Level One Rituals

Level One Rituals

Defense of the Sacred Haven: This one hour Ritual may be performed to ensure that no sunlight may pass through any window within twenty feet of where the ritual is performed. Sunlight is simply reflected by the windows. This wonderful power functions only as long as the Kindred that performs it is within the Haven. A drop of blood, the caster’s own, must be placed on each window in the Ritual’s area of effect. At least one blood point will thus be used.

Wake with Morning’s (Evening’s) Freshness: This half hour Ritual must be performed immediately before a Vampire prepares to sleep through the coming day. A period of complete meditation is required. Any interruption or the performance of other activities after the Ritual, but before sleep, will make the magic ineffective. The Ritual’s magic allows the protected Kindred to immediately awaken at any sign of danger during the day. The rule of how Humanity restricts the number of dice usable during the day is waived for the first two turns of action. Thereafter, it is once again effective, but no matter what the character’s Humanity or condition, he will awaken in time perhaps to alleviate the danger. Feathers are required for this ritual, and they must be burned and the ash spread over the sleeping area.

Deflection of Wooden Doom: This one hour Ritual must be performed while completely surrounded by a circle of wood. Anything wooden, even furniture or wood shavings, will work, but the circle must be unbroken. Thereafter, the Vampire at the center of the circle need not fear being staked until the sun next sets. Though only the first attempt is deflected, any wooden stake that is about to plunge through the Vampire’s heart will instead instantly disintegrate. In order to activate the power of the Ritual, the stake must have actually been ready to penetrate the Vampire. A stake merely held near the Kindred’s heart will not be affected. A wood splinter must be placed in your mouth, at the end of the Ritual. (if the splinter is taken out of your mouth, the Ritual is nullified).

Devil’s Touch: This Ritual causes a mortal to be cursed so that all those around who do not have a close emotional tie with the subject will feel a distinct dislike for them. They will, in effect, hate the mortal and will do all they can to make the mortal’s life miserable. This effect lasts for only one night, and disappears with the first light of day. The mortal needs to be present for the Ritual to be effective, and a penny (or any coin owned by the Thaumaturgist) must be placed somewhere upon the mortal’s person (such as in a pocket).

Scent of the Garou’s Passing: By sniffing a strange herbal mixture containing milkweed, wolve’s bain and some other noisome materials, a Kindred can detect the presence of a Garou by smell on a Perception + Alertness roll (difficulty of the Werewolf’s Willpower). The thaumaturgist must actually be able to smell the werewolf in question, and three successes are required to identify a particular Garou. This Ritual lasts for one scene.

Communicate with Kindred Sire: This very practical Ritual takes only twenty minutes. After completed, the Ritual allows a Vampire to speak telepathically at any distance with his Sire. Modifications of this Ritual throughout the years also allow the Vampire to speak with any Kindred who has been Blood Bound to the caster and even anyone who has partaken of the Vampire’s blood since the most recent sunset. The communication is two-way, and unlike the Auspex power of Telepathy, the Vampire may not probe the target’s . You need to possess an item which once belonged to your Sire, and that object id destroyed before the communication is established.

Engaging a Vessel of Transference: This is a ritual that empowers a container to draw blood from someone who touches it, replacing that blood with the Vitae previously contained in it (generally that of the caster). Three hours are required, as well as the initials blood point to complete the enchantment. The container must be sealed after the caster’s blood is deposited, and must be between the size of a cup and a gallon jug. The final step is to engrave an arcane symbol on the outside of the vessel; this rune can be understood to mean "change blood" with an Intelligence + Occult roll, difficulty 8, but it can be concealed with another surface. When someone touches the object, they simply feel a strange shivering sensation, and that is all. The object will continue to transfer blood each time someone (Kindred or Kine) new holds it until it is broken open, so to keep a particular measure of blood inside it, it must be held with another object (gloves don’t count). This ritual can be used to get a sample of blood from another for use in another ritual, or as an especially devious way of Blood Bonding someone.

Purity Of Flesh: This ritual allows the caster to cleanse his body of all foreign matter by sitting on the ground in a lotus position, surrounded by a circle of 13 sharp edged stones, and concentrating for 10 minutes. The ritual requires the expenditure of one blood point after which the caster’s body and blood will be completely rid of impurities such as dirt, poison, alcohol and drugs (making it a good way to keep clean). It is important for the Kindred to be completely naked, including all jewelry, because the spell breaks all foreign substances down, leaving a nondescript ring of gray film around the place where he was sitting. If analyzed with the right equipment, the residue will show traces of the ejected materials as well as the caster’s blood. This ritual will clean the body of everything from slivers and bullets to prosthetic limbs and silicon implants, but is useless against diseases of the blood and any sort of mind control.

