Rituals 4

Level Four Ritual
The Curse Belated

Warlocks normally reserve the casting of this ritual for a ghoul who is prized above all others, or one near and dear to a thaumaturge's unbeating heart. By performing this ritual on a ghoul, the thaumaturge can all but guarantee his thrall's chance of survival, for the moment the ghoul dies, the vampiric blood inside his body courses through his system and thereafter resurrects him as a full-fledged vampire. The thaumaturge brands the ghoul with his sigil, which vanishes once the ghoul becomes one of the undead.

System:

The thaumaturge, as part of the requirement of the ritual, will temporarily lose one permanent point from his blood pool. this is invested, instead, in the ghoul he wishes to safeguard. A second point of the thaumaturge's blood must be fed to the ghoul, which remains in the ghoul's body until he dies (the ghoul may not use it to power Disciplines, heal, ect). Upon death, the inaccessible point of vitae will save the ghoul from Final Death and bring him back as a vampire of the same clan as the caster, usually after a short delay to allow the ghoul's killers to depart. The temporary blood pool point returns to the thaumaturge after the ghoul becomes Kindred.

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Infirm Inert

One of the mystical powers of the vitae possessed by Kindred is the supernatural ability of healing. With blood fueling the mending of their injuries, everything from stab wounds to the loss of appendages may knit and heal. When a thaumaturge drips some of his blood onto a target and casts this ritual, the victim losses the ability to use his vitae for healing. Before casting this ritual, the thaumaturge must imbibe a small quantity of blood laced with laudanum.

System

For every success the magus scores in casting this ritual, a target lack his healing ability for one night. This ritual requires 20 minutes of concentration, during which time the caster spends one blood point. With its successful completion, This Blood causes and affliction to immediately lose the ability to heal, though he may not be aware of this until he actively attempts to use his blood to do so. Victims may spend a point of Willpower to ignore this effect for one turn. When this ritual expires, all wounds may be healed according to the type of damage suffered, as normal.

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Rend The Mind

House Tremere, masters of Thaumaturgy and Auspex, developed this attack as a form of assassination. Being able to infiltrate the minds and directly attack the psyche of an opponent is vastly superior to a physical attack upon enemies and near impossible to detect. The thaumaturge consumes the brain of a rabid animal when preparing this ritual

System

Casting this one-hour ritual allows the caster to use one telepathic assault before the next sunrise. The attack can affect anyone the thaumaturge can see, and the telepathic attack uses an Intelligence + Empathy roll (dif. to the target's willpower) to determine its effectiveness. Each success is translated into a health level of unsoakable bashing damage to the target (though Kindred halve the damage suffered).

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Return of The Heart

This ritual is a severe curse to the less humane Kindred. Cainites that are the target of this power have the portion of their soul that has been slowly dying returned to them. Murderers become racked with remorse over their actions and lament their deeds. For more debased members of the Sabbat this power is particularly crippling and may well result in their destruction at the hands of their packmates. Invoking this power requires either knowledge of the subject's True Name or a quantity of her blood.

System:

The subject becomes temporarily governed by the Hierarchy of Sin for Humanity as if she had a humanity rating of 9. Note that this does not actually impart a Humanity of 9 to the character -- she is simply overwhelmed by a sense of her own damnation. The subject still has the Path rating that they normally would have, but they are no longer injured to the cruelties of the world. This will have the Cainite performing Degeneration tests for the most minor of deeds. This power lasts for one hour per success on the ritual roll.

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Scry

The thaumaturge causes a body of water to becoming a scrying pool, able to center on a person or location. The caster is able to see and hear as if he was personally there. Natural pools and bowls of water are often the means of viewing through this magic. Smaller (no larger than a child’s pool), still (better for viewing) bodies of water are considered best for this. This ritual requires a bit of owl's blood to be mixed in with the water.

System:

Although this magic is similar to the Auspex power of Clairvoyance, it does have its differences. First, the caster cannot use additional Auspex powers through the Scry magic. Second, if used to center on a person, the magus must have a personal item of the individual's in his possession, or he must know the subject's True Name. Third, is a location is the center of the Scry, this location cannot be changed throughout the duration of the ritual. This ritual lasts for a number of hours equal to the number of successes for the casting. The thaumaturge only has to concentrate during this duration to view scenes through the water.

