Koldunic Sorcery Rituals

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Koldunic Sorcery Rituals

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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.

Attribute: Stamina

Capable of great destruction and great healing, the earth is the womb of life and the sepulcher of death. It drinks all blood violently spilled upon its soil, and so mirrors the vampire. It is by association with the earth as a source of strength that a koldun enacts his will.

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. Thedifficulty to resist Rötschreck is equal to (4 + the user's sorcery rating). [Rites Of The Blood - Page 132]

[ 1 ] Beast That Feeds On Dreams ( XXX - Page X )

By feeding a point of vitae to a small animal no larger than a cat, a koldun may imbue the creature with a measure of his own predatory spirit. The animal then goes forth in search of a child. It need not feed in any conventional sense — it need only draw close enough to drink the child’s breath.

System: If and when the animal finds its prey, the koldun regains one point of Willpower and the animal reverts to its normal behavior. This Willpower may not bring a koldun above his usual maximum. If the same child undergoes this ritual three nights in a row, she dies from the spiritual trauma. Storytellers must decide when or even if an animal achieves its mission, rewarding the player with Willpower at the appropriate moment.

[ 1 ] Communicate With Kindred Sire ( XXX - Page X )

By enacting this ritual, a Tremere may join minds with her sire, speaking telepathically with him over any distance. The communication may continue until the ritual expires or until either party ends the conversation. The caster must possess an item once owned by her sire for the ritual to work.

System: The caster must meditate for 30 minutes to create the connection. Conversation may be maintained for 10 minutes per success on the activation roll.

[ 1 ] Defense Of The Sacred Haven ( XXX - Page X )

This ritual prevents sunlight from entering an area within 20 feet of this ritual's casting. A mystical darkness blankets the area, keeping the baneful light at bay. Sunlight reflects off windows or magically fails to pass through doors or other portals. The caster draws sigils in her own blood on all the affected windows and doors, and the ritual lasts as long as the Tremere stays within the 20-foot radius.

System: This ritual requires one hour to perform, during which the thaumaturge recites incantations and inscribes glyphs. One blood point is required for this ritual to work.

[ 1 ] Deflection Of Wooden Doom ( XXX - Page X )

This ritual protects the Tremere from being staked, whether or not she is resting or active. While this ritual is in effect, the first stake that would pierce the Tremere's heart disintegrates in the attacker's hand. A stake merely held near the Tremere is unaffected; for this ritual to work, the stake must actively be used in an attempt to impale the vampire.

System: The thaumaturge must surround herself with a circle of wood for a full hour. Any wood will work: furniture, sawdust, raw timber, 2' x 4's, whatever. The circle must remain unbroken, however. At the end of the hour, the vampire places a wooden splinter under her tongue. If this splinter is removed, the ritual is nullified. This ritual lasts until the following dawn or dusk.

[ 1 ] Enlightenment ( XXX - Page X )

All things in nature contain a spirit of some type, which are referred to as lèleks (pronounced LAH-lek; Hungarian for "spirit"). Koldunic Sorcerers must fi rst be able to recognize a nature spirit before they can manipulate them into servitude properly. This ritual is requisitely cast often, thereby reinforcing the koldun's attunement to the land and nature. Many of the old koldun did not simply trust that their attunement to the land would remain intact. Rather, they dedicated one night out of the week to completely reconnect with the spirits of their land. These lèleks are more recognizably "felt" rather than visually perceived. A lèlek traveling on a breeze close to the koldun might instill a static sensation in the back of the sorcerer's neck. Healthy trees might seem to have a faint verdant glow about their trunks. Whichever way he believes to perceive these spirits, the koldun awakens to a new sense after casting this ritual.

System: The koldun's player spends one point of blood and makes the roll. Each success he accumulates increases the duration of his attunement to the nature spirits of the four natural elements.

Successes	Duraion
1	One Hour.
2	One Night.
3	One Week.
4	One Month.
5	One Year.

[ 1 ] Hospitality ( XXX - Page X )

The most common ritual practiced nightly by koldun, Hospitality awakens the spirits of all things in his haven. The spirits manifest in the objects they belong to, granting limited sentience and individualism. The objects speak if spoken to and sometimes even when the Cainite does not command, though always with deference and fear. If directly ordered to silence, they obey. The primary function of this ritual is the perimeter of sentries it creates. As long as the koldun does not mistreat his possessions, he can remain assured of warning in the event of intruders.

System: A successful activation roll awakens every object in the vampire’s haven to act as described until the sun next sets. This ritual can affect only a single structure, whether that is a crumbing cottage or a towering castle. Beyond the outermost walls, the spirits do not speak or wake.

[ 1 ] Mephistophelean Minx ( XXX - Page X )

Old wives tales tell of the inherent perils of allowing a cat near sleeping children for fear that it will suck out the child's soul. The koldun casting this ritual substantiates these tales by enlisting any small feline into his service, as the cat will search out any sleeping individual it fi nds and mystically draw out some of his soul.

System: The player makes a normal activation roll. By feeding a cat one point of his blood, the koldun brings the feline into temporary servitude. Once the blood is fed to the cat and the ritual is cast, the cat will immediately seek out any child in the area who is asleep. The cat will then crawl up to the victim's face and mystically draw out some of his spiritual "essence." This essence will funnel through the cat, acting as a conduit to the koldun, who will then temporarily gain a point of Willpower that may be spent at any time during the night. This Willpower point must, however, be spent in the same night it was stolen, otherwise the "essence" will mystically dissipate and return to its rightful owner. Every point of blood spent in feeding the cat spurs it to visit another victim, resulting in another point of temporary Willpower. Willpower gathered in this way may not exceed the koldun's permanent Willpower Trait.

Alternatively, the koldun may feed one point of blood to multiple cats, thereby reducing the amount of time he must wait for one cat to complete multiple tasks.
Storytellers may decide how much time it takes for the feline to hunt down a suitable slumbering victim. A child who has had her essence stolen for three nights in a row dies before waking the next day.

