Punk Sorcery Rituals

[Phsycodelic]

Punk Sorcery Rituals

Anarchs

Of all schools of Anarch blood magic, Punk magic is the least organized, the least understood, the least repeatable, and the least liked - and its adherents prefer it that way. Among mortals, Punk (first as a musical genre and later as an entire subculture) originated as a means of extreme self-expression and anti-establishment extremism in Europe and the U.S. in the 1970s and 80s. While the socio-political factors that led to the birth of Punk are complex, the driving force was a general sense of nihilism among many young people of the time, arguably a reasonable response to an era when nuclear Armageddon seemed to lie in wait just over the horizon. More specifically, Punk culture was a reaction to the advent of the Reagan and Thatcher administrations, both of which were perceived by punks as bellicose, coratist, jingoistic, and destructive.

At the same time that Punk was attempting to tear down society and replace it with carefully scripted anarchy, a new way of looking at magical theory would do the same thing to the occult community: chaos magic. In chaos magic, the magician (or "chaote") seeks to change reality not through the repetition of some dusty ritual or through appeals to some impersonal deity, but rather by altering his own state of consciousness. Chaos magic is a syncretic system which pragmatically applies whatever belief systems the chaote considers relevant to the moment, thus leading to the creation of new and highly unorthodox techniques. The central premise of chaos magic is that belief is an active magical force and that what the chaote actually believes in is less important than the intensity of that belief. In other words, the chaote should essentially have "flexible beliefs," as well as a willingness to consciously choose his beliefs in order to find the most thematically appropriate ones for the situation and then discard them when they are no longer necessary.

Chaotes also place great emphasis on achieving an altered state of consciousness as a prerequisite to working magic. Some magicians achieve this through "inhibitory gnosis" via meditation, self-hypnosis, fasting, sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, and the use of certain hypnogogic drugs. Other mortal chaotes pursue "excitatory gnosis," a state of transcendent mindlessness achieved through sexual climax, flagellation, dance, sensory overload, or hallucinogens. Another element of magic common to most chaotes is the use of sigils, personalized abstract designs meant to function as a focus for the will of their creator. Some magicians create sigils to function as representations of the spells they seek to create. Others use them as representations for thought-forms - ideas held by the magician which can be manifested in the world through an act of will.

Both punk and chaos magic were born in Britain during the 70s, and while not intrinsically connected, in the minds of violent young Anarchs looking for any edge in the fight against the brutal repression of the British Camarilla, they were made for each other. Punk Anarchs threw themselves into chaos magic with the same abandon as everything else. Granted, relatively few of them had the occult acumen to master a radically new approach to blood magic (and even fewer of them survived the reprisals of Tremere thaumaturgists who were as offended by their approach to magic as by their political leanings), but those who endured gained both power and the fame that resulted from beating the Tremere at their own game. Now, Punk Sorcery can be found anywhere there is an Anarch with just enough occult lore to be dangerous and with far more daring than sense.

The basic premise of Punk Sorcery is that the caster must first reject the idea that magical premises themselves are important. What matters are the intensity of the sorcerer's belief and the actions and rituals he uses to actualize that belief. Where a chaote might engage in sleep deprivation to achieve an altered state of consciousness, the Punk Sorcerer might force herself to awaken during the day so that the ritual can be performed at noon (even though the normal risks associated with blood magic are heightened by the penalties associated with acting during daylight hours). Where a mortal chaote might ingest psychotropic drugs or engage in Tantric masturbation in order to seek gnosis, a vampiric Punk Sorcerer might design a ritual in which she and a partner feed on a vessel who has taken hallucinogens before feeding sexually on one another at the climax of the ritual. Indeed, many Punk Sorcerers find that the Kiss is an excellent substitute for the sexual aspects of Chaos Magic, with the more reckless (or ruthless) Anarchs deliberately starving themselves of blood so that the risk of hunger frenzy heightens the sexual rush of feeding even more. Some Punk Sorcerers have recently been practicing a curious version of the Straight Edge movement, and focus on ecstasies like this one that are tied to a "purer" expression of the Kindred condition.