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Stolen Kisses

Thaumturges cast this ritual when they do not wish to feed by mouth. Instead, stolen Kisses allows them to drain small portions of vitae through other parts of a vessel’s body. Some vampires prefer the strong handshake. Others enjoy choking vessels, a double pleasure of asphyxia and the flush of new vitae coursing through cold veins. Others "get off" by draining blood from a vessel during sex. In any case, a vessel is usually not immediately aware that blood is sucked out of his body, though he will experience a slight sensation of dizziness and light-headedness. This ritual requires the caster to carry a "witch's kiss" -- a thistle steeped in the blood of a vampire -- somewhere on her person.

System:

The magus must first make a small incision on his body where he intends to make physical contact with a vessel. The ritual is then cast; once complete, the would knits itself closed. However, it open to create a lip-and-mouth-type orifice when continually pressed against a vessel’s flesh, which mystically sucks out one blood point every other turn as long as contact persists. After a second point of vitae is consumed, a vessel is likely to feel woozy, while taking five blood points probably causes the victim to black out from the substantial lack of blood in his body. Stolen Kisses remains active for one night.
A warlock does not cause ecstasy or rapture when taking blood in this manor, as he would were he to feed upon a vessel by mouth.

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Ward Versus Vitae

While this power protects anarchs from elder intrusion to some degree, it is not so efficacious as other wards. This is not a universal "Ward Versus Kindred," but rather a limited application of a similar principle. When the Kindred enacting this ritual makes her sigil, any Kindred of lower generation than her who breaks the ward immediately suffers its ill effects. That is, if a 10th Generation thaumaturge casts this ritual, Kindred of 9th Generation and lower would be affected.The Thaumaturge anoints an object of her choice with her blood, marking the ward as a sigl.

System:
Kindred below the casters generation suffer two dice of lethal damage. This damage occurs again
if the Kindred touches the object further. At that point, a Kindred who consciously wishes to touch the
ward object must succeed in a Willpower roll (difficulty 7) or spend a willpower point to do so.

Like other wards, this ritual functions on only one object: a single window, a doorknob, a book or one door of an automobile. An entire object of great size, such as a car or room may be warded, but only with enough uses of this ritual that would effect all points of entry, exit or contact.

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Bone of Lies

This ritual enchants a mortal bone so that anyone who holds it must tell the truth. The bone in question is often a skull, though any part of the skeleton will do - some Tremere use strings of teeth, necklaces of finger joints or wands fashioned from ribs or arms. The bone grows blacker as it compels its holder to tell the truth, until it has turned completely ebony and has no magic left. This ritual binds the spirit of the individual to whom the bone belonged in life; it is this spirit who wrests the truth from the potential liar.

The spirit absorbs the lies intended to be told by the bone's holder, and as it compels more truth, it becomes more and more corrupt. If summoned forth, this spirit reflects the sins it has siphoned from the defeated liar (in addition to anger over its unwilling servitude). For this reason, anonymous bones are often used in the ritual, and the bone is commonly buried after it has been used to its full extent. A specific bone may never be used twice for this ritual.

System:
The bone imbued with this magical power must be at least 200 years old and must absorb 10 blood points on the night that the ritual is cast. Each lie the holder wishes to tell consumes one of these blood points, and the holder must speak the truth immediately thereafter. When all 10 blood points have been consumed, the bone magic ceases to work any longer.

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Heart of Stone

A vampire under the effect of this ritual experiences the transformation suggested by the ritual's name: his heart is completely transmuted to solid rock, rendering him virtually impervious to staking. The subsidiary effects of the transformation, however, seem to follow the Hermetic laws of sympathetic magic: the vampire's emotional capacity becomes almost nonexistent, and his ability to relate to others suffers as well.


System:
This ritual requires nine hours (reduced by one hour for every success). It can only be cast on oneself. The caster lies naked on a flat stone surface and places a bare candle over his heart. The candle burns down to nothing over the course of the ritual, causing one aggravated health level of damage (difficulty 5 to soak with Fortitude). At the end of the ritual, the caster's heart hardens to stone. The benefits of this are that the caster gains a number of additional dice equal to twice his Thaumaturgy rating to soak any attack that aims for his heart and is completely impervious to the effects of a Shaft ofBelated Quiescence (see above), and the difficulty to use all Presence powers on him is increased by three due to his emotional isolation.

The drawbacks are as follows: the caster's Conscience and Empathy scores drop to 1 (or to 0 if they already were at 1) and all dice pools for Social rolls except those involving Intimidation are halved (including those required to use Disciplines). All Merits that the character has pertaining to positive social interaction (e.g. Animal Magnetism or Sanctity) are neutralized. Heart of Stone lasts as long as the caster wishes it to.


