Level Five Rituals

Level Five Rituals

Umbral Walk: There are innumerable planes of existence. The astral plane, where creatures with astral projection walk, is known to many Kindred. Tremere have also learned to enter a land of eternal night, known as the Umbra, although this is hardly a safe place for them. Entering the Umbra requires the sacrifice of an intelligent being. The success of the vampire’s ritual also depends on the magnitude of the being’s supernatural power. The vampire can also bring others into the Umbra, though each person brought along requires a separate sacrifice. The Tremere appears in the Umbra naked, though any magical items she may have come along. For more information on the Umbra, see Werewolf: The Apocalypse.

Light of Vengeance : By spending a Blood Point and using the resulting blood filter a light source (by smearing it on the lens of a flashlight, for example), the character can turn any artificial light source into a temporary weapon with almost the potency of sunlight. Any Kindred struck by the light must roll Stamina + Fortitude as if struck by a direct ray of sunlight; the difficulty of the roll is equal to the character’s Thaumaturgy score. The effect last’s until the blood dries (2-10 minutes, depending on the amount of heat generated by the light source) and the ritual itself takes three turns. Wounds caused by this means are not aggravated wounds.

Escape to a True Friend: This ritual must be prepared ahead of time, but it can be of great use in a tight situation. A one meter circle must be burned into the ground, and many arcane symbols must be precisely placed about it. The entire process takes about three or four days and costs five of the caster’s own Blood Points. Once this is accomplished, the caster (and only the caster) may at any time, step into the circle while repeating a true friend’s name and be mystically transported to that friend. The Warlock will not suddenly appear before his friend, but will materialize someplace nearby and out of sight (usually within earshot of the friend’s location). The enchantment may be reused until the circle is broken or the symbols are marred.

Ward versus Spirits: This ritual works in a manner similar to Ward versus Ghouls (Level Two ritual), but of course it affects ghosts and spirits. The component needed is pure sea salt. This is a basic ward and affects all spirits equally.

Blood Contract: This ritual creates an unbreakable bond between the two parties of a contract. The contract must be written in the caster’s blood and takes about three days to complete. The ritual is finished when both parties sign the agreement in their own blood, after which they are compelled to abide by the terms as stated. The only way out is to complete one’s part of the bargain or to burn the contract.

Stone Slumber: This ritual creates a nearly impregnable protection for a sleeping vampire. The caster must begin the ritual two hours before dawn. At sunrise, once the ritual is finished, the caster becomes solid stone. Just like a stone statue, the Kindred can be transported from place to place, even in direct sunlight, and will remain suspended in that state until the following sunset. Awakening from this form requires the expenditure of three Blood Points instead of one. The Warlock is completely protected from stakes and most kinds of flame and heat, but pieces can be broken off. Most kinds of communication and telepathy are impossible, as the Thaumaturgist’s mind is dormant.

One Mind of the Covens: This is a very exclusive ritual used by the Regent of a given chantry during a simultaneous communication with his equivalents across the world. He must engage in an hour-long chant and stare into a silver mirror to cast the ritual successfully. This ritual is one of the main reasons that the Tremere clan is so controlled and organized--it allows the elders to demand current information concerning the progress of all it’s member’s schemes.

Dominion (Sabbat): This Ritual makes a highly effective defense. It requires three hours to set up, but it lasts for an entire week. The ritual is cast upon a specific location no larger than 500 cubic feet. The ritual prevents all uses of Animalism, Auspex, Domination, and Presence performed by anyone except the caster within its bounds. In order for the ritual to remain effective, a seal made of iron must be embedded over all doors within the area affected by the Dominion. If even a simple seal is marred or pulled out, the ritual is dispelled.

Eyes of the Beast (Sabbat): The vampire is able to mystically see through the eyes of an animal for 24 hours. The animal must be chosen and touched on the head for this ritual to take effect. The vampire will then see whatever the animal sees, but will have no control over what the animal sees or does. The vampire must close his own eyes in order to see what the animal sees. This is a particularly useful power when using the animal to keep watch over the vampire’s haven.

Lion Heart (Sabbat): The vampire using this ritual may temporarily increase her abilities as a warrior. The ritual grants the vampire two points of Strength, one point of Dexterity, and one point of Stamina. The vampire’s Courage or Morale is also increased by three points. Even beyond this, the vampire gains two extra points in her Brawl and Leadership Talents. The effects of this ritual lasts for about 20 minutes.

The vampire using this ritual must rest within two hours after this ritual ends or she will begin to lose Health Levels at a rate of one every 10 minutes until she rests. This can be a very dangerous ritual to cast, but its effects are incredible.

Mindcrawler (Sabbat): The vampire employing this ritual creates a magical force in a victim’s head which causes the victim to slowly lose his mind. The effects are dreadful and extremely effective. The Thaumaturgist simply places her hand on the victim’s head for this ritual to take effect. The victim will feel only a minor burning sensation.

Over a period of one week, the victim begins losing his Mental Attributes. The first day the victim loses one point of Perception, the second day one point of Intelligence, the third day one point of Wits. The cycle repeats on the fourth day, with the victim losing another point of Perception, and so on for each day, following the same sequence until the victim’s Mental Attributes are all reduced to one. The Mindcrawler then ceases.

The victim may rebuild his Mental Attributes at a rate of one point per week, applied to whatever Mental Attribute the victim decides to work on rebuilding. The material component for this ritual is a small tick dyed red and painted with a mystical symbol. The tick is then crushed and applied to the head of the victim.

