Level One Rituals

-Blood Rush [PGtS]
-Building the Voice Cromwell & Benvenuto
-Cast Thy Sight Darrell Benvenuto
-Chain of Return Alejandro Melchor
-Cipher of Vitae Wolf & Benvenuto
-Communicate with Kindred Sire [VtMII,p170]
-Counting Coup [Anar,p60]
-Defense of the Sacred Haven [VtMII]
-Deflection of Wooden Doom [VtMII]
-Detect Authority [Anar,p61]
-Devil's Touch [VtMII]
-Disaffection of Agonies Darrell Benvenuto
-Dominoe of Life [PGtS]
-Engaging the Vessel of Transference [PGII,p86]
-Illuminate Trail of the Prey [PGtS]
-Incantation of the Shepherd [PGII,p86]
-Mark of the Mistress Deird'Re Brooks
-Open Sesame Simeonidis & Benvenuto
-Perceive the Umbra Jensen & Benvenuto
-Preserve Blood [PGtS]
-Purity of Flesh [PGII,p86]
-Rebirth of Mortal Vanity [PGII,p86]
-Sense the Supernatural Thomas Jensen
-The Creation of Gregor's String Darrell Benvenuto
-The Rite of Introduction [PGII,p86]
-The Rune of Vigilance Yann Golanski
-Scent of the Garou's Passing [CB:Tremere]
-Tongue of the Spirit Thomas Jensen
-Will o' the Wisp [PGtS]
-Wake with Morning's Freshness [VtMII]

Building the Voice

Courtesy of: Oliver Cromwell (cromwell@cwu.edu)
Modified By: Darrell Benvenuto (benvenut@qcunix.acc.qc.edu)

Level: 1
Time Required: 15-Sec Incantation + 15-Min Preparation
Duration: One Shout
Components: Tongue of a crow, belladonna and weak sulfuric acid.

This ritual allows the thaumaturgist to increase the volume of his or her voice. This increase can range from a shout to a bullhorn all the way to a deafening blast that can cause hearing loss and even physical damage. The caster must chant a fifteen second incantation and chew up the tongue of a crow. The tongue must have been previously enchanted during a fifteen-minute-long ritual in which the tongue is bathed in a mixture of belladonna and weak sulfuric acid. The effect lasts for one shout. The caster does not eat the tongue; the chewed-up slivers are sprayed out with the shout.

System: The caster rolls his or her appropriate skill (Acting, Oratory, Public Speaking, etc. + Stamina and consults the following table of Successes. A Botch indicates that the caster has lost the use of his or her voice for a length of time.

Successes Effects
1 One loud shout, of up to two words.
2 One loud shout, a full breath of words (spoken at normal speed), or a louder shout of two words (bullhorn level)
3 A loud, bullhorn shout of a full breath of words.
4 A painfully loud shout of one breath. All within 40 yards must attempt to soak 2 normal wound levels and may be temporarily deafened.
5 A shout so loud it can be heard for almost a mile, all within 40 yards must attempt to soak four wounds and most mortals will suffer permanent deafness. All within 80 yards will have to attempt to soak 2 normal wound levels and may be temporarily deafened.

Cast Thy Sight

Courtesy of: Darrell Benvenuto (benvenut@qcunix.acc.qc.edu)

Level: 1
Time Required: 15-Sec. Casting
Duration: See below
Components: Viewing medium (see below)

With this ritual and either a crystal ball or a wide, flat body of water (a puddle or a bowl would work fine, though unnatural surfaces such as mirrors cannot), a Magus can view distant events, places or people. Other thaumaturgists of rank II or higher, or mortal Psychics or Mages may detect this scrying (Contest of Perception+Occult to detect versus caster's Wits+Stealth to spy softly). Active Countermagick of any type prevents scrying, as does the presence of persons possessing True Faith. No sound can be heard, although lips can be read. Auras cannot be seen. The interior of relatively small enclosed objects (boxes, safes, people) cannot be viewed. Concentration is required; loud noises or interruptions will either require a willpower roll with an appropriate number of dice lost from the pool, or will simply break the caster's concentration.

System: The casting Magus must enter into a light trance and concentrate on the water, while murmuring a fifteen-second incantation and passing her hands over it a series of circles. After a successful willpower check, the Magus can either send her sight to a place she can clearly visualize or she can move it from her current point of reference, flitting it about as though from a flying perspective, sending it down pipes, through open windows, doors, etc. In either instance, the Magus must make a willpower check (or spend a willpower point) every half-hour beyond the first to maintain her concentration. Failure means that she has lost focus and must rest for an hour or so before continuing. She can force herself to continue without resting, but she must make an initial willpower check with -2 dice to her roll and every roll thereafter. A botch on either the normal roll or the forcing roll indicates that the Magus has developed a splitting headache (caused by a disruption of the energies of the mind, not of the body, thus Kindred are affected) and cannot continue that evening. In fact, the Magus will be at -2 dice to all actions for the rest of that night, or at least for several hours. In any event, the caster cannot scry for longer than one hour for every dot of stamina she has without taking an hour to rest. No blood points are required, and the Magus need only maintain her concentration to scry. The Magus, at her will, can spend a Blood Point to cast a slightly blurred version of the Vision of what she is seeing upon a reflective surface, such as another basin of water, or a mirror. This other surface will continue to display the visions for an entire Scene unless the Magus ceases concentrating.