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Splinter Servant

Another ritual designed to enchant a stake, Splinter Servant is a progressive development of Shaft of Belated Quiescence. The two rituals are mutually exclusive, which is fortunate for many, because a Splinter Servant of Belated Quiescence would be a truly terrifying weapon. A Splinter Servant consists of a stake carved from a tree which has nourished itself on the dead, bound in wax-sealed nightshade twine. When the binding is torn off, the Splinter Servant leaps to life, animating
itself and attacking whomever the wielder commands - or the wielder, if she is too slow in assigning a target. The servantsplits itself into a roughly humanoid form and begins single-mindedly trying to impale the target's heart. Its exertions tear it apart within a few minutes, but if it pierces its victim's heart before it destroys itself, it is remarkably difficult to remove, as pieces tend to remain behind if the main portion is indelicately yanked out.

System:
The ritual requires 12 hours to cast, minus one per success, and the servant must be created as described above. When the binding is torn off, the character who holds it must point the servant at its target and verbally command it to attack during the same turn. If this command is not given, the servant attacks the closest living or unliving being, usually the unfortunate individual who currently carries it. A Splinter Servant always aims for the heart. It has an attack dice pool of the caster's Wits + Occult, a damage dice pool of the caster's Thaumaturgy rating, and a maximum movement rate
of 30 yards perturn.

Note that these values are those of the thaumaturge who created the servant, not the individual who activates it. A servant cannot fly, but can leap its full movement rating every turn. Every action it takes is to attack or move toward its target; it cannot dodge or split its dice pool to perform multiple attacks. The servant makes normal stake attacks that aim for the heart (difficulty 9), and its success is judged as per the rules for a normal staking (see Vampire: The Masquerade, page 214). A Splinter Servant has three health levels, and attacks directed against it are made at +3 difficulty due to its small size and spastic movement patterns. A Splinter Servant has an effective life of five
combat turns per success rolled in its creation. If it has not impaled its victim by the last round of its life, the servant collapses into a pile of ordinary, inanimate splinters. Three successes on a Dexterity roll (difficulty 8) are required to remove a Splinter Servant from a victim's heart without leaving behind shards of the stake.

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Ward versus Kindred

This warding ritual functions exactly as do Ward versus Ghouls and Ward versus Lupines, but it inflicts injury upon Cainites. It does not harm kuei-jin (see Kindred of the East), although Tremere researchers are promising their elders a Ward versus Cathayans ritual "any night now."

System:
Ward versus Kindred behaves exactly as does Ward versus Ghouls, but it affects vampires rather than ghouls. The ritual requires a blood point of the caster's own blood and does not affect the caster. As noted above, this ward does not harm kuei-jin , and there is currently no "Ward versus Cathayans" in existence.

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Blood Certamen (Level 4 ritual)

While most modern Tremere apprentices see Thaumaturgy as a distinct property of their blood, some aged Tremere who survived the Long Night remember nights as mortal wizards. The clan's very foundation rests upon the traditions of those wizards -- tribunals, apprenticeships, the Tremere Oath; all stem from the organization that the Tremere abandoned in their plummet into damnation. Among those early practices was one magical rite used to settle disputes. Even though the Tremere traded their mortal sorcery for blood magic, they managed to find ways to turn their old practices to their undead state, and the ritual of Certamen made that trasition as well.

Certamen exists as one of the oldest forms of dispute resolution between wizards, or so the elder Tremere say. In the modern nights, Certamen takes a decidedly sinister form, and remains in the hands of very few Tremere. Indeed, perhaps only a half-dozen Tremere below the rank of regent know the ritual itself, and a handful more remain aware of its existence. Still, its use remains protected by ancient tradition, and a Tremere without other recourse can, if he is even aware of it, call for Certamen to settle a quarrel. One pontifex supposedly favors Certamen as a traditional measure and a hallmark of a true and loyal Tremere -- and correspondingly evidences terrifying sill with the practice.

The rite of Certamen opens with a formal declaration of challenge, though that does not constitute part of the actual ritual. The rite itself sees the contenders in a circle of blood or vitreous humor, where by technique and form -- the power to harness Thaumaturgy -- they shall settle the matter. A circle ten paces across markes the boundaries of the competition, while each participant stands in an interior circle two paces wide and faces the opponent. The interior circles' outer edges just touch upon the inner ring of the large circle, so the competitors stand just a short distance
apart. The participants state their terms immediately upon entering the circle, challenger declaring what he stands to gain and defender declaring three limits upon the forms of the combat. Each one intones the ritual for Certamen; when both complete it, the test of blood begins, to end only in death, submission or the judgment of a presiding arbiter.

