Scum: The Masquerade

Scum: The Masquerade is a Lancasterian game, popular among early CTYers.

History

The official rule document for Scum: The Masquerade reads:

Scum: the Masquerade is a game that was created at a happy little place we lovingly call CTY Lancaster. One problem with this joyous, lovable place is the illegality of role-playing games. Many of the students shared a love of these so-called "RPG's," namely Vampire: the Masquerade, and would find a legal way to play them, no matter what. Another thing that these CTY students shared was a love of card games, especially a certain game called Scum. This was a freeform game that lent itself to the adaptation of many new twists. So then, the ever mind-boggling question was answered: What happens when you stick Vampire: the Masquerade and Scum together in a blender? And yes, the outcome was Scum: the Masquerade. This game quickly caught on at CTY and is now played by a vast number of CTYers.

This version of the rules borrows heavily from the text of the rule set by Adam Leeds and Vinay Patel, which is in turn based on the third edition rules by Josh Symonds and Mike Mishkin; however, whenever possible, I have tried to take the actual tabletop Vampire rules into account as far as powers and rules, so I felt the differences were great enough to warrant calling this rule set version 4.

The following is a description of how this game is played:

Scum, also known as Chinese Poker, Capitalism, Asshole, President, Presidents and Assholes, The Great Dalmuti, and Scum, is an incredibly fun game. Scum isn't too hard of a game to understand, the hard part is the Masquerade. Already knowing how to play one of the games listed above does help to understand Scum: the Masquerade, but you should still read over the basic rules due to some minor rule variations.

Scum can be played with anywhere from four to eight players, though playing with six or more requires that two decks be used. Cards are dealt evenly amongst the players, and the object of the game is to be the first player to get rid of all your cards.

S:tM Lexicon

In logical rather than alphabetical order.

• S:tM: Scum: The Masquerade.
• Disciplines: Powers in the game, chosen before each player picks up a hand. They can only be chosen if a player ascends from Scum, to Prince, or to Justicar, and no player can have more than three. Disciplines fall into three categories: clan disciplines, common disciplines, and mortal scum disciplines. Clan disciplines are unique to each type of Clan, and cannot be chosen by anyone outside of that type of clan. Common disciplines can be chosen by anyone besides the scum, and scum can choose from the scum disciplines, which are generally weaker.
• Justicar: The highest position in the game (for Camarilla), the Justicar has the right to choose what rule set will be used for as long as he is Justicar. He also has first pick of Clan. Justicar can also grant Boons. Normally, the Justicar leads with the first hand of a round, but the Justicar may choose any other player to lead.
• Mortal Scum: The lowest position and an object of scorn.
• Catiff: The second lowest position. It is the duty of the Catiff to insult the other players, especially at the request of players with higher rank.
• Prince: The second highest position in the game, the Prince may choose a clan and also has the power to call a Blood Hunt. A Blood Hunt calls the game to vote a player out.
• Clan: A Clan is chosen by the Prince and Justicar. Each clan has it's own set of three disciplines, some of which are unique disciplines that people outside the clan may not choose.
• Revolution: When the scum becomes Justicar the round ends and all ranks are reversed.

Rank order

Camarilla:

• 4 players: Justicar, Prince, Caitiff, Mortal Scum
• 5 players: Justicar, Prince, Seneschal, Caitiff, Mortal Scum
• 6 players: Justicar, Prince, Seneschal, Sheriff, Caitiff, Mortal Scum
• 7 players: Justicar, Prince, Seneschal, Sheriff, Harpy, Caitiff, Mortal Scum
• 8 players: Justicar, Prince, Seneschal, Sheriff, Harpy, Primatene, Caitiff, Mortal Scum

Rules

One deck

The rules of S:tM use the basic gameplay of [[Scum] as a frame. There are quite a few differences however. For instance the order of highest to lowest number value goes 2, A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, but 2 has no special values. Also there is a hierarchy of suit: hearts is the highest, then spades, then diamonds, then clubs. S:tM also adds two more playable hands: a straight (five in a row) and a full house (two of a kind plus three of a kind). The first round is played without any disciplines chosen. In the second round, each player chooses a clan or a set of three disciplines. Each clan comes with three disciplines.

The below is a list of only the Camarilla disciplines and clans, with inclusion of scum disciplines. After the cards are dealt, the Justicar and Prince choose their clans (or disciplines); players then pick disciplines by order of rank highest to lowest.