Paper Flesh (Sabbat): This ritual causes a victim’s Stamina and Fortitude (if she has the Discipline) to be reduced to one point each. The victim remains this way for one entire night. This can be a powerful ritual to cast on opponents who easily soak damage. However, if the victim is of seventh generation or less, she keeps one extra point of Stamina and Fortitude per generation less than eighth. Thus, if a fourth generation was hit by this ritual, the vampire would be allowed to keep four points of both Stamina and Fortitude in addition to the one point automatically left. The material component for this ritual is a piece of paper with a picture representing the victim. The caster rips apart the picture when this ritual is cast.

Spirit of Torment (Sabbat): This ritual allows a vampire to summon a spirit capable of making physical contract with those in the real world. The vampire may command the spirit to attack another being. The spirit will fight for the vampire as long as it is not any personal danger. The spirit will stay only for a limited time; if it suffers any wounds while in a physical form, it will automatically leave. Otherwise, the length of time that it remains is based upon the number of successes the vampire rolls using his own Manipulation + Occult (or Spirit Lore).

One Turn
One Hour
One Night
Three Weeks
One Week

The spirit looks hideously inhuman and has the following statistics:

Physical: 13 points divided among the three

Social: 3 points divided among the three

Mental: 7 points divided among the three

Virtues: Conscience 0, Self-Control 1, Courage 4

Talents: Brawl 4, Empathy 3, Intimidation 3

Skills: Stealth 3

Knowledge: Occult 1, Spirit Lore 2

Disciplines (equivalents): Auspex 2, Fright 3 (adds one die per level to any attempt to frighten), Obfuscate 5, Potence 1, Spirit Sight, and Manifestation (allows the spirit to assume a physical form; the spirit can remain in physical form for every Willpower point expended).

Humanity: 0

Willpower: 7

Thirst Unquenchable (Sabbat): The vampire creates a thirst that cannot be quenched within another vampire. Only half of the vitae the victim consumes for the rest of the night will actually replenish the vampire. The victim is more likely to frenzy as well (difficulties are increased by two). The material component is a handful of salt.

Curse of Clytaemnestra: allows the caster to destroy one person by rapidly aging his physical form until he decays to nothing. The caster must have a personal possessions of the target as well as some of his blood. The ritual takes a full day to cast and, once finished, the target resists with Stamina and Fortitude against a difficulty determined by the number of Blood Points the caster expended during the ritual. Three eights are required to keep the target alive and even then the target is considered Crippled, though only temporarily. The spell only affects men and invariably costs the caster Humanity. This ritual is the creation of Carma, who uses it to destroy the lovers who "betray" her.

Haunting Breeze(Black Hand): The Thaumaturgist can summon a light, supernatural wind which serves more to frighten than to harm. It is chilling, and those who listen can hear the warnings, curses, screams and laughter of the dead carried on it. Those who look closely can see the shapes of people swirling about in the wind. The wind can even be summoned inside an enclosed area.

The wind increases the difficulty of Perception rolls by 2 and all other rolls by 1. In addition, all mortals subjected to the wind, which covers the entire area within the Thaumaturgist’s sight, must make a Courage roll (difficulty 5) or else they will run away in fear.

Shadowland Passage (Black Hand): The vampire can physically pass into any location of the Shadowlands, provided that she has been in that location before. This requires that the vampire symbolically "kill" herself by plunging a specially prepared dagger into her heart (doing at least 2 wound levels) and falling into a body of water deep enough to cover her. The dagger must be made from the purest silver, and the hilt must have at least one vampire fang worked into its construction. When she returns from the Shadowlands, she will reappear in the water. Members of the Black Hand use this ritual to get to Enoch.

Quenching the Lambent Flame: Mictlantecuhtli learned the basics of magical practice from his priests, but extended their teachings with his own research, which allowed him to develop abilities more suitable to his Vampiric nature. When he was considering retreating into torpor, he intuitively understood that his Vampiric attendants--the peasent farmers he had Embraced--were of a sufficiently high Generation that they would be unable to subsist for long on the blood of animals. Since it was his intention to keep these attendants within the pyramid with him, as personal bodyguards and servants, he developed this ritual to solve the problem.

This ritual increases the effective Generation of a Vampire to 13th. Blood Pool and all other characteristics are altered to reflect this change in Generation. Attributes higher than the maximum allowed to a 13th Generation Kindred are decreased to those maxima. The effect of this ritual is permanent.

The ritual takes one hour, during which time the subject must lie motionless--or be immobilized--in the center of a circle drawn with his own blood. If the subject is willing, no roll is required. With an unwilling subject, however, an Intelligence + Thaumaturgy roll against the subject’s Willpower is required, with the caster needing three successes.

It might seem that no Kindred would ever submit willingly to this ritual. In point of fact, however, there are some advantages to being of a later Generation--most notably the fact that less blood, and animal blood at that, is required to sate the subject’s hunger. It is only a stratified society based on power--like the Kindred society in Chicago---that Generation and physical prowess is a significant issue.

Sway Beast: Allows the caster to take command of the Beast in a creature whose Beast has awakened (Vampires, werewolves, and some psycho killer mortals). He can bring about Frenzies in the person, and control the direction and duration of that Frenzy. The caster roll his Leadership (or Intimidate) plus his Wits against the Willpower of the creature targeted. One success allows the caster to take control of a person already in Frenzy. Three successes allows the caster to initiate Frenzy. Note: This ritual is created and used by Arctos, a mortal magi in Greenwich Village, New York when he has to deal with Kindred.

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