Post by Phsycodelic on Dec 2, 2016 23:52:05 GMT
Thaumaturgy Rituals Level 7
Tremere
Tremere
All thaumaturges have the ability to use rituals, though each individual ritual must be learned separately. By acquainting herself with the arcane practice of blood magic, the caster gains the capacity to manipulate these focused effects.
Thaumaturgical rituals are rated from 1 to 5, each level corresponding to both the level of mastery of Thaumaturgy the would-be caster must possess and the relative power of the ritual itself. Unless stated otherwise, a ritual requires five minutes per level to cast.
Casting rituals requires a successful Intelligence + Occult roll, for which the difficulty equals 3 + the level of the ritual (maximum 9). Only one success is required for a ritual to work, though certain spells may require more successes or have variable effects based on how well the caster's roll goes. Should a roll to activate a ritual fail, the Storyteller is encouraged to create strange occurrences or side effects, or even make it appear that the ritual was successful, only to reveal its failure at a later time. A botched ritual roll may even indicate a catastrophic failure or summon an ill-tempered demon.
Rituals sometimes require special ingredients or reagents to work - these are noted in each ritual's description. Common components include herbs, animal bones, ceremonial items, feathers, eye of newt, tongue of toad, etc. Acquiring magical components for a powerful ritual may form the basis for an entire story.
At the first level of Thaumaturgy, the vampire automatically gains a single Level One ritual. To learn further rituals, the thaumaturge must find someone to teach him, or learn the ritual from a scroll, tome, or other archive. Learning a new ritual can take anywhere from a few nights (Level One ritual) to months or years (Level Five ritual). Some mystics have studied individual rituals for decades, or even centuries.
[ 7 ] Bone Of Eternal Thirst ( XXX - Page X )
This three-night ritual creates an ensorcelled weapon made of bone or ivory. The thaumaturge must carve the weapon himself and then bathe it in the lifeblood of a year-old fledgling each night. All of the blood is absorbed into the weapon and cannot be used for any other purposes. The third "contributor" must be the caster's own childe. The enchanted weapon becomes a powerful tool, able to sever flesh and even bone with ease, draining the strength of those it injures. It is nearly impossible to destroy this weapon.
System: All damage done by this bone-weapon is aggravated. In addition, for each level of damage it does, the weapon "drinks" a point of the victim's blood. The weapon can be destroyed only if it absorbs 20 points of blood from a single victim and is immediately incinerated. Any weapon that can be carved from ivory or bone may be used in this ritual, and does damage per that weapon type — Storytellers, beware of players who would carve bone claymores.
[ 7 ] Chill Of The Windsaber ( XXX - Page X )
This ritual enables the vampire Thaumaturgist to create a sheet of telekinetic force so thin and so accurate that it can decapitate anyone toward whom the vampire points his finger. The effects of this ritual are additionally terrifying because all the viewers see is the head separating from the body. The effects of this ritual are deadly to almost any creature with a head, including vampires. The Thaumaturgist must make a Perception + Firearms roll (difficulty 8) to target the windsaber. The victim does get a slim chance to avoid the effect by making a single success on a simple roll using Dexterity + Empathy (difficulty 9). A one-inch by two-inch piece of thin, clear glass is required. It must be snapped in two by the Thaumaturgist for the ritual to activate. The vampire casting the ritual does not have to see the target, but must know where she is.
[ 7 ] Divorcing The Soul ( XXX - Page X )
This is a devastating ritual that separates one's spirit from its physical element, although the spirit is kept imprisoned in the body. The affected individual cannot use or regain Willpower, all of her Abilities and Virtues drop to one, and she becomes almost incapable of creative thought. She has no motivation, little emotion (Empathy zero) and is twice as susceptible to mind attacks and control if Dominate, Presence or the like are used against her. She becomes lethargic, careless, depressed and slow. The true strength of this spell is that it can be used on a nearly limitless number of people. During the ritual, the Thaumaturgist drops dead pomegranate seeds in a ring around the target, saying a short, enigmatic chant with each one. The target could be a single person, a house, an office building, a city block or even a city. The caster must be walking (one seed per pace), so after the initial seven -hour incantation, the ritual can take anywhere from 10 minutes to several years to complete. The enchantment stays in effect until one of the seeds is displaced (burying them is a good idea). Still, even if the seeds are dispersed over a wide area, it is only a matter of time before one is disturbed.