Clans

Camarilla

• Brujah (Disciplines: Celerity, Potence, Presence)
• Malkavian (Disciplines: Auspex, Dominate, Obfuscate)
• Nosferatu (Disciplines: Animalism, Obfuscate, Potence)
• Toreador (Disciplines: Auspex, Celerity, Presence)
• Tremere (Disciplines: Auspex, Dominate, Thaumaturgy)
• Ventrue (Disciplines: Dominate, Fortitude, Presence)

Sabbat

• Brothers - Fortitude, Potence, Sanguinus
• Harbingers of Skulls - Auspex, Fortitude, Necromancy; may take Mortuus Path Necromancy as 2nd in-clan dot with a dot of Necromancy
• Kiasyd - Dominate, Mytherceria, Obtenebration
• Salubri Antitribu - Auspex, Fortitude, Valeren
• Tzimisce (Koldun) - Animalism, Auspex, Koldunic Sorcery

Independent

• Assamites (viziers) - Obfuscate, Quietus, Thaumaturgy
• Baali - Daimoinon, Obfuscate, Presence
• Daughters of Cacophony - Fortitude, Melpominee, Presence
• Followers of Set (Serpent Warriors) - Potence, Presence, Serpentis
• Laibon - Abombwe, Animalism, Fortitude
• Nagaraja - Auspex, Dominate, Necromancy; may take Vitreous Path Necromancy as 2nd in-clan dot with Necromancy)
• Ravnos (Phuri Dae) - Auspex, Animalism, Chimerstry
• Salubri - Auspex, Fortitude, Obeah
• Samedi - Fortitude, Obfuscate, Thanatosis; may take Necromancy as out-of-clan if desired.
• True Brujah - Potence, Presence, Temporis

Lost Clans and Bloodlines

• Ahrimanes - Animalism, Fortitude, Spiritus; may take Protean as out of clan if desired
• Cappadocians - Auspex, Fortitude, Mortis
• Children of Osiris - All Children of Osiris must take two dots of Bardo, plus one dot of any other discipline, even a unique one; this is because the Children gain new members only by conversion and not by the Embrace, since their blood is infertile.
• Lamia - Deimos, Mortis, Potence
• Lhiannan - Animalism, Ogham, Presence
• Telyavelic Tremere - Auspex, Presence, Thaumaturgy
• Tremere Antitribu - Auspex, Dominate, Thaumaturgy

Disciplines

Common Disciplines

• Animalism – Choose a rank between 3 and 10, inclusive and search through the discard pile for one. If there exists more than one, you may choose the suit. The card is then added to your crypt. The card may be from the hand you’re playing on, but may not be the high card in that hand. If you are Presence'd after you use Animalism, you must keep the card and the Animalism is considered used. If no card with the chosen rank can be drawn, the Animalism is wasted.

• Auspex - Examine another player’s crypt OR cancel any use of Obfuscate OR cancel any use of Chimerstry. It is considered bastardly to announce to others what cards are in another players’ crypt. If Auspex is used to cancel a discipline, both the Auspex and the other discipline are considered used. Non-game related uses of Auspex are permissible; they follow a simple question-and-yes-or-no-answer format.

• Celerity - Play immediately on the hand that you just played OR cancel a usage of Temporis. You must pass on your next turn (within the trick) after using the primary usage of Celerity (obviously, you cannot pass if you gain the lead through Celerity). If you play Celerity after Obfuscate, both hands must beat the second-highest hand and go under the current high hand. No other players can do anything mid-Celerity; it's just too damn fast (unless they have Temporis; see Temporis for an explanation). You may not ever control the disciplines of Celerity and Temporis at the same time. No other rules may be followed to create this situation.

• Dark Thaumaturgy - Imitate any common discipline as it applies to clubs (see Meta-Disciplines). Anyone, even the Caitiff, may take Dark Thaumaturgy as out-of-clan; however, see the Infernalism section under "Special Rules" for an explanation of its downside.

• Dominate - Force someone to play. If you are of a higher rank than they are, you can tell them how to play, e.g., "Beat this as high as you can," or "Beat this as low as you can," or "Beat this with the 7♥." If the player cannot play as you have ordered, then the discipline is considered used. A Dominate'd player may be Presence'd, but the Domination carries over until the player is not Presence'd. If a player cannot play on the hand or goes out, then the Domination is lost. Dominate cannot force the use of disciplines. Dominate cannot be used on a lead. Non-game-related uses of Dominate are permissible and usually consist of commanding a player to get snacks or act like an animal. All uses of Dominate, even non-game-related ones, must be positive rather than negative; you must be telling someone to do something rather than not to do something. A command such as "Avoid doing x" stills count as negative, so it is not allowed.