The Rite of Introduction: This is a method by which a Tremere announces her presence to the others of her clan in the city. When the caster recites a thirty minute incantation and speaks into a cloud of water vapor (such as steam or fog) a telepathic message is received by the Regent of the chantry first and then by the others of the city’s hierarchy in descending order. This ritual allows for a very short dialogue between the caster and each individual subject, but only the Regent of the Chantry is traditionally bound to answer. Thus, although the other Tremere will know of the caster’s presence, the caster will only know of others at their discretion. This is a very old and formal ritual, and no longer as common as it once was; many of those of the newer generations aren’t even aware of it’s existence. However some Regents are very insistent that it be used when any Tremere enters "their" city, and tolerate no excuses if it is not done. This ritual can also be used as a distress call.

Rebirth of Mortal Vanity: This Ritual grants the caster the ability to grow hair once again. It takes an hour of complex gesturing in front of a mirror for each inch that the caster wishes to grow, but such effort rewards the caster with immediate gratification. The only other requirement is a number of strands of hair from a different mortal child for each inch of hair to be grown. The caster can use this ritual on others, but they must both be in the mirror while the ritual gestures are made. The Vampire’s hair follicles again die after the ritual is finished. If it is even shorter than the length it was at the time of death, it will turn to that length as normal. Those that were bald in their breathing days must remain so in undeath.

Incantation of the Shepherd: This is a ritual that takes a mere 15 minutes to perform. The caster needs to spin slowly in a circle while holding some sort of glass object over each of his eyes. He can locate all of his herd starting with the member who is closest to him and working out to the most distant. The Kindred must have tasted at one time or another the blood of each vessel to be located.

Blood Rush (Sabbat): This ritual allows the vampire to create the sensation of drinking blood in himself without actually having to do so. The ritual is used most often for pleasure, but it may also be used to prevent frenzy at the sight of blood. A vampire who has performed this ritual automatically succeeds in keeping the Beast in check. In addition, the vampire feels temporarily sated. This feeling lasts approximately one hour.

Dominoe of Life (Sabbat): This ritual allows the vampire to stimulate one aspect of humans. The vampire can eat, drink, or breath just as a mortal can. The Thaumaturgist can assume the flesh tone of a mortal, cause her temperature to rise to 98.6^o, make her heart beat, or anything else she desires. The effects last for one entire night.

Illuminate Trail of the Prey (Sabbat): This ritual causes an intended victim’s wake to glow in a manner that only the vampire using the ritual can see. The footprints, tire tracks, etc., glow an almost neon color. Even ship wakes and airplane trajectories will be revealed. The ritual is nullified if the target wades through or immerses himself in water. The vampire must have seen the person she wishes to track via this ritual. The vampire must have a starting point to begin this ritual, after which the path glows until the victim is found or manages to get into a position where he will not walk, ride, or drive. The brightness of the path indicates how long it has been since the victim went past that location.

Preserve Blood (Sabbat): This ritual allows a vampire to preserve blood in a specially enchanted container. This ritual was very useful before refrigeration and it is still used heavily by nomadic Sabbat. This ritual requires a covered earthenware container large enough to contain the amount of blood the vampire wishes to preserve.

The vampire prepares the container by burying it in the earth for two nights. The following night the container must be dug back up. The container is opened and the Blood is poured in, with a healthy sprinkling of Burdock added. The caster recites a few incantations over the container before sealing it with wax. The container may be opened at any time, but may not be resealed containing the same blood. The earthenware container itself can be used again, but the entire ritual must be reenacted.

Will O’ the Wisp (Sabbat): This ritual allows a Thaumaturgist to produce a supernatural ball of light. The ball of light travels as the vampire mentally commands. The ball of light, referred to as the Will o’ the Wisp, can be made to travel anywhere within sight of the Vampire and perform tricks.

Among the things the ball of light can do are: glow brighter, glow dimmer, divide into many smaller balls, fly about, bathe someone in its magical glow, swirl, remain stationary, or perform whatever maneuver the vampire can imagine. This ritual is useful as a diversion or simply a light source.

This ritual requires a small branch from a willow tree. The Vampire must recite the magical incantations and throw the stick into the air, whereupon it bursts into the ball of light. The light lasts as long as the vampire concentrates upon it.

