So I have a player who came up with the idea of a character that thinks of herself as a true succubus due to her sire’s affinity for the demonic. She would like to play a Tzimisce of Catiff that has learned or had used on her, Vicissitude which has given her at least the appearance of the classic succubus (ie: horns, claws, beauty, a tail and possibly even wings.)
I’m not opposed to this and have worked with her on ways to hide her “nature” using clothing, or Obfuscate… My question lies more in functionality.
I would like to have her modifications have some sort of effect beyond cosmetic, but do not want them to overshadow disciplines. I was thinking that maybe the tail could be prehensile in some way or give her a bonus to balance. The wings wouldn’t let her fly but perhaps glide. I understand that a Viscissitude modification requires sacrificing a physical attribute to gain some benefit. Would an extra limb or glide ability be reasonable for this ability?
Just looking for some ideas maybe beyond what I have considered.
The player character could have easily been the servant/thrall of an old Tzimisce lord. “Guests” came to visit and became overly fond of the Tzimisce’s handiwork, and decided to make the PC their own. Their blood being weaker than that of the original domitor, resulted in the creation of the Catiff character…
Horns could be explained as an extreme body mod, there’s much worse in the real world.
Claws are easy; Potence.
Balance bonus; Cats Grace.
Flight; Movement of the Mind
Stunning or beautiful merits either one would work.
Wings and prehensile tail = Masquerade breach, so I’d really think twice about these. Instead she could be wearing cosplay equipment, that she believes is actually a part of her…a little touch of Malkavian maybe?
Being modified prior to the embrace would make all these changes permanent, so no worry about accidentally healing the body mods.
For ease, I’d make them all cosmetic changes only with no bonus. Maybe a +1 to climb or balance, or a +1 to roll with falls, but no more than that.
Older editions of WoD books had the Merit Wings, though, if you did want to go that route. I’m sure it could be adapted. Also, claws and horns could both use the rules for Feral Claws (albeit, the horns would require a charge to do their damage, but they might also give a +1 bonus in melee due to their longer reach keeping their enemy at bay).
Another option you may not have considered is to make the character a modified Gargoyle. Gargoyles get Flight (see V20 or the VTM Wiki), and would often also have horns and a tail.