• Fortitude - Increase the value of your entire hand by 1 when someone tries to play on it (essentially delayed-reaction Potence). May be used when someone who is trying to play on your hand uses Potence or Visceratika. If the hand played on the Fortitude’d hand no longer beats it, it is returned to the player and all disciplines used on that hand are considered unused and it is still that player’s turn.

• Obfuscate - Play under the hand just played OR cancel a use of Auspex used on you (in this case, both the dot of Obfuscate and the dot of Auspex are considered used). The hand you play must beat the hand it is played over, although not necessarily be lower than the hand it’s played under. Obfuscate counts as your turn; therefore, you may not Obfuscate if Presence'd. Obfuscate cannot be used either under the lead or as the lead. You may not take the lead by using Obfuscate. You also may not Obfuscate under something you played (because that’s the same as Celerity, you cheater). You may not go out using Obfuscate.

• Potence - Raise the value of all cards in the hand you play by 1. A Potenced 2 becomes an e (2.71828) (and if subsequently Fortitude'd, it becomes a π (3.14159)). May still be used after someone uses Fortitude on the hand you're trying to play on.

• Presence - Force someone to pass once. This is generally considered a bitchy thing to do, as it is quite intrusive. It cannot be used on the lead. Presence must be used before the person puts their hand on the table (or floor or whatever). This applies to powers that mimic Presence as well (i.e. Thaumaturgy-Presence). You may use this to stop someone from using Chimerstry, Daimoinon, or such a power after they've already declared that they're using it (but certainly before the next player in turn plays), but that power is considered not used in this case (so they can just pull it out again on their next turn).

Mortal Scum Disciplines

• Annoying Little Kid (a.k.a. "squirrel") - 10 dots of non-game-related Auspex (yes, ten questions that must be truthfully answered). (Think Elmira from “Tiny Toons” - "Why?" "Why?" "Why?" "Why?" "Why?"... ad infinitum)

• Cute Little Fluffy Bunny of Death (a.k.a. "Bunnicula") - One dot of non-game-related Auspex (e.g., What color is your underwear?), one dot of Super-Duper-Old-School Auspex (which allows you to look at the back of someone's crypt - yes, the red or blue side, not the important side), and one dot of Cute Little Bastard (which acts as a Presence, even on a lead, but a sickeningly cute face must be made in order for it to work correctly - a consensus of players must agree to the face's cuteness. If the face is deemed not cute enough, the dot is wasted).

• Fortune-Teller - 3 dots of Auspex; non-game-related use is strongly encouraged.

• Ghoul (independent) - These are sub-vampires who are usually very physically-oriented. Put one dot each into two of the following three disciplines: Potence, Celerity, and Fortitude.

• Ghoul (servitor) - Sub-vampires with a vampire sponsor. Choose a non-Sabbat player to be your domitor; that person can use Dominate on you for free without having or spending any dots of it. Put one dot into one of the following three disciplines: Potence, Celerity, and Fortitude. Also put one dot into one of your domitor's disciplines (even a clan-unique).

• Hedge Mage - Practitioners of mortal magical paths. They receive one dot of Dark Thaumaturgy (but are impervious to Infernalism) and one dot of Path of Corruption (see Meta-Disciplines).

• Inquisitor - A student of the occult who has somehow discovered the existence of vampires. They have one dot of Inquisition or "I threaten to break the Masquerade." Every player then must pass; in other words, the player who last played instantly gains the lead. The Mortal Scum usually uses this power only on himself, but it may be used for others.

• Librarian - 3 dots of Quietus, primary use only (Sssh!). Justicars are encouraged to think carefully before allowing this in a four-player game.

• Man of Faith - Two dots of Bardo.

• Revenant - Ghouls who are born and bred with diluted vampiric blood in their veins. Put two dots into two of the following disciplines: Potence, Celerity, Fortitude, Vicissitude, Animalism, and Auspex. Because Revenants only exist in the Sabbat, they may only be played when at least one Sabbat vampire is in play. Also, because the Tzimisce created the Revenant Families, all Tzimisce are treated as domitors to a Revenant and receive the Dominate benefit (see above, under Ghoul (servitor)).

