taken on lightly. When a character gains 5 points bound in any combination (3 and 2 ; 2, 2, and 1 ; Or 1 spread across 5 people) it starts to take an emotional toll on the character. They feel conflicted and unable to decide who to listen to, or whom they want to make happiest. Of course, a 3rd point bond would be stronger than a 2nd, however, the victim of the bond would still be torn to not make the lesser of the two happy as well. WP rolls may be needed to contradict either Regnant at ST discretion. This affect must be RPed out within THE EMBRACED setting; failure to do so is like ignoring a Merit or Flaw, it will result in XP loss.
FIRST DRINK:
"The drinker begins to experience intermittent but strong feelings about the vampire. She may dream of him or find herself "coincidentally" frequenting places where he might show up. There is no actual mechanical effect at this stage, but it should be role-played. All childer have this level of bond toward their sires, for the Embrace itself forces one drink upon the childer; they may love their "parents," hate them, or both, but are rarely indifferent toward them."
Our system: There is no actual mechanic that is imposed upon the character; but it must be played out.
- The first drink wears off after one month.
SECOND DRINK:
"The drinker's feelings grow strong enough to influence her behavior. Though she is by no means enslaved to the vampire, he is definitely an important figure in her life. She may act as she pleases, but might have to make a Willpower roll to take actions directly harmful to the vampire. The vampire's influence is such that he can persuade or command her with little effort (Social rolls against the thrall are at -1 difficulty)."
Our system: To get a thrall to do what your character wants; a social roll vs the opposite is needed at -1 to convince the thrall to do what the regnant wants.
- The second drink wears off in 12-WP months; at the month where it would wear off a WP roll dc 7 is need to break free of the thrall. A failure means you have to wait another 12-WP months to try again. A botch means that the thrall is now one step further into the bond, bringing them to 3 points.
THIRD DRINK:
"Full-scale blood bond. At thils level the drinker is more or less completely bound to the vampire. he is the most important person in her life; lovers, relatives and even childer become tertiary to her all-consuming passion.
At this level, a regnant may use Dominate Discipline on a thrall, even without the benefit of eye contact. Merely hearing the regnant's voice is enough. Additionally, should the thrallt ry to resist the Dominate for some reason, the difficulty of such resistance is increased by two. Naturally, a higher-generation vampire still cannot use Dominate on a lower-generation thrall.
The blood bond is true love, albeit a twisted and perverse version of it. Ultimately, we can't reduce the vagaries of love down to simple "yes/no" system. Some thralls (particularly people with the Conformist or other dependent Natures or with Willpower 5 or less) will commit any act, including suicide or murder, for their beloved; other characters have certian core principles that they will not violate."
Our system: While the other sites state - and actually play out - that no other bond can be formed as she is under the sway of her regnant and her regnant only; we in THE EMBRACED think that there should be consequences to drinking from another thinking that he is safe from a bond due to being bonded to another. It is true that you cannot have another third level bond; but you may have multiples of the other levels.
- The third drink wears off in 12-WP months; as with the second drink a WP roll must be made once the time is up, however this one is at DC 9. A failure means that you must wait another 12-WP months to try again. A botch means that the thrall will now do about anything to get another taste and consume the regnant fully into them through the act of Diablerie.