[ 1 ] Reawakening The Dead Water ( Rites Of The Blood - Page 157 )

The koldun must drop one point of blood into pool of water and then drink the equivalent of one blood point from that source. The koldun will be able to ingest this water without difficulty.

System: If the ritual is successfully performed (with at least one success), the koldun regains a point of spent Willpower. This cannot raise his Willpower above its normal maximum. This ritual can only be performed once per night.

[ 1 ] Reflections ( XXX - Page X )

The koldun draws upon the elements present in a location to learn more information about that area. The caster need simply take any object from the room, area or location. The object must consist primarily of natural materials, rather than synthetic; thus, a pencil suffices, but a notebook computer does not. Within the next 24 hours, the koldun may cast this ritual over the item. For a number of turns equal to her successes plus her Willpower, her mind travels to the area from which the object was taken, and she may proceed to examine it in detail, even going so far as to look behind furniture or inside drawers that she did not search before. She observes the area exactly as it was when she took the object. This ritual is particularly useful for searching the haven or offices of an enemy at leisure. Any given object may be used only once, after which it becomes useless for purposes of this ritual.

[ 1 ] Ritual Of Death's Embrace ( XXX - Page X )

This cruel ritual permits a vampire to extend the process of the Embrace over many nights, offering the pleasure of repeated feeding even as the victim sinks into death and unlife.

System: The koldun drinks a goblet containing a foul mixture of wine, ashes and his vitae. If the ritual succeeds, the vampire may begin the process. Each night, he drains one to three points of human blood, replacing it with a like quantity of his own vitae. By the power of the ritual, this blood does not convert the mortal into a ghoul; rather, it slowly kills her as from deepening anemia. Her skin grows wan and pallid, her breathing shallows, and her heartbeat slows. The most skilled healers will assume she suffers a disease of the blood. Though no remedy can truly halt the transformation, bloodletting does slow it. The mortal bleeds one point of human blood followed by one point of vitae, alternating until all the vitae is gone or she dies from blood loss.

Once the koldun transfers 10 points of vitae, replacing all the mortal’s blood, the victim undergoes the actual Embrace. She dies and arises upon the next sunset as a Cainite. Only cremation or dismemberment may prevent this rise. During the entire ritual, the death of the koldun restores the victim to full health within a day. By its very nature, this ritual also confers the blood oath upon the victim.

[ 2 ] Blood Of Flame ( XXX - Page X )

Developed as a form of spiteful defense against diablerie, this ritual transmutes the blood of Caine into the fiery blood of the earth.

System: If this ritual succeeds, the caster’s blood transmutes to a muddy sludge for the rest of the night. All blood costs to evoke healing are doubled, but any attempt to feed from the vampire yields a mouthful of liquid flames akin to magma. Certainly fatal for mortals, each "blood" point of magma consumed inflicts one level of unsoakable aggravated damage on vampires and other supernatural beings.

[ 2 ] Blood Walk ( XXX - Page X )

A thaumaturge casts this ritual on a blood sample from another vampire. Blood Walk is used to trace the subject's Kindred lineage and the blood bonds in which the subject is involved.

System: This ritual requires three hours to cast, reduced by 15 minutes for each success on the roll. It requires one blood point from the subject. Each success allows the caster to "see back" one generation, giving the caster both the True Name of the ancestor and image of his face. The caster also learns the generation and clan or bloodline from which the subject is descended. With three successes, the caster also learns the identities of all the parties with whom the subject shares a blood bond, either as a regnant or thrall.

[ 2 ] Invoke The Lesser Sign Of Power ( Rites Of The Blood - Page 157 )

The koldun may invoke the authority of the spirits which are the source of her magical birthright. She must concentrate for a single turn and then make the Lesser Sign of Power with her hands. If the ritual succeeds, her eyes glow with power.

System: For one hour per success, the koldun gains a -2 difficulty reduction on all Intimidation or Leadership rolls made against mortals, provided that she can make eye contact with them.

[ 2 ] Rouse The Elemental Spirit ( XXX - Page X )

By offering a sacrifice of his own blood and successfully casting this ritual, a koldun calls the attention of nature spirits and strikes a bargain with them. Although the vampire bargains from a position of power, he does so courteously rather than as a tyrant who must be obeyed.

System: If the ritual succeeds, spirits in the area who want the blood may appear before the koldun and offer service. The koldun may accept the offer or propose his own deal; generally, the greater the blood offering, the more serious or even dangerous a task the spirit is willing to undertake. Most spirits will perform only a single short task, such as relaying a message or frightening a mortal with a display of supernatural might. Missions of espionage, let alone a task that could result in combat, require a considerable number of successes on an appropriate Social roll as well as a veritable banquet of blood. Once the spirit accepts the terms of the pact and drinks the blood, it must fulfill its end of the bargain to the best of its abilities before pursuing any other business. Statistics for spirits called with this ritual are left to Storytellers to design. Generally, such spirits are weak or relatively insignificant, making them susceptible to flattery.

Example Weak Spirit (Stats to the right of the "/" reflect the wraith in the Shadowlands. Also note, that for their "disciplines" spirits use "Passion Points" instead of Blood Points. They fill their "Passion Points" by siphoning off the emotions of others.)

Attributes
Strength 0 or 3
Dexterity 3
Stamina 3
Charisma 2
Manipulation 3
Appearance 2
Perception 3
Intelligence 2
Wits 3

Abilities
Alertness 1
Climbing 3
Academics 1
Brawl 1
Melee 1
Bureaucracy 2
Dodge 2
Stealth 1
Computer 2
Empathy 3
Investigation 1
Intimidation 2
Law 2
Streetwise 1
Politics 1
Subterfuge 2

Disciplines
Auspex 1
Chimerstry 1
Dementation 2
Dominate 1
Vicissitude 1

Advantages
Passion Pool 5
Willpower 5

[ 2 ] Service For Souls ( XXX - Page X )

In casting this ritual, a koldun summons the attention of nature spirits to his person, enticing them by offering a part of his own essence to them. These spirits are vital in their own right, and they have mystical powers that aren't easily defi ned; they are free to act as they will. If they do accept the koldun's essence, they are bound to perform the duties as part of a Koldunic Sorcery ritual would require. Otherwise, they may roam free to live their lives.