Similarly, Punk Sorcerers also make use of sigils in their workings. One common means of designing a symbol involves the chaote simply writing out what he wants to accomplish, eliminating every letter used more than once, and then arranging the remaining letters into a decorative pattern which the chaote then meditates upon. The principle is the same for the Punk thaumaturgist, except that the sigil itself is drawn in the Anarch's own vitae or perhaps even carved into his flesh to be healed only after the ritual's completion.

Easily the rowdiest of all blood magic schools, Punk Sorcery is adored by Brujah head-bangers who wish to explore the occult as an alternative means of revolution. Malkavians are drawn to the school's iconoclastic practices, although they and the Toreador must compete to see who can be the most "artistic" in crafting new and shocking rituals. A surprising number of Tremere Anarchs abandon their Clan's Hermetic traditions in favor of this school as well. Having rejected every other aspect their parent Clan's culture and heritage, such rebels consider Punk Sorcery to be the ultimate "fuck you."

The paths pursued by Punk practitioners are often the most unusual and frequently the most violent. The punk ethos is as much a part of the school's heritage as its magical theories, while its utility during fights is why it is in such demand in Anarch domains across the globe.

The exuberant and iconoclastic nature of Punk Sorcery is most obvious in the school's approach to ritual magic. Generally, rituals work for Punk Sorcerers exactly as they do for everyone else, at least from a mechanical standpoint. However, the actual description of each Punk ritual's working is flavored with the style of the Punk movement and, indeed, with each individual Punk Sorcerer. Adherents of this school mock the Tremere (and most other traditionalist schools) for treating rituals like spell lists from a fantasy role-playing game. When a Punk Sorcerer learns a new ritual, she learns only the general parameters of the ritual's requirements and effect. Beyond that, she is expected to personalize it to her own aesthetic style but also to be free enough and innovative enough to amend it as needed. Rarely does a successful Punk Sorcerer perform a given ritual exactly the same way twice, and it is a poor one who always performs a given ritual the same every time. Those who do often feel themselves slipping into a rut and suffer increasing difficulties in performing such boring, repetitive rituals, at least until the sorcerer comes up with some new and inventive spin to put on it.

Punk Sorcery botches generally cause the vampire to suffer from the effects of the Hysteria Derangement. The Punker is even quicker to anger than normal, and delights in anarchic destruction of all symbols of authority. [Rites Of The Blood - Page 132]

[ 1 ] Calling Card ( Rites Of The Blood - Page 65 )

The Tremere know that Anarchs have duplicated their Encrypt Missive ritual, but they are thus far unaware of the unique modifications that Victor Therron, Malkavian anarchist, made to it. The basic application of this ritual allows the sorcerer to leave a message in the form of graffiti which can only be understood by readers who meet certain criteria. The sorcerer's message may be visible to any Kindred, to any Anarch, or to specific individuals. That much is known. What the Tremere do not realize is that the placement matters as much as the message, for if a punk sorcerer uses this ritual to tag a particular location - specifically a place which the sorcerer has vandalized in some way and which belongs either someone he perceives as an authority figure (whether the Prince or the mortal government) or someone he personally perceives to be an enemy - the ritual has a secondary effect that makes it easier to perform other punk magic at the scene.

System: The graffiti message will last until it is removed and its true meaning will be visible to any intended target for that time. To trigger the secondary effect, the sorcerer (and any allies he brings) must actually vandalize the area and then leave a message taunting some figure of authority. This message may or may not have a hidden meaning in it, but it must somehow identify the sorcerer, either by his commonly used identity or by a regularly used alias which is known to whichever local authority figures might be expected to visit the scene. For one hour per success, the difficulty of all rituals and path effects executed by the sorcerer within sight of the graffiti is reduced by 1 if the graffiti incorporates an alias or by 2 if it reveals a name by which the sorcerer is personally known by the authorities.