• School Teacher- 3 dots of non-game-related Auspex, 3 dots of non-game-related Dominate (being overly pedantic with these is strongly encouraged).

• True Mage - 1 dot of True Magic (see Meta-Disciplines).

• Vampire Hunter - 1 dot of Potence, 1 dot of Wooden Stake (force one vampire (this may not be used on yourself!) to pass for the rest of the trick; may not be used on a lead).

• Vozhd (war ghoul) - Hideous creations of the Tzimisce, made from several people grafted together with Vicissitude to form an incredibly strong, angry beast. 1 dot of Potence, 1 dot of GRAAAAAGH! (Same as Cute Little Bastard, except a horribly disfigured/disgusting/scary face and an equally disfigured/disgusting/scary noise must be made for it to work correctly. Again, if players deem it not scary enough, the discipline does not take effect and is wasted.)

• Woman of Faith - One dot of Obeah, one dot of Auspex.

Clan Specific Disciplines

These disciplines are clan-unique and include the clans that may take them listed at the end of their description. Variations of the clan are assumed. Thus, if it says ‘Ravnos’, then Ravnos Antitribu and the Phuri Dae are included, while ‘Gangrel’ includes the City Gangrel and Country Gangrel as well.

• Abombwe - When used, this discipline allows all 2s and aces in your hand to be used as wild cards in the current hand only; their value must decrease when they are used, however. Thus, 2s can become anything from 3 to ace, and aces can become anything from 3 to king. (Laibon)

• Bardo - Counter one usage of a discipline that affects a player (e.g., Dominate, Presence, etc.) but not a player's hand (so, for instance, Thanatosis or Potence cannot be countered this way). The discipline countered is considered used, and the Bardo is used. The only disciplines that may be countered with Bardo are Auspex, Bardo, Deimos (only when the Deimos-user chooses someone other than themselves), Dementation, Dominate, Mytherceria, Presence, Quietus, Serpentis (primary usage only), and Temporis. Any discipline that mimics any of these (Thaumaturgy, Necromancy, etc) is also fair game, as is any discipline that counters another discipline (alternate uses of Obfuscate, Auspex, etc). (Children of Osiris)

• Chimerstry - Cancel a usage of Auspex OR play an imaginary hand with all cards exactly one higher than the current hand on top of the current one. This is quite useful for getting leads. Chimerstry cannot be used on a hand containing a natural 2 or ace. No hand-altering powers may be used on a Chimerstric hand, because it is not real! Since the hand you are creating is exactly one higher than the hand you are playing on, if you have been Presence'd with respect to a particular suit, and the hand beneath your Chimerstry has the prohibited suit in it, your imaginary hand would also, and thus you can't use Chimerstry (so you get your dot back but can't play). (Ravnos)

• Daimoinon - "Summon" a new hand from cards that have already been played, and play it on top of the current one. None of the cards "summoned" may be from the hand being played on, and they also may not all be from the same hand (thus, you may not summon a single). Also, none of them may be higher than a king. If no hand can be assembled to beat the current hand, the dot of Daimoinon is wasted. Enhancing powers such as Potence, Protean, or Fortitude may be used on a Daimoinon-created hand. (Baali)

• Deimos - Choose any player, including you. The next person who plays on a hand played by the chosen player may give you a card of your choice from their crypt (you can ask them about their crypt as many times as it takes to find a card of theirs that you want). (Lamia)

• Dementation - Prevent a player of your choice from playing a single suit until the next lead. Dementation can force a player to lose his lead if his only remaining suit is the one prevented and he has no other way to lead another suit (e.g., Animalism). (Malkavian)

• Koldunic Sorcery - At the beginning of each round, the Koldun must pick a suit for each dot of Koldunic Sorcery he has (see Meta-Disciplines). (Tzimisce Koldun)

• Melpominee - "Break" any card off of the current hand except the high card, possibly making an illegal hand. Thus, a three-of-a-kind becomes a pair, two pair becomes a pair and a single, and a straight can be missing a hole in any position, and so a “one, skip one, three”, “two, skip one, two”, or “three, skip one, one” can be created in addition to the four-card variety. This can, of course, be extrapolated for two-deck games. You cannot Melpominee singles, you weirdo. (Daughters of Cacophony)