System: The koldun's player spends a blood point and makes his roll in order to awaken the spirits from their natural settings and attract their attention. Then the caster enacts this ritual, spending at least one more blood point. For every blood point he spends, he may bind one nature spirit of the land into servitude. Although they do occupy space in his body (and thus count toward maximum blood pool), these blood points remain "inert" within the koldun's body and unavailable to him. He cannot use them to fuel Disciplines, heal wounds et cetera for as long as he intends to keep the nature spirits bound to him.
The lèleks summoned by the sorcerer may take any number of actions, but they may not typically affect physical objects other than those they inhabit. Even these are singular. The spirit of a tree may affect only that one tree, as opposed to all trees. Most often, these spirits are used as spies, emissaries or witnesses to some pact between the koldun and a greater spirit. They remain bound to the koldun for as long as their original agreement or until the Fiend chooses to relieve the lèleks of duty, whichever comes fi rst. At such a time, a lèlek will disperse into the night air, absolving the koldun of the promised vitae.

[ 2 ] Ward Versus Ghouls ( Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition - Page 234 )

Wary Tremere created this ritual to protect themselves from the minions of vengeful rivals. By invoking this ritual, the caster creates a glyph that causes great pain to any ghouls who come in contact with it. The Kindred pours a point's worth of blood over the object he wishes to ward (a piece of parchment, a coin, a doorknob, etc.), and recites the incantation, which takes 10 minutes. In 10 hours, the magical ward is complete, and will inflict excruciating pain on any ghoul unfortunate enough to touch the warded object.

System: Ghouls who touch warded objects suffer three dice of lethal damage. This damage occurs again if the ghoul touches the object further; indeed, a ghoul who consciously wishes to touch a warded object must spend a point of Willpower to do so. This ritual wards only one object - if inscribed on the side of a car, the ward affects only that door or fender, not the whole car. Wards may be placed on weapons, even bullets, though this usually works best on small-caliber weapons. Bullets often warp upon firing, however, and for a ward to remain intact on a fired round, the player needs five successes on the Firearms roll.

[ 2 ] Warding Circle Versus Ghouls ( Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition - Page 234 )

This ritual is enacted in a manner similar to that of Ward Versus Ghouls, but creates a circle centered on the caster into which a ghoul cannot pass without being burned. The circle can be made as large and as permanent as the caster desires, as long as she is willing to pay the necessary price. Many Tremere chantries and havens are protected by this and other Warding Circle rituals.

System: The ritual requires three blood points of mortal blood. The caster determines the size of the warding circle when it is cast; the default radius is 10 feet/3 meters, and every 10-foot/3-meter increase raises the difficulty by one, to a maximum of 9 (one additional success is required for every increase past the number necessary to raise the difficulty to 9). The player spends one blood point for every 10 feet/3 meters of radius and rolls. The ritual takes the normal casting time if it is to be short-term (lasting for the rest of the night) or one night if it is to be long-term (lasting a year and a day). Once the warding circle is established, any ghoul who attempts to cross its boundary feels a tingle on his skin and a slight breeze on his face - a successful Intelligence + Occult roll (difficulty 8) identifies this as a warding circle. If the ghoul attempts to press on, he must roll more successes on a Willpower roll (difficulty of the caster's Thaumaturgy rating + 3) than the caster rolled when establishing the ward. Failure indicates that the ward blocks his passage and inflicts three dice of bashing damage, and his next roll to attempt to enter the circle is at +1 difficulty. If the ghoul leaves the circle and attempts to enter it again, he must repeat the roll. Attempts to leave the circle are not blocked. The Tremere have access to several other Warding Circle rituals: Warding Circle Versus Lupines (Level Three), Warding Circle Versus Kindred (Level Four), and Warding Circles Versus Spirits, Ghosts, and Demons (Level Five). Each Warding Circle ritual must be learned separately. The material components required for each warding circle are the same as those needed for the corresponding ward, but in larger amounts. The effects against the targeted beings are the same as for Warding Circle Versus Ghouls.

[ 2 ] Withering Agony ( XXX - Page X )

By pulling the spirit from a sick tree and coaxing it into the body of a mortal or Kindred, the koldun infects his victim with a physically debilitating malady. When infected, the victim will decrease in weight, caused by the exfoliation of a thick sap-like substance from his pores. Hair will fall out, and skin will degenerate to an ash gray. Bones are more brittle, and breath comes in laborious gasps.

System: The koldun's player spends a point of blood and makes the appropriate roll while the character marks his victim with a bloody glyph. A spirit inhabiting a sick tree is then enticed to fl ee the dying wood and make its new home inside the marked victim. Over the course of a night, the adverse effects of this ailment will take effect, causing the victim to suffer a –2 to all Physical and Social dice pools. The affl icted also suffers one health level of unsoakable bashing damage due to the atrophy the body endures. This damage may be offset through rest or blood expenditure normally thereafter.

Kindred are similarly affected, suffering both the penalties to their Physical and Social dice pools and the associated damage. They also lose one additional blood point on top of the normal one point spent at the beginning of their night.

Withering Agony lasts for one week.

Note: Although mortals and Kindred aren't normally affected by nature spirits, the lèlek infecting victims are dying spirits and do not "join" with a host so much as they "invade" their health, similar to a virus.

[ 3 ] Conjure Spirit ( XXX - Page X )

As he once bound the least of spirits as spies and aides, so may a koldun with this ritual call more powerful spirits. Such creatures answer proper beckoning and oblations of blood, which needn’t come wholly from the caster. They do not make pacts - they trade favors. The koldun must pledge something of value to the spirit, which may seem trivial to human or vampiric notions of worth. If the spirit likes the offer, it awaits the price. Should it find the price reasonable for the service provided by the vampire, it drinks the blood and goes about its new business. It does not bargain or haggle, nor does it deign to listen to threats. If the vampire insults the spirit with a poor offering, it will not remain to continue bargaining; it simply vanishes to wherever it belongs and leaves the vampire with a pool of cooling, untouched blood for his trouble. Thus, it behooves a koldun to learn the proper etiquette for dealing with beings of such power.