[ 7 ] Eyes Of The Ever Vigilant ( XXX - Page X )
This extremely powerful ritual is used in the most important Tremere chantries and strongholds. Few outside House Tremere even are remotely aware of its existence, let alone its power. After the Convention of Tyre, where Nosferatu infiltrated the Assamite stronghold of Alamut, the Council of Seven quickly decided that the safety of the chantry in Vienna must never be compromised. This ritual was the result of that endeavor. At the locations that this ritual has been invoked, the powers that deceive the mind are almost negated. For in the halls of these places, all that reside within have the unearthly power to pierce these illusions. It requires the eyes of seven vampires who have lied to any of the Kindred invoking the ritual to be steeped in a special alchemical preparation, which is boiled away during the ritual's performance.
System: Successful casting of this five-night ritual requires three thaumaturges concurrently to perform its incantations. Upon the completion, the ritual enchants one structure (one building, one haven, or one compound) and will last for a decade. Renewing the ritual requires a dedication by only one of the thaumaturges who cast the original ritual. While in effect, all Kindred within the structure are unaffected by Obfuscate, Chimerstry and similar powers of misdirection, including some permutations of Dominate.
[ 7 ] Impede The Gifts Of Caine ( XXX - Page X )
Developed for use by Quaesitors facing superior numbers of Kindred, Impede the Gifts of Caine allows the thaumaturge to temporarily dampen the use of Disciplines in her immediate area. The focus of the ritual can be any item between the size of a baseball and that of a small suitcase, though it must be of relatively sturdy construction. The item must be bathed in six points worth of vitae that must come from at least two different thaumaturges (though only one need know the ritual). Discipline use in this area is substantially more difficult. The effect lasts for as long as the device is active.
System: Casting the ritual costs a blood point in addition to those in which the focus must be submerged, and requires a full hour of casting. The item is set briefly aflame (if the ritual succeeds, the damage to the item fades), and must be extinguished by the bare hand of the thaumaturge (causing one level of aggravated damage, as well as a Courage roll to avoid Rötschreck). When activated, the device creates an area of power one hundred feet in diameter, centered on the item. Once active, the difficulty of all rolls to invoke or use Disciplines in the area of the device is increased by the number of successes the caster achieved on her casting roll. Disciplines that do not require rolls to activate are unaffected. This power cannot raise difficulties higher than 10. Kindred of a lower generation than the caster remain unaffected, but the caster herself is affected if she steps inside the area. The item functions until "turned off" or until dawn. In either case, once deactivated it becomes nonmagical and cannot be reused.
[ 7 ] Shadow Of The Wolf ( XXX - Page X )
This powerful ritual actually lets the vampire become a Lupine for one night. The vampire must develop a separate Lupine character using his basic statistics. The type of Lupine depends on the exact nature of the ritual. There are several variations of this ritual; each imbues a different form. The vampire is subject to the same limitations and advantages that all Lupines possess. The material component is a cloak made from the skin of a wolf.
[ 7 ] The Severed Hand ( XXX - Page X )
Known only to a very select few among the Sabbat Inquisitors, the Ritual of the Severed Hand is employed in the breaking of Vinculi. Inquisitors use it to recover spies and agents they have inserted into Sabbat packs suspected of heresy. Because of the ritual's questionable origins, it is rarely used in the modern nights, and some Inquisitors have even suggested destroying all known copies of the formula, lest it fall into the hands of the Camarilla.
System: The ritual requires the subject to stand relatively motionless, though this can be arranged with restraints or staking, and need not be voluntary. The caster proceeds to anoint the subject with an alchemical mixture that must be prepared in advance; this must contain two points of the caster's blood, powdered human bone, a variety of crushed herbs, and the ashes of a vampire slain by fire or sunlight. Symbolically, if not in actual fact, the ritual forces the blood "contaminated" by the Vinculum into a single one of the subject's extremities - a hand is most common, though a foot might be selected instead. At the completion of the ritual, this extremity must be severed. This causes three health levels of aggravated damage which may be healed in the standard fashion. Once done, the subject is freed of any and all Vinculum ties.
The ritual requires that another blood point be spend during the casting, and it requires five full hours to invoke; the subject must be relatively motionless or restrained for the entire duration. Should the casting roll indicate a botch, the subject's Vinculi are actually increased by 1.