By tradition, each participant brings a second, who makes announcement of his contender and handles offices such as holding the participant's trappings or ritual accoutrements. The seconds stand behind and to the right of their parrticipants. A (supposedly) neutral party arbitrates, and may end the Certamen at his discretion; he can, for instance, intervene to prevent a prodigious apprentice from destroying a regent. The arbiter determines or ratifies the victor, and also overrules the apparent victor in cases of cheating (though, technically, the only way to "cheat" at Certamen is to bring in magical arrtifacts or excess blood without announcing their presence to the arbiter and opponent). The arbiter also determines whether a given Certamen contest has a definitive result. Should, say, one contender simply use Movement of the Mind to force the other out of the ring in a few seconds into the contest, or should both participants exhaust their stores of vitae without a clear victor,
the arbiter may declare the matter inconclusive or a draw.

Certamen allows a thaumaturge to extend his usual path effects into more symbolic and devastating forms. Fire magics become incendiary greatswords or demonic flamebolts; spirit minions become trnslucent, armed legionnaires; weather sorcery takes on a viciously turgid aspect. Onlookers watch as the two Tremere contend with the mightiest blood magic at their disposal. Ultimately one must give way or be slain. Each participant holds comparable amounts of power, while the ritual causes Thaumaturgy cast by the two to evidence mystic traces and patterns that allow onlookers to tell what's happening and even give the participants some ability to defend against opponent's attacks. Victory goes to finesse and broad knowledge, not to raw power.

Should a participant frenzy, his second (and any attending guards) must put him down immediately; he loses the contest. Similarly, stepping from the inner circle immediately reults in forfeiture. Completion of the ritual does not mystically bind either participant to its terms, but failure to adhere to one's own agreed-upon Certamen carries grave weight with nearly ever Tremere, and may well lead to condemnation as a rogue (assuming that the oathbreaker survived the experience).

Of course, in the Final Nights Certamen exists more as a curiosity than as a common practice. Some few Tremere do use it, but Certamen is never frequent nor lightly invoked. A Tremere Can decline a challenge of Certamen, Though doing so usually entails a loss of face among the more traditional members of the clan. Successful Certamen garners some small amount of prestige among the few who still consider it an art, but its use remains restricted to personal disputes. A Tremere cannot use Certamen to force a superior to give him rank or to show off his thaumaturgical might, but he could use the rite to legitimately depose a superior with whome he had a personal grievence or to force a peer to stop interfering in his affairs.

Similarly, a higher-ranking Tremere may step in as arbiter, and an dour pontifex may very well stop the whole process before it begins. And, of course, if the battle results in death, why then someone more competent than the loser must step forward to take over the late Kindred's assets and duties.TO this night, very few members of the other clans have even heard of Certamen. Elder Tremere intend to keep it that way.

SYSTEM:
Certamen ultimately serves a simple game mechanical purpose: the two (always and only two) Tremere involved in Certamen may expend exactly two blood points per turn, reguardless of generation. Furthermore, at a cost of one blood point, a player may make a Willpower roll against the opponent's Thaumaturgy roll, with the difficulty being the opposite character's Taumaturgy. This acts as a normal resisted roll, canceling out the opponent's successes. Because Certamen highlights all thaumaturgical actions, the player can roll Intelligence + Occult (diff varies by power) to recognize most incoming thaumaturgical effects and decide whether or not to defend against or respond to them, as if using the power Thaumaturgical Sight. This allows the participants to invoke potent Thaumaturgy and to defend more ably against incoming attacks. The Certamen ritual imposes thse modifiers only so long as both participants remain in their respective circles.


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Mark of Amaranth (level 4 ritual)

Among Kindred, diablerie is regarded as a great crime -- many elders go to extraordinary lengths to extinguish an upstart neonate who evidences a hunger for the blood of his fellows. Deceptive Tremere can turn this paranoia against a hapless victim. All that's needed is some intimate possession of the target, and the destruction of another Kindred...

SYSTEM:
The thaumaturge must destroy another Kindred by his own hand, while holding or wearing some possession of the subject. He may then invoke this ritual by placing the object in the dead Kindred's corpse before it crumble sto ash. Once the ritual is completed, the subject exhibits the evidence of a diablerist to all forms of divination until the next sunrise. This includes Aura perception, the Blood Walk ritual and any other sort of scrying.