System: A successful casting draws the attention of a spirit as described. The statistics of a nature spirit summoned with this ritual are left to Storyteller imagination but should greatly exceed those of spirits called with Rouse the Elemental Spirit and even the caster in extreme cases.

[ 3 ] Cowing The Servant ( Rites Of The Blood - Page 157 )

The Tzimisce enjoy the feeling of control over their servants, even more so when those servants quake with fear. This ritual heightens the normal devotion of a ghoul, revenant, or other blood bound servant. The koldun mixes a sheep's brain with soil from his domain and a point of his own blood, while chanting an ancient Slavic incantation. Then, he forces the servant to eat the foul mixture.

System: For one week per success, the difficulty of any roll made for the koldun to manipulate the servant is reduced by -1.

[ 3 ] Invoke The Greater Sign Of Power ( XXX - Page X )

With a successful casting, the koldun takes on the visage of his most favored element, as determined by his highest-ranked way. Those attuned to earth grow stony skin, cracked and pitted as by the wear of centuries. Their footfalls resound heavily and their voices grate with slow implacability. Koldun attuned to air appear to blur along every outline, surrounded by spiraling winds and constant meaningless whispers... Water marks its masters with a wet sheen and footprints of mud. Fire lends a ruddy hue to the skin and the distortion of heat waves rising perpetually from the caster’s body. Spirit’s mark is most subtle, a vague sense of otherworldly power and the flicker at the edge of peripheral vision as of a host of invisible beings thronging about the caster.

System: Regardless of cosmetic effects, this ritual makes all Koldunic Sorcery easier. The elemental attunement makes other tasks more difficult, however, as the caster is too focused on mystical matters to pay full attention to his surroundings. The mechanical effect of this fixation is a reduction of all Koldunic casting difficulties by 2 and the increase of all other rolls by one. This transformation also intimidates mortals as a Lesser Sign of Power. The effects of this ritual last until dawn.

[ 3 ] Raze The Lelek ( XXX - Page X )

A koldun casting this ritual may destroy inanimate objects by severing their spirits from their material shells. By severing an object's spirit, objects like stone pillars turn to chalk and dust, cell phones malfunction and break into a small pile of wire and plastic, and clothing frays to become tatters of cotton and leather.

System: By expending the appropriate number of blood points, a koldun may rend a spirit from its inanimate housing, permanently. He may do so to any object within his line of sight.

The number of successes the player achieves determines the degree of the koldun's success and the size of the object he may destroy.

Successes	Maximum Size
1	A fountain pen.
2	A cell phone.
3	A television.
4	A sofa.
5	A small car.

Rumors of elder koldun using this power to great effect persist, especially among young Tzimisce, practically becoming legends in the telling. One such legend involves a Fiend reducing a rival's very haven to brittle shale, while another suggests that a jealous Tzimisce transformed a scorned lover into a pillar of salt before she could turn against him. None of these tales have been substantiated, however.

[ 3 ] Sentinels Of The Haven ( XXX - Page X )

The koldun calls out to the spirits of his haven, demanding their fealty and proclaiming his right by recitation of koldunic descent through five unbroken generations of teachers. At the end of the ritual, spirits awaken as per the level-one ritual Hospitality. Unlike that lesser ritual, the spirits also gain limited physical control of their nature. Doors can open or close, an empty suit of armor may walk about and even fight clumsily, and a chair may scurry to make itself available.

System: The koldun completes the ritual as described. If successful, animated objects have whatever statistics the Storyteller deems appropriate. Only one object may move at a time, limiting the ritual’s defensive utility. It is a superb weapon of terror, however, especially for repelling the superstitious.

[ 3 ] Ward Versus Lupines ( Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition - Page 237 )

Wary Tremere created this ritual to protect themselves from werewolves. By invoking this ritual, the caster creates a glyph that causes great pain to any werewolves who come in contact with it. The Kindred pours a handful of silver dust over the object he wishes to ward (a piece of parchment, a coin, a doorknob, etc.), and recites the incantation, which takes 10 minutes. In 10 hours, the magical ward is complete, and will inflict excruciating pain on any werewolf unfortunate enough to touch the warded object.

System: Werewolves who touch warded objects suffer three dice of lethal damage. This damage occurs again if the werewolf touches the object further; indeed, a werewolf who consciously wishes to touch a warded object must spend a point of Willpower to do so. This ritual wards only one object - if inscribed on the side of a car, the ward affects only that door or fender, not the whole car. Wards may be placed on weapons, even bullets, though this usually works best on small-caliber weapons. Bullets often warp upon firing, however, and for a ward to remain intact on a fired round, the player needs five successes on the Firearms roll.

[ 4 ] Beyond The Wall Of Death ( XXX - Page X )

This ritual was created by a koldun toward the end of the medieval struggle against the Warlocks, in an attempt to preserve the knowledge possessed by fallen sorcerers. After this ritual is cast over the dead body of a newly slain koldun, its spirit will appear to the caster. As long as the koldun is aware of the specifi c sorceries that were possessed by the recently deceased, he can entice it to mentor him in these Ways.

System: The player spends a blood point and makes the necessary roll. While standing over the body of a recently deceased koldun and chanting his name, the caster summons the spirit into his presence. The koldun must have prior knowledge as to what powers the spirit possessed when it was itself a koldun before he asks to be mentored in the Ways. On a successful roll, the spirit will grudgingly abide to mentoring the koldun, as long as the character is explicit in his question and the player has the experience enough to buy the specifi c power. The spirit will mentor the caster in only one level of a Way, but, before moving on to its final rest, it will grant enough knowledge of the Way so that the koldun no longer requires a mentor to continue his progression. Once the spirit has completed its task, it will be banished from existence, and it will not be accessible again.