Some punk sorcerers leave hidden messages visible only to specific vampires like the Sheriff or Prince, and then use the benefits provided by Calling Card to cast delayed action rituals as traps triggered whenever he reads the hidden message. The BFU ritual, for example, is designed explicitly for this purpose.

[ 2 ] Beat Your Way To Glory ( Rites Of The Blood - Page 65 )

This ritual allows an Anarch to copy aspects of the appearance of a particular mortal - hair color or style, eye color, tattoos, piercings, even clothing choices - by essentially beating them out of the target. The sorcerer may perform this ritual herself or she may perform it through another Anarch by rubbing his shoulders from behind and whispering what to say. The sorcerer must spend one point of blood and make the activation roll whether he is performing the ritual for himself or another. Regardless, the one to be altered must then walk up to a particular mortal with the desired physical characteristics and say "I like your look. I'm taking it." Then, the vampire must punch the mortal in the face.

To complete the ritual, the vampire must render the mortal unconscious through brute force unaided by vampiric powers. In fact, merely speaking the incantation causes the vampire to lose access to all of his Disciplines and prevents him from spending blood for the duration of the fight (or for the rest of the scene if the mortal wins) - Punk Sorcerer philosophy says that a vampire who can't take a mortal in a fair fight deserves to get his ass kicked anyway.

Once the mortal is rendered unconscious, the vampire claims his prize. If he wants to copy the mortal's hair style, he must remove a large handful of the mortal's hair. If he wants eye color, he gives the mortal a black eye. If he wants a piercing, he rips the mortal's piercing straight out of the skin and swallows it. If he wants a tattoo, he damages the mortals tattoo in some permanent way. If he likes the mortal's clothes, he slices them to bits, keeping a few rags for himself.

System: Each success causes the vampire to gain one Appearance-related characteristic of the mortal victim, chosen from hair color, hair style, facial hair, tattoos, piercings, or clothing. When the vampire awakens the next night, he will have those traits (and if appropriate, will awaken wearing a copy of the mortal's clothes sized perfectly to fit him). The ritual will not change overall appearance - the vampire still looks basically the way he did before, and only superficial traits are changed. Piercings and tattoos appear on the vampire's body in roughly the same location as they were on the mortal's body but adjusted where necessary due to differences in size and build. Clothing will last until destroyed, but all other acquired characteristics become part of the vampire's default appearance.

[ 3 ] BFU ( Rites Of The Blood - Page 66 )

The Anarch drafts a message for a specific individual, a message interspersed with a mix of occult symbols and vulgar personal insults. This message can be left behind at the scene of the Anarch's use of the Calling Card ritual in letters ten-feet high, or it can be written with a quill pen on expensive stationary and delivered via courier. Regardless, if the ritual is performed properly, the message fades and is invisible except to the intended recipient. When the recipient reads the message, he becomes so incensed that he has a chance to fall into a rage frenzy. Obviously, this effect primarily applies to vampires, werewolves, and other beings capable of being provoked into a rage state, but even mortals targeted by the message find themselves prone to irrational fury. An innovative sorcerer might well use this ritual for a revenge ploy, such as slandering a mortal recipient's wife as an adulteress and thereby driving him into a homicidal fury. The most common use, however, is simply to embarrass prominent Cainites by provoking them to frenzy at public gatherings.

System: Once the target reads that message, she must immediately roll for rage frenzy at a +2 difficulty. Furthermore, the effects persist, and for the next several nights, she will find that all difficulties to resist rage frenzy are increased by 1. The message itself lasts for one night per success, and if it is not observed by the intended recipient, the ritual is wasted. If the recipient does see it, the increased frenzy difficulties persist for an additional one night per success, even if she sees the message on the last night that it could possibly affect her.