• Mortis - "Kill" the last hand that was played, and place it on the bottom of the pile. This hand must be the hand that was played directly on top of the last hand that you played. The Mortis’d player loses his turn and play continues clockwise. Mortis may not be used on a hand containing any natural 2s (but Potenced aces are fair game). Mortis may not be used on a hand you Obfuscate’d under. (Cappadocians, Lamia)

• Mytherceria - Reverses the suit order for the rest of the trick. ♣ are highest, then ♦, ♠, and ♥. (Kiasyd)

• Necromancy - Imitate any "common" discipline as it applies to ♠ (see Meta-Disciplines). (Giovanni, Harbingers of Skulls, Nagaraja)

• Necromancy (the Vitreous Path) - Take any ♠ from the pile and put it in your crypt. If there is no ♠ in the pile, the player uses up her dot of Necromancy. (Nagaraja)

• Necromancy (the Mortuus Path) - Same as Mortis. (Harbingers of Skulls)

• Obeah - "Heal" a hole in a hand by creating an imaginary card that completes the hand as it is played OR cancel any usage of Valeren. Both the dot of Obeah and the dot of Valeren are considered to be used. This discipline can only be used for free (i.e., without using up any remaining dots) on the behalf of someone else as long as the player with Obeah has at least one dot remaining, since the Salubri advocate selflessness martyrdom. The card created may not be the highest card in the hand. (Salubri)

• Obtenebration - Change the value of a ♣ or ♠ within its category (3 to 10; face card; or ace & 2). Thus a 4 can become a 10, a Jack can become a King, Ace and 2 can be interchanged. The Obtenebrate'd card may become the highest card in the hand, but only if this does not increase its value by more than 2. You may not change the suit of the card, only its number. (Lasombra, Kiasyd)

• Ogham - "Trade" a card no lower than a 6 for two or more cards in the pile whose combined numeric values equal or are less than the traded card’s numeric value. Jacks are worth 11, Queens 12, Kings 13, Aces 14, and 2’s 15 for the purposes of this power. You must declare the rank(s) of what card(s) you’re looking for, and if no such card(s) exists in the pile, the discipline is wasted. You may create an entire hand with this power if you wish, but all of the cards picked up may not be from the hand you’re playing on OR "trade" a card no lower than 5 for one other card whose numeric value (see above) is one or two less than the one you are trading with the pile. (Lhiannan)

• Protean - Move one card in a hand numerically up or down one, in order to complete that hand. You cannot use Protean to make a card which would not otherwise be the high card into the high card of the hand, but you may Protean a card which is already the high card down. If a card is already the high card in a hand, it may be Protean'd up as long as it remains the high card. Protean cannot be used on singles. A 3 that is Protean'd down creates a TMO (Three Minus One) and may be used to complete a 7-6-5-4-3-TMO or 6-5-4-3-TMO straight. (Gangrel)

• Quietus - Choose a player. From the time of use, that player may not engage in any speaking, not including the word "pass" or the words indicating any of their disciplines. Every time the person breaks this restriction, they lose one dot of a discipline of the Quietus-caster's choice. This restriction ends when the caster of Quietus goes out or chooses to lift it; Quietus does not cease its power after the target talks once. Quietus may only be activated after forced and optional trades have transpired. Talking to people who aren’t playing in the same game of Scum or aren’t playing Scum at all doesn’t count as talking; neither does making rule clarifications or helping someone who doesn’t know the rules. OR force someone to pick up a card from the pile; the card may not be higher than an 8. (This may not be used on yourself (that’s called Animalism, you cheater), although the standard usage may, in case you ever have the burning desire to shut yourself up.) The card may not be from a hand they have played. The discipline should not be used to help someone when they’re trying to go out. This is supposed to be a mean thing to do, so using it on someone you’re known to be conspiring with is very bad form (although not prohibited). (Assamites)

• Sanguinus - Pass a hand to another Blood Brother for them to play, OR trade up to 2 cards with another Blood Brother. The Blood Brother playing the hand leads if the hand wins a trick. (Blood Brothers)

• Serpentis - Same rules and targets as Bardo, but may only be used on behalf of someone else; in return, that person must give one dot of one of their disciplines to the person using Serpentis for them. (Never make a bargain with a Setite...) If Serpentis is canceled (i.e. by Bardo), the Setite still gets the discipline from the unfortunate victim; it's a Faustian arrangement. OR sneak a single card into a hand; that card has no effect on the hand. (Followers of Set, Serpents of the Light)