A spirit will be compelled to instruct the koldun only in other powers of Koldunic Sorcery and its rituals, not other Disciplines. Neither will it reveal other knowledge.

This power does not work on a subject who has been diablerized.

[ 4 ] Earth's Embrace ( XXX - Page X )

Of use only to Tzimisce, this ritual allows the koldun to call upon the spirits of the earth to empower the soil around him. The Tzimisce may temporarily substitute this soil for the "native" earth he must normally sleep with. The koldun sheds two blood points into the soil in question no more than an hour before dawn, and spends a temporary Willpower point. The soil is then capable of sustaining him for one day, as though it came from his homeland. This ritual may be performed no more than once per week. It is suggested that the Storyteller make the roll, rather than the player, as the koldun has no way of knowing if the magic was successful until he attempts to have a good day's sleep. If the roll indicates a botch, all dice pools for the next day suffer an additional loss of one die, on top of the standard penalty for sleeping away from one's favored soil.

[ 4 ] Incubus Visage ( XXX - Page X )

During less progressive times, people born with defects or abnormalities were thought to be touched by demons and devils while in the womb, so they were treated as outcasts. Similarly, Tzimisce koldun would cast this ritual as punishment for sexual or theft crimes committed by their boyars. The koldun seduces one of his bound nature spirits to warp the physical features of a mortal or Kindred, distorting facial features by elongating the nose, bulging the eyes, extending the teeth and chin. Mucus runs freely from the nose, saliva drools out of the mouth, boils and pock marks break out over the entire body, open sores drip a yellowish ooze and a hump swells between shoulders. Very soon, the victim resembles the most hideous of mortal beings and is reviled by society.

System: The ritual must be cast on the night of a halfmoon, and the koldun must ingest and spend one blood point from a boar, along with a piece of the victim's skin. For every success scored, a victim will suffer the adverse effects of Incubus Visage for one phase of the moon, for a maximum of another half-moon phase. The victim's Social Attributes drop to zero, and he gains the Flaw: Eerie Presence

[ 4 ] Merging Of Souls ( XXX - Page X )

Summoning a minor spirit as with the ritual Conjure Spirit, a koldun may trick the being into following its blood offering into the very gullet of a ghoul. Once inside, the spirit remains trapped until the death of its fleshly prison.

System: This ritual requires an hour of continuous chant, in which the koldun forces a mortal to consume a mixture of his blood and soil that the Tzimisce has rested in. If successful, the spirit materializes inside the host and inflicts five dice of lethal damage on the ghoul from its struggle to escape. If the ghoul survives, the spirit warps flesh as grotesquely as Vicissitude. The ghoul drops to Appearance 0 and gains three dots each of Strength and Stamina. Unfortunately, the spirit’s hate poisons the ghoul’s already tainted blood, depleting one point of vitae each day at sunrise. If the ghoul ever depletes its blood pool, it perishes and the spirit escapes.

[ 4 ] Merging Of The Souls ( XXX - Page X )

Before they had revenants at their disposal, Tzimisce koldun learned to amalgamate the ghouls and lèleks in their sway, thereby enhancing the ghoul's physical prowess. Many of these ghoul hosts end up either with multiple personalities, abnormal physical features or are altogether destroyed by the dangerous rigors of merging with a nature spirit. Still, they make efficient brutes, useful for keeping unquiet peasants in line and even finding use in the modern nights.

System: The player makes her roll and spends a blood point, the blood from which is used to mark the ghoul. By marking one of her ghouls with this extra point of vampiric vitae, a koldun entices a nature spirit to "join" with the ghoul. One of the ghoul's Strength, Dexterity or Stamina may be increased for every nature spirit that merges with him, for a maximum of three spirits and three points. Enticing more than one spirit into a ghoul requires marking him with more than one point of vampiric vitae. Any more than three nature spirits attempting to "join" with a ghoul will cause his consciousness to be shoved out from his control, and his body will warp and rip into a creature resembling something with no place in nature. For each lèlek beyond the third used to augment the ghoul's body, the ghoul gains a derangement of the Storyteller's choice or loses one point of Appearance, which lasts as long as the augmentation itself.

A ghoul's Traits may be increased above and beyond their normal maximum of 5 with this ritual to 6 for as long as this ritual lasts.

This ritual lasts for one night per success that the koldun's player scores on his activation roll.

Normal mortals are unable to withstand this sort of transformation process. Not only is their blood too weak to sustain the amalgamated spirit, the lèlek would immediately warp the victim's physique, causing it to change into an inanimate object in nature. Kindred are too far outside the realms of nature to properly benefit from the merging of lèlek, so this ritual does not affect them.

[ 4 ] Pool Of Secrets ( XXX - Page X )

Wise koldun keep regular watch on their servants and allies, ever wary of treachery and deception. This ritual aids in such endeavors, providing a mystical means of spying unseen.

System: The koldun skims his hands over a pool of brackish water without touching the surface. If the ritual succeeds, ripples shake and clear the water, unveiling a present image centered on a targeted person or place. The koldun must have spoken with the target person or visited the target place previously. If targeting a location, the view may not change once the vision unfolds. The maximum duration that can be spent scrying a specific target is a number of hours equal to the successes rolled. If the koldun releases the vision, he may return to it during the duration with another pass of the hand.

[ 4 ] Refuge Of The Thirsty Grave ( XXX - Page X )

Observation of Gangrel led to the creation of this useful ritual, permitting its own form of earth-melding as an escape from the sun’s hateful rays.

System: Upon successfully casting this ritual, the koldun sinks into the soil as per the Protean power Earth Meld. This power’s use has no upward duration, however. Instead, the earth drinks one point of the Cainite’s blood each day until his player makes a successful Strength + Survival roll (difficulty 6) to awaken and dig free in a shower of dirt. The koldun may attempt escape any time, though not more than once per hour.