The Mark of Amaranth cannot be deferred by the Soul Mask Discipline, though higher levels of Obfuscate or certain advanced rituals might be able to counter it. Note that the ritual does not necessarily cause the victim to Think that he's a diablerist -- an innocent victim can truthfully answer that he is not a diablerist, even as his aura contradicts him. Naturally, use of this ritual is an efficient way to rapidly erode ones Humanity.


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Soul of the Homunculus (level 4 ritual)

Tremere in need of assistants for their research work cannot always rely upon the loyalty of apprentices. But who can doubt the loyalty of one's own flesh? A homunculus is a tiny creature crafted out of the caster's blood and tissue, which acts as an extension of the caster's will. Crafting a homunculus takes several hours of uninterrupted work, and a thaumaturge can have only one homunculus at a time. The horrid little entity takes shape in a bubbling morass of oil, blood, denuded bone and chunks of the caster's body. At the conclusion of the ritual, the homunculus crawls from its fatty birthing caul to serve its master. The homunulus can move about under its own power, and may be used as a spy or a means to fetch materials.

Many types of homunculi exist; different thaumaturges create different sorts of beasts. The most common are flyers (which resemble tiny winged demons), grubs (which look like worms with their master's faces), and hoppers (small, bald, implike entites with their casters' features reduced to miniture). The homunculus acts according to its master's orders, which may be issued nonverbally as long as the beast is in its creator's presence. OVer time, some honunculi develop their own personalities and goals, and more than one unnerved Tremere has discovered his homunculus playing malicious pranks behind his back.

SYSTEM:
A homunculus has two health levels and two dots in each Physical Attribute. It works much like a limb of the creator -- the homunculus only moves or acts if the caster so wills it. A homunculus cannot fight effectively, but can push or carry objects, and can often hide or spy on locations unnoticed due to its small size. Though the homunculus is initially wholly loyal, its experiences may eventually (over years) cause it to form a personality of its own, often spawned from the worst qualities of its creator. Homunculi are damaged by sunlight and fire like Kindred.

A Homunculus, though created from the caster's flesh, is a seperate physical entity and thus does not count as an arcane connection, nor do its bodily fluids count as its creator's blood. However, establishing a psychic connection to a homunculus instead projects into the consciousness of its controller. A homunculus must be fed one blood point each week or it will wither and die. Feeding may be an unsettling act to witness -- some Tremere suckle them at their own breasts, acting on some undead parental urge, while others treat their imps derisively, holding their opened wrists far above the creature's head while forcing it to caper about for its sustenance.

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Unweave Ritual (level 4 ritual)

With the preponderance of cursing rituals among the jealous Warlocks, it's only a matter of time until a Tremere labors under the effects of an enemy'a magic. Whether it's another Tremere eager to discomfit a political adversary, or some non-Tremere thaumaturge looking for retribution, having Thaumaturgy turned around against its supposed masters makes for a bitter aftertaste indeed.

Once a Tremere manages to identify the enemy ritual under which he labors, it's possible to build a counter-sorcery to unweave it. Thaumaturges skilled in this magic learn general principles to confound other rituals, shrug off their effects or collapse them prematurely.

SYSTEM:
First, the caster must figure out what ritual currently afflicts him. This is probably automatic if he knows the ritual (unless the caster has been very subtle or the subject is daft), but may require some research (and itelligence + Occult rolls, at the Storyteller's discretion) otherwise. Next, the unweaving takes place. The caster must secure a component that would be used in the casting of the offending ritual, then destroy it in some fashion. His successes subtract from the successes scored by the origional caster; if he manages to wipe away all of the successes, the offending
ritual immediately ends, with all concomitant effects.

Thus, a quick end to Bind the Accusing Tongue would allow the Tremere to speak ill of his enemies again, but a premature end to a Blood Contract would painfully shove him into torpor, and a premature end to Night of the Red Heart would result in Final Death. Only rituals that have a duration can be unwoven. For instance, a Tremere who has thrown off a blood bond through Abandon the Fetters (below) is not constantly under the effects of that ritual -- once the ritual is complete, the bond is gone and the ritual is done. However, a Tremere suffering from Steps of the Terrified would be considered under the duration of the ritual as long as it slowed his movement, so it could be unwoven.
Note that a thaumaturge can only unweave a ritual on himself, not on someone else. Also, a thaumaturge suffering from multiple rituals must unweave each one seperately. Muliple unweavings can be accumulated against a ritual so long as the appropraite time and components can be acquired.