Koldunic Sorcery: Way Of Sorrow

[Phsycodelic]

Koldunic Sorcery: Way Of Sorrow

Secret

The actual casting of Koldunic sorcery requires more than a clumsy exertion of will. Such magic demands perfection of form and mastery of the appropriate lore. The caster's player spends one blood point and rolls (Attribute) + Occult against a difficulty of the power's level + 3, with the specific Attribute listed for each path or "way." Vampires always use the base Attribute, ignoring any bonuses gained from blood expenditure or other Disciplines. All kolduns must select one of the ways as their primary path.

The number of successes on the activation roll determines how many successive scenes the effect lasts. If activated before the sun rises, the koldun's awareness can extend into the daylight hours, and the koldun suffers no negative effects from monitoring his lands during the day. He does still suffer the usual dice penalties for taking any other actions during the day.

Koldunic Sorcery botches cause the sorcerer to acquire a psychosomatic aversion to the holy symbols in a manner similar to the Flaw Repelled by Crosses. The difficulty to resist Rötschreck is equal to (4 + the user's sorcery rating). [Rites Of The Blood - Page 132]

While a part of the broader Koldunic school, this Path does not overtly rely upon a direct connection to Kupala. Rather, it invokes a number of curses in the name of various pre-Christian Slavic deities. Then again, some Tzimisce scholars speculate that at least some of those deities are themselves merely aspects of the being which calls itself Kupala. All of these effects require the koldun to be able to directly perceive the target. They cannot generally be used at range through sympathetic magic, but they can be used against a distant target whom the koldun can perceive through powers such as The Way of the Spirit or Scry.

Alternate System: For Storytellers that prefer an alternate method, the roll to activate a Koldunic Sorcery Path is now a Willpower roll with a difficulty equal to (3 + Path rating), and each such roll also requires the expenditure of one blood point. The roll to activate a Koldunic Sorcery ritual is Intelligence + Occult with a difficulty equal to 3 + the ritual rating. These rules supersede those in V20, but if you prefer the original rules, feel free to use whichever you like.

Attribute: Intelligence

[ 1 ] The Frustrations Of Nestrecha ( Rites Of The Blood - Page 157 )

The koldun may destroy her enemy's resolve, instilling feelings of pessimism and hopelessness.

System: For one turn per success, the target may not spend Willpower for any purpose.

[ 2 ] The Insults Of Krivda ( Rites Of The Blood - Page 157 )

The koldun unleashes a hateful insult toward his foe, thereby provoking her to mindless anger.

System: In response to the insult, the target must immediately roll Self-Control to resist frenzy against a difficulty of 5 + the number of successes on the activation roll, maximum difficulty 9.

[ 3 ] The Weeping Of Kruchina ( Rites Of The Blood - Page 157 )

The koldun may instill a crushing despair or nigh-suicidal depression in her enemy.

System: For one turn per success, the target is overwhelmed by intense misery and weeps uncontrollably. She cannot engage in any action that requires concentration, and a Kindred loses one blood point each turn as vitae streams from her eyes.

[ 4 ] The Misfortune Of Chernogolov ( Rites Of The Blood - Page 157 )

The koldun taunts his enemy with a prediction of certain doom, which then comes to pass.

System: The target automatically loses two successes on every roll she attempts. The effect lasts for a number of consecutive rolls equal to the successes rolled.

[ 5 ] The Starvation Of Marena ( Rites Of The Blood - Page 157 )

The koldun may now inflict direct damage on her enemy in the form of bitter cold and starving hunger.

System: For each success, the target suffers two levels of bashing damage that can be soaked normally. In addition, a vampire targeted with this power loses one blood point per success.