[ 4 ] Ties That Bind ( Rites Of The Blood - Page 158 )

The koldun must spill four points of her own blood onto a patch of earth that she has claimed. Then, she must ritually devour a handful of the blood-soaked soil. Doing so reconnects her with the spirit of the land and facilitates the workings of koldunism. This is often used by kolduns outside of Eastern Europe to offset the distant connections to their homeland.

System: For one night per success, the koldun reduces the difficulty for all rolls pertaining to Koldunic Sorcery by -1. This ritual cannot be performed more than once per week.

[ 4 ] Ward Versus Kindred ( XXX - Page X )

This warding ritual functions exactly as do Ward Versus Ghouls and Ward Versus Lupines, but inflicts injury upon Cainites. It does not harm kuei-jin 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.

[ 4 ] Warding Circle Versus Kindred ( XXX - Page X )

This ritual is enacted in a manner similar to that of Ward Versus Kindred, but creates a circle centered on the caster into which a Kindred cannot pass without being burned. The circle can be made as large and as permanent as the caster desires, as long as she is willing to pay the necessary price. Many Tremere chantries and havens are protected by this and other Warding Circle rituals.

System: Ward Versus Lupines behaves exactly as does Warding Circle Versus Ghouls, but it affects kindred rather than ghouls. It does not affect the kindred who cast the spell.

[ 5 ] Conjure Demon ( XXX - Page X )

This ritual follows upon the principles of Conjure Spirit, though with greater rewards for success and peril for failure. A proper casting allows an offering of blood to summon a mighty demon of the Old Country. Such a being never shows fear, and perhaps need never show fear, for its powers usually exceed the koldun’s by far. Still, demons called in this fashion remember the koldun who came before and humbled them with mighty curses and enchantments. Out of memory of those ancient pacts and fear that those pacts might one night find renewal, demons treat koldun with respect as equals. Such beings brook no disrespect in turn, however, so incautious koldun risk destruction for careless words. A koldun may request a favor from a demon and offer a favor in turn. Many times, demons perform a task in exchange for unspecified payment at a later date. It is not unknown for a demon to wait centuries to call a payment due, though not all are so patient.

System
Success summons a demon as described. Demons summoned in this manner have whatever impressive statistics the Storyteller feels appropriate.

[ 5 ] Elemental Savior ( XXX - Page X )

During the centuries-old conflict with the Warlocks, some Tzimisce koldun desperately needed their lèleks to effectively aid in the fight, and they eventually created this ritual to make that possible. Once this ritual is cast, a nature spirit will become physical, in the form of an animated element in nature. The most common form that these spirits took was that of man-sized mud golems. When in this form, the lèlek can obey only basic, one sentence commands. It was not long after the koldun created this ritual that the Warlocks came up with their own form of elemental manipulation, which more than evened the odds in this blood feud.

Years later, in the modern nights, when this ritual was rediscovered and cast, the lèlek was surrounded by artificial, man-made creations and took the form of a large concrete golem, made up of concrete, asphalt and rebar.

System
A spirit already in the employ of the koldun (through some other ritual) will readily take to an elemental form after the caster bleeds four points of vitae onto the object he desires to have animated and the player makes a successful roll. Once the spirit animates an element, it will respond only to simple, one-sentence instructions from the koldun.

A lèlek can remain physical for a single night before it is forced out of its elemental state and return to the spirit world.

Koldunic Elemental Traits: No matter what elemental form a nature spirit takes, from a large oak tree to age-old stone, to roiling river water, its potential always remains the same.

Attributes
Strength 4
Dexterity 3
Stamina 5

Abilities
Brawl 2

Disciplines
Fortitude 2
Potence 2

Advantages
Willpower: 2
Health Levels: OK, OK, OK, -1, -1, -3, -3, -5, Banished

Attacks
Melee strike for 4 (does not account for Potence)

[ 5 ] Gaze Of The Gorgon ( XXX - Page X )

The koldun is able to transform a single victim into unliving stone. The subject must be present for the entire hour-long ritual, in which the caster chants constantly, spends two blood points and sheds a third. This last blood point must be consumed by (or force-fed to) the subject. If the subject is Kindred, she may resist with a Willpower roll, difficulty 8; her successes are subtracted from the koldun's own. The transformation lasts for one year per success with Kindred; the effect on mortals is permanent. While stone, victims cannot sense their environment in any way. Although they do not expend any blood while petrified, Kindred often come out of the ritual in frenzy when it finally wears off (Self-Control difficulty 9 to avoid). Some Tzimisce koldun are fond of sculpting their subjects into more "pleasing" forms with Vicissitude before transforming them into more durable material.

[ 5 ] Mirror Of Blood ( Rites Of The Blood - Page 104 )

This legendary ritual is used to create entire packs of Blood Brothers, forging them from mortal flesh and Cainite vitae completely outside of the Embrace. Some Cainites consider Mirror of Blood to be a heresy against the vampiric condition. Others refer to it as the pinnacle of unified magical research and experimentation. Nevertheless, all agree: It is dangerous, in the extreme.

The Tzimisce and the Tremere antitribu of the Sabbat created this ritual together, after centuries of trial and error. It is incredibly difficult to master and extremely delicate to carry out. To enact this ritual, the caster must capture ten children less than seven years old. These children may be of any race or sex, but they must all be of the same blood type and have no diseases or genetic imperfections of any sort.

All of the children are ghouled to the same vampire. This vampire is generally a patsy of some sort; either a newly created and disposable childe, or a captive from some other sect. For the next three months, the children are alternately pampered by their domitor and tortured by the ritualist, shaped night by night into perfect replicas of one another. The torments, as well as the delights, escalate rapidly, until by the end of the three months, the children have broken minds and equally deteriorated bodies. In this state, they psychologically transfer their self-will to their domitor, offering an implicit, soul-deep trust. It is at that point that they are made to watch that domitor die at the hands of their tormentors - and then allowed to slaughter their domitor during the final night of the ritual. With a final, twisted application of spells both Hermetic and elemental, the children are murdered, their minds are merged and their memories shared, and then they are brought back from the dead by the power of the ritual. The bond they share - their domitor's original blood-bond, now amplified and twisted into something far greater - establishes the permanent and unalterable unity of a new pack of perfectly identical Blood Brothers.