• Spiritus - May be used as either Protean or Animalism; if used as Protean, may be "stacked" with one use of normal Protean. (Ahrimanes)

• Temporis – Physically switch places with another player in the turn order for up to the duration of a trick (but for as little as one hand). May be ended at will. May be used to go twice before the person switched has even gone once (i.e. switch, play, then switch back and play again, or play, switch, then play again), but if this is done, you lose your next turn. Unlike Celerity, a lead may be lost in this way, and if so, the lead is awarded to the person you switched with, even if this isn't the person it would normally go to. You may not ever have the disciplines of Celerity and Temporis at the same time. No other rules may be followed to create this situation. OR Cancel any usage of Celerity. Both the dot of Celerity and the dot of Temporis are considered used. OR Play between OR under both hands played by another player using Celerity (as if you were using Obfuscate). (True Brujah)

• Thanatosis - Lower the value of a hand you're playing on by 2. Thanatosis may not be used on a hand containing a natural 2 (Potence'd Aces are fair game). (Samedi)

• Thaumaturgy - Thaumaturgy is a freeform discipline that applies to ♥ (see Meta-Disciplines). (Tremere, Assamite viziers)

• Valeren - Use when you play a hand (not when someone tries to play on your hand - by then it’s too late). That hand must now be beaten naturally (without the use of Potence, Protean, etc). Valeren may not be used on hands that have been enhanced with disciplines. Fortitude or similar powers may also not be used subsequently to Valeren. Obeah is the one and only exception to these two restrictions (though disciplines, like Animalism, which affect your crypt, can possibly still be of use). Valeren may not be used on a hand containing the 2♥. OR Valeren may be used to cancel any use of Obeah. Both the dot of Valeren and the dot of Obeah are considered used. (Salubri Antitribu)

• Vicissitude - Play a legal hand with up to one card more or less than the current hand type; the high card must still beat the previous hand. The new hand type remains in effect for the rest of the trick. You may not lead with Vicissitude. (Tzimisce)

• Visceratika - May be used to imitate either Potence or Fortitude; may be "stacked" with either one or both (so 2s increased 3 times (first Potenced, then Fortitude'd and Visceratika’d, or first Potenced, then Visceratika’d, then Fortitude'd) become bleem, the integral between 3 and 4 (of course)). OR increase the value of one card in your hand by 2 (not stackable with Fortitude or Potence). (Gargoyles)

How Meta Disciplines Work

Explanation on the use of Thaumaturgy, Dark Thaumaturgy, Path of Corruption, Necromancy, Koldunic Sorcery, and True Magic will be explained here. Basically, the meta-discipline is used as another discipline, but only applying to a single suit.

• Thaumaturgy - ♥
• Necromancy - ♠
• Path of Corruption - ♦
• Dark Thaumaturgy - ♣
• Koldunic Sorcery - One suit, chosen before cards are seen
• True Magic - One suit, chosen when used

• We will use normal Thaumaturgy as an example, as it is relatively common. You would use Thaumaturgy by calling out "Thaumaturgy Animalism" or something similar. Disciplines that may be used with a meta-discipline are:

• Animalism - Animalize a ♥.
• Auspex - The chosen player must show you all the ♥ that she has in her crypt.
• Celerity - The second hand played by you must be entirely ♥.
• Fortitude - The hand you use Fortitude on must be entirely ♥.
• Obfuscate - The hand Obfuscated must be entirely ♥.
• Potence - The hand Potenced must be entirely ♥, OR all ♥ in the hand are Potenced (this may make a "nothing" hand into a real one)
• Presence - The targeted player may not play any ♥ for the current hand. ***
• Protean - The card changed must be a ♥.
• Thaumaturgy - That’s just silly!!

• Unlike the regular Presence Discipline, this may be used on a lead only when applying to basic Thaumaturgy (♥). Man, the Tremere are bitches, aren't they?

Thaumaturgy x counts as if you are using x outside of Thaumaturgy. Therefore, x cannot be played again over this. That is, with the use of Thaumaturgy-Potence, a use of Potence in addition on the same hand is illegal. If a discipline is not listed above, Thaumaturgy cannot be used with it. However, Thaumaturgy-Protean can be used by a player even if that player could not normally take Protean as a discipline. Just to be clear, Thaumaturgy-Potence can't be used twice either.