Blood of Peace (Assamite): This ritual allows the caster to convert one blood point into a potent drug. Used to spike a drink or simply applied to the base skin, the treated blood can cause the subject to fall into a deep sleep, though the subject may attempt a Willpower roll to resist this power (difficulty of the creator’s Intelligence + Science). The ritual takes 10 minutes and costs two Blood Points - one to bring forth the caster’s blood, and one to treat it.

Cloak of Blood: Many Licks would give much for a way to conceal the black stains left on their aura by diablerie. Fortunately, there is a ritual to accomplish this affect: the Cloak of Blood. It is only a level one ritual, easily performed by a neonate, but the ingredients and effort required make it very difficult. Before the ritual’s casting, the Diabolist must fast for seven nights. During this time the Diabolist must not drink any blood, for the Diabolist’s heart must be cleansed of tainted vitae. After the seventh night, the Diabolist inscribes a rune on her chest, in her own blood (the Diabolist or another may perform the actual ritual).

Then, the Diabolist must take blood from an innocent mortal. The blood must be freely given and not taken through violence, force or coercion. Deception is the usual method. This can be very difficult, for the Diabolist is extremely low on blood at this point and is very likely to go into a frenzy, drinking her fill by force rather than guile.

Once the vampire drinks the blood, the black lines in the Diabolist’s aura are hidden for a number of nights equal to the Blood Points taken from the innocent mortal. If any Blood Points are spent prematurely (to heal or enhance Attributes), reduce the effects duration by the number of Blood Points spent. If the Diabolist drinks from another source, the spell’s effect is diminished. No longer are the black blotches invisible, although the number of Auspex successes required to detect the marks is still raised by one per remaining Blood Point.

Needless to say, if diablerie is committed after the ritual is cast, all benefits are lost and the black lines are more visible than ever. The use of this ritual itself often causes Humanity loss, as the deception and possible death of an innocent are always involved.

True Sight: This ritual turns a vampire into an undead polygraph. It is often used by Justicars to catch Diabolists. Once the short ritual is performed (requiring about five minutes), the vampire’s senses become amazingly enhanced, allowing her to hear the slightest quaver in a person’s voice, see the minute twitching of a liar’s mouth, or notice how a liar’s eyes blink too much. Once this ritual is cast, a vampire may double her Perception Attribute with regard to interpersonal relationships. These additional dice may be used to negate a lying vampire’s Manipulation and Subterfuge.

True Sight only detects deliberate, willful lies. If the other party believes he is telling the truth, then what he says will appear to be true. The ritual detects the state of nervousness, not whether the truth was spoken.

Counting Coup (Anarch): This ritual allows the caster to leave a "prerecorded" message at the scene of her crime, for the eyes of the prince or his brood only. This is often to tell the prince exactly who ruined his building or destroyed his theatre. It will only activate when the prince or his brood enters the site, and only they will perceive it. The caster rolls her Wits + Intimidation (difficulty 8). The designated viewer(s) must be Kindred, and casting the ritual takes 15 minutes and a piece of chalk.

One success allows a visual message, such as a symbol or icon that floats before the prince’s face. Two successes add a brief auditory message, such as a laugh or statement of the Anarch Manifesto. Three successes allow moving pictures. Four successes allow the creation of multiple images and sounds. Five successes allow the images to be touched, although they can cause no damage. After the message is delivered, all traces of the ritual disappear and no magical methods can be used to track the caster.

Example: Gibson and her gang have just trashed the Empire Theatre for the fun of it. It is the prince’s favorite theatre, and they do not want to leave without dropping a calling card. Gibson decides to leave a ritual message that only the prince’s men will hear. She casts her spell, rolling her Wits + Intimidation against an eight. She scores two successes. When the prince arrives to survey the damage to his precious theatre, he is suddenly surprised by a glowing anarchist’s symbol floating before his face and a laugh he recognizes -- "Gibson...that anarch scum!"

Preserve Corpse (Black Hand): This ritual enables the user to create a special elixir that keeps dead things from rotting and deteriorating. The ritual requires the caster to use her hand, coating the material to be preserved with a special liquid composed of decaying organic materials and rare herbs. Once the liquid dries into the surface, the material is protected indefinitely. The ritual produces enough of the liquid to cover one large adult corpse. The elixir will lose its potency unless applied within a week of its manufacture. This is a widely known ritual among the Nagaraja.

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