System: The blood cost of this ritual is 3 points for each child to be transformed into a Blood Brother. After three months of casting, on the final night of the ritual, the thaumaturge must make ten rolls - one for each child involved in the ritual. These rolls are made with Intelligence + Occult (difficulty 9). If the thaumaturge achieves at least one success on a roll, that child survives. If two or fewer children survive the process, the entire ritual is a failure, and all of the children die. If three or more of the original ten children survive, the ritual is a success. The number of children who survive are the numbers of Blood Brothers in the new, unified pack.

Attempted use of this ritual, whether successful or not, removes a single point of morality from the user's morality total if they are on Humanity. Other paths (particularly those which eschew killing) may require a similar (or greater) morality loss. Blood Brothers created with this ritual are infertile, and cannot Embrace.

[ 5 ] Nemesis Of The Living Earth ( XXX - Page X )

Beginning a long malediction lasting from midnight to sunrise, a koldun may name a target as an enemy of nature. At the conclusion of the ritual, the player rolls and the vampire drips a single point of vitae onto the bare ground. If successful, all elements turn against the victim. Sparks leap from bending flames to scorch him, the earth opens pits and muddy sinkholes in his path, branches catch and entwine him, water splashes to drown him, and chill winds blow unceasingly upon him. Such an unfortunate soul will not last long, as one can find no sanctuary from the world itself. Only death or forgiveness of the koldun may lift the curse.

System: Any game effects of the curse rest with the cruelty of Storyteller imagination. Though such misfortune always begins subtly enough, the manifestations soon grow into freakish and impossible conjunctions of coincidence.

[ 5 ] The Inmost Tug ( Rites Of The Blood - Page 158 )

The koldun may alter the emotional characteristics of any blood bond he holds over a thrall. In place of the normal feelings of love and devotion, he can cause the thrall to feel a debased lust, a terrified obedience, a fraternal devotion, or any other emotional context he chooses. The koldun need only speak a word in the presence of the thrall to invoke the ritual's power.

System: Each success represents one scene in which the thrall is compelled to feel an emotion of the koldun's choice toward him.

[ 5 ] Ward Versus Demons ( Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition - Page 240 ) OR ( Dread Names: Red List - Page 101 )

Wary Tremere created this ritual to protect themselves from demons (including those summoned or given physical form via Thaumaturgy Paths such as Elemental Mastery). By invoking this ritual, the caster creates a glyph that causes great pain to any demons who come in contact with it. The Kindred pours a vial of holy water over the object he wishes to ward (a piece of parchment, a coin, a doorknob, etc.), and recites the incantation, which takes 10 minutes. In 10 hours, the magical ward is complete, and will inflict excruciating pain on any spirit unfortunate enough to touch the warded object.

System: Demons who touch warded objects suffer three dice of lethal damage. This damage occurs again if the demon touches the object further; indeed, a demon who consciously wishes to touch a warded object must spend a point of Willpower to do so. This ritual wards only one object - if inscribed on the side of a car, the ward affects only that door or fender, not the whole car. Wards may be placed on weapons, even bullets, though this usually works best on small-caliber weapons. Bullets often warp upon firing, however, and for a ward to remain intact on a fired round, the player needs five successes on the Firearms roll.

[ 5 ] Ward Versus Ghosts ( Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition - Page 240 )

Wary Tremere created this ritual to protect themselves from ghosts (including those summoned or given physical form via Thaumaturgy Paths such as Elemental Mastery). By invoking this ritual, the caster creates a glyph that causes great pain to any ghosts who come in contact with it. The Kindred pours a handful of powdered marble from a tombstone over the object he wishes to ward (a piece of parchment, a coin, a doorknob, etc.), and recites the incantation, which takes 10 minutes. In 10 hours, the magical ward is complete, and will inflict excruciating pain on any spirit unfortunate enough to touch the warded object.

System: Ghosts who touch warded objects suffer three dice of lethal damage. This damage occurs again if the ghost touches the object further; indeed, a ghost who consciously wishes to touch a warded object must spend a point of Willpower to do so. This ritual wards only one object - if inscribed on the side of a car, the ward affects only that door or fender, not the whole car. Wards may be placed on weapons, even bullets, though this usually works best on small-caliber weapons. Bullets often warp upon firing, however, and for a ward to remain intact on a fired round, the player needs five successes on the Firearms roll.

[ 5 ] Ward Versus Spirits ( Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition - Page 240 )

Wary Tremere created this ritual to protect themselves from spirits (including those summoned or given physical form via Thaumaturgy Paths such as Elemental Mastery). By invoking this ritual, the caster creates a glyph that causes great pain to any spirits who come in contact with it. The Kindred pours a handful of pure sea salt over the object he wishes to ward (a piece of parchment, a coin, a doorknob, etc.), and recites the incantation, which takes 10 minutes. In 10 hours, the magical ward is complete, and will inflict excruciating pain on any spirit unfortunate enough to touch the warded object.

System: Spirits who touch warded objects suffer three dice of lethal damage. This damage occurs again if the spirit touches the object further; indeed, a spirit who consciously wishes to touch a warded object must spend a point of Willpower to do so. This ritual wards only one object - if inscribed on the side of a car, the ward affects only that door or fender, not the whole car. Wards may be placed on weapons, even bullets, though this usually works best on small-caliber weapons. Bullets often warp upon firing, however, and for a ward to remain intact on a fired round, the player needs five successes on the Firearms roll.

[ 5 ] Warding Circle Versus Demons ( XXX - Page X )

This ritual is enacted in a manner similar to that of Ward Versus Demons, but creates a circle centered on the caster into which a Demon cannot pass without being damaged. The circle can be made as large and as permanent as the caster desires, as long as she is willing to pay the necessary price. Many Tremere chantries and havens are protected by this and other Warding Circle rituals.