[ 4 ] Baron Zaraguin's Sting ( Rites Of The Blood - Page 66 )

A curious syncretic ritual that combines Haitian Voudoun with imagery and ideas drawn from a comic book, Baron Zaraguin's Sting is a powerful defensive ritual. The ritualist must imbibe blood laced with LSD just before sunrise and spend the day in a wooden coffin containing at least ten live scorpions. The visions the vampire suffers during her long day of confinement combined with the stings of the angry scorpions open her mind to communion with Baron Zaraquin, the patron loa of scorpions and spiders.

System: For every two successes (rounded up) rolled on the ritual, the vampire takes one level of lethal damage from scorpion stings. This damage is unsoakable but can be healed normally. In exchange for submitting to the scorpions' stings, however, the vampire also gains Baron Zaraquin's blessing for one night per success. During that time the difficulty on all rolls to supernaturally influence the sorcerer (such as Dominate or Majesty) or to read her aura or her mind increases to 9. Furthermore, any character who attempts to use such powers against the sorcerer suffers one unsoakable point of psychic bashing damage for every 1 rolled on the attempt. If such a roll actually botches, the damage is lethal and the character also has a brief vision of a giant spiritual scorpion, a manifestation of Baron Zaraguin, as its tail strikes her in the forehead for the affront.

[ 5 ] Bloody Mary ( Rites Of The Blood - Page 67 )

One of the darkest rituals in the annals of Punk Sorcery, Bloody Mary summons that malefic urban spirit and allows her to possess a mortal vessel in exchange for a period of service to the summoner. The ritual must be performed in a public bathroom, and the mortal vessel must be persuaded of his own free will to participate in the ritual. He need not know what the ritual's ultimate effect will be, and few mortals would participate if they did, but he cannot be Dominated or otherwise compelled to take part. Trickery is perfectly fine, however, and many of those who use this ritual will manipulate mortals through means as simple as telling them about the urban legend and then daring them to risk summoning the legendary figure.

Once persuaded, the mortal must look into the mirror and say "Bloody Mary" three times, while the sorcerer flips the lights on and off in a particular pattern and quietly mouths an incantation that offers the mortal's soul to the spirit in exchange for service. The sorcerer will know the ritual has succeeded when, at one point when the lights are on, the mirror will show the mortal's reflection as well as that of the hideous crone looming behind him ready to pounce. Then, the vampire must turn the lights off again and leave them off until the screaming has stopped.

System: If the ritual succeeds, then Bloody Mary will possess the mortal's body and be bound to serve the summoner for one lunar month. The successes on the roll determine how loyal Bloody Mary is during the length of possession, for she is a spirit of violence and murder and will seize nearly any opportunity to kill while wearing a human host. With one success, she will grudgingly obey any direct commands and will refrain from attempting to harm the summoner in any way, but she will have no real loyalty. With five successes, her instinct is to obey every command without question and to refrain from any activities which might cause problems for the summoner later. If there is any conflict between Bloody Mary's instinct to maim and kill and the needs of the summoner, roll the vampire's successes on the summoning roll. If there are any successes, the player decides what Mary will do.

While Bloody Mary is riding the mortal vessel, she gains the equivalent of Potence 2 and Fortitude 2. She knows everything he knew, and she can impersonate him effortlessly. However, animals are instinctively afraid of any mortal ridden by Bloody Mary, and characters who succeed on a Perception + Empathy roll (difficulty 7) find him frightening and off-putting. For children, the difficulty is only 5. Statements from anyone close to the mortal indicating love or affection to him require the player to roll a number of dice equal to the summoning successes (difficulty 7). Failure means that Bloody Mary will frenzy and attack the loved one. When the month of servitude ends, Blood Mary departs, leaving behind a mortal who is irretrievably insane. As noted, this is a dark ritual, and any sorcerer who performs it must make a Conscience roll if his Humanity is two or higher.