System: Warding circle Versus Demons behaves exactly as does Warding Circle Versus Ghouls, but it affects Demons rather than ghouls. Warding Circle Versus Demons requires three vials of holy water.

[ 5 ] Warding Circle Versus Ghosts ( XXX - Page X )

This ritual is enacted in a manner similar to that of Ward Versus Ghosts, but creates a circle centered on the caster into which a Ghost cannot pass without being damaged. The circle can be made as large and as permanent as the caster desires, as long as she is willing to pay the necessary price. Many Tremere chantries and havens are protected by this and other Warding Circle rituals.

System: Warding circle Versus Ghosts behaves exactly as does Warding Circle Versus Ghouls, but it affects Ghosts rather than ghouls. Warding Circle Versus Ghosts requires three handfuls of powdered marble from a tombstone.

[ 5 ] Warding Circle Versus Spirits ( XXX - Page X )

This ritual is enacted in a manner similar to that of Ward Versus Spirits, but creates a circle centered on the caster into which a Spirit cannot pass without being damaged. The circle can be made as large and as permanent as the caster desires, as long as she is willing to pay the necessary price. Many Tremere chantries and havens are protected by this and other Warding Circle rituals.

System: Warding circle Versus Spirits behaves exactly as does Warding Circle Versus Ghouls, but it affects Spirits rather than ghouls. Warding Circle Versus Spirits requires three handfuls of pure sea salt.

[ 6 ] Create Vozhd ( XXX - Page X )

Combined with Vicissitude, this ritual enables a koldun to fashion the great and terrible living weapons known as vozhd. The caster must gather a minimum of 15 ghouls battened on his own vitae, the assembled mass of which each ingest a concoction of mixed blood taken from the group. The concoction need not be drunk willingly. After this preparation, the koldun chants continuously while employing Vicissitude to mold the ghouls into a single composite being. Technically, another individual may perform the actual sculpting, but most koldun find the task relaxing. This process takes a number of hours equal to the ghouls used minus seven, and fails if the caster breaks off the chant for any reason. If the casting continues past sunrise, the caster must maintain the work and chant while struggling to remain awake.

[ 6 ] Embracing The Demon ( XXX - Page X )

Many centuries ago, a renowned brood of koldun was known to barter directly with powerful evil spirits, and it eventually wound up being destroyed by these untrustworthy creatures. Although it may seem senseless to risk life and limb to enlist a "true" demon into one's employ, the benefits reaped by the koldun who were not torn apart almost totally eclipses this peril. Following this mode of thought, koldun of the modern nights have re-adapted this ritual of demon-conjuring by requiring the body of a newly dead neonate, one that was blood bound to the caster. When summoned, the demon inhabits the dead body, thereby removing it from its natural element and reducing its overall power. Doing so ensures that the demon will not have enough power to simply destroy the caster on a whim. However, the host body grants it enough of its mystical energies to perform most of its "required" tasks.

System: The caster must first sacrifice a blood bound neonate. The fledgling vampire cannot have spent any more than 20 years as Kindred (otherwise the dead body will decay too rapidly for it to host a demon properly). Then the koldun's player makes his roll, spends a blood point and casts this ritual, all the while chanting the name of the demon he wishes to summon. The demon, in turn, will be drawn from its infernal realm and forced into the newly dead vessel body. As long as the vampire was blood bound to the koldun before she was destroyed, the demon summoned into her body will not have the capacity to readily defy its master.

Once it is within the vessel body, the demon may perform any of a number of tasks, from performing as an efficient bodyguard to serving as a mentor for teaching new Disciplines. It possesses all of the physical characteristics (Attributes, Talents, etc.) of the host vampire and all of the supernatural and mental capacities (Disciplines, Attributes, etc.) of the demon. It is considered subject to the blood bond, and it cannot actively harm its master, even though it almost certainly resents him.

The demon will be physically weak for the first few nights after the summoning, as it grows accustomed to coping without the full range of its tremendous powers, and it will be restricted to the limits of the body. Within a week, it will "grow" into the body, causing it to take on demonic features. Its Attributes and powers may also increase with time (at Storyteller discretion). Over the course of a month, the body will degenerate into an unsuitable vessel for the demon, caused in part by both the dead body's decay and its inability to accommodate the demon's increasing powers. After a month has passed since the demon's summoning, the vessel body will fall apart, and the creature will be released from its servitude and immediately sent back to where it originated.

A demon summoned into a vessel body that was not blood bound before it was killed may consistently attempt to break free from its term of servitude. The koldun must make a Willpower roll every night that the demon remains in the vessel body. While a failed roll causes the koldun's sway over the demon to slip, immediately releasing it from its mortal chains, a botched roll will ultimately end in a bloody conflict between demon and caster, of which the outcome is almost assuredly in the demon's favor.

Mortal vessels are wholly unsuitable to properly host a demon for any length of time, and any test of this restriction will always result in the body melting into puddles of flesh and viscera almost immediately after this ritual is cast.

[ 9 ] Dracul ( XXX - Page X )

Besides the obvious prerequisite (Koldunic Sorcery 9+), the caster must have a Vicissitude or Protean score of 6+ to employ this ritual; only two Tzimisce, including the Dracon of Byzantium, are known to have used it. This ritual imbues the Fiend with the primordial energies of the Old Country, transforming the vampire into a hideous dragon.

System: The Fiend's Strength rating triples, his Stamina rating doubles, and he sprouts a scaly hide equal to Class 4 Armor (+4 soak dice). The dragon may drink blood normally, and may also choose to consume the flesh of slain foes; an entire human corpse (12 Health Levels) may be chewed up and eaten per turn, provided the dragon does nothing but eat. For each Health Level of flesh "digested," the Fiend may regurgitate a fiery acid inflicting one Health Level of aggravated damage per "point" invested in it (maximum of six Health Levels vomited per shot). The Fiend gains an additional five "Bruised" Health Levels, but all difficulties to hit him are reduced by one (he's enormous).