Chain of Return

Courtesy of: Alejandro Melchor

Level: 1
Time Required: 15-Min. Ritual
Duration: Variable
Components: Blood and powered bone.

Designed for the Mictlan bloodline.
By drinking a mixture of blood and powdered bone, the vampire ensures that, if reduced to 0 Corpus while in the Tempest or the Far Shores, she will reform in her haven. Also allows for immediate transportation if she succeeds a Stamina+Occult roll (diff. the Shroud) and burns both a Pathos/Blood Point and a Corpus/Health.

Cipher of Vitae

Courtesy of: DataWolf (datawolf@inconnu.org)
Modified By: Darrell Benvenuto (benvenut@qcunix.acc.qc.edu)

Level: 1
Time Required: 15-Min + Preparation time
Duration: Permenent util activated
Components: poke berries, blood, virgin paper

This ritual can be, and often is, used between Chantries for the delivery of messages that are not important enough for the use of direct mental contact, yet require security. It has a number of other uses as well. Cipher of Vitae is somewhat similar to the old practice of writing messages on paper with milk or lemon juice. In that instance, when the paper is heated over a flame, the writing would become visible. For this ritual, the juice of poke berries mixed with a point of either the caster's or another's vitae.

System: The message is first written on virgin paper. When complete, a series of incantations are begun that end with the writing fading from sight. Another message can be written in a more mundane fashion on the other side of the paper to help disguise the nature of the page, or simply left blank. The message is completely undetectable by physical means until the paper is touched by the person whose blood was used in the ink, at which time is becomes visible again. Anyone using Auspex level II and getting 4 or more successes will see a dim magical aura about the message, though it cannot be read.

Disaffection of Agonies

Courtesy of: Darrell Benvenuto (benvenut@qcunix.acc.qc.edu)

Level: 1
Time Required: 5-Min.
Duration: One night or until the wood is removed
Components: a short length of wood

This ritual acts in a simple manner, yet can be very helpful and effective in certain circumstances. With it, a Magus can create nerve blocks at certain locations in his body, blocking or minimizing sensory input from digits, limbs or even the entire body. This is extremely valuable in a situation where one has been injured, or needs to deliberately injure himself (such as in the Casting of the ritual of Rutor's Hands). Indeed, a Kindred that has suffered heavy, painful, crippling wounds may still manage to function and flee to safety through the virtue of this ritual keeping back the red flood of pain.

System: This ritual takes approximately five minutes to cast, and requires a short length of wood for each limb or section of the body to be affected (a strong toothpick will do in a tight spot). The short sliver(s) of wood is held in the Magus's mouth in a special fashion, pressed against the roof by the tongue. The Magus must hum softly, while concentrating (Willpower roll, difficulty 4 + 1 for every level currently wounded). Once the sliver has been prepared, it will change color, to a glistening light green. The converted sliver must then (within five minutes) be thrust deeply into flesh at the joining interface (to numb a hand: at the wrist, a forearm: the elbow, an arm: the shoulder, the legs: the hips, the body: the neck). The effect will last for either one day or until the sliver is removed, at which time sensation will slowly and agonizingly begin to return. The limb will not be fully restored to sensation for at least half an hour. Note that a numbed limb is fairly useless unless the Magus has extensive experience in manipulating his or her limbs without virtue of sensation (very rare... i.e., past victims of leprosy that either survived or were embraced might have this skill). Thus, a Magus who was injured to Crippled as a result of an explosion that tore shrapnel through his legs would still only be able to crawl -- but would not suffer from the effects of the mind-numbing agony associated with the horrible wounds, and, once calmed, would not suffer the additional risk of frenzy. However, since the Magus determines the level of the nerve block, he can set it so that some minor sensation is still received -- as though the limb had fallen asleep, were they still mortal. It would respond poorly, but might still be able to be used in an emergency.

Mark of the Mistress

Courtesy of: Deird'Re Brooks (margali@netcom.com)

Level: 1
Time Required: 5-Min.
Duration: Permanent
Components: None

This five-minute-long ritual leaves a mystical mark or symbol upon the target individual, in a place determined by the caster, that any Kindred can see. If the recipient of the mark is attacked or harmed in any way, the caster knows something happened and where the recipient is. This ritual was originally created by a non-Tremere thaumaturgist to keep track of her Brood.

Open Sesame

Courtesy of: John Simeonidis (j_simeo@vega.concordia.ca)
Modified By: Darrell Benvenuto (benvenut@qcunix.acc.qc.edu)

Level: 1
Time Required: 20-Min.
Duration:
Components:

This ritual requires sesame seeds that are enchanted in a twenty minute ritual, where they are steeped in a solution of olive oil and salt as the caster incants, then allowed to dry. When sprinkled into the keyhole of a metal lock (the lock must be a padlock, or separable from the object it is locking in some fashion, and must be metal) accompanied by a brief incantation, the lock may open. In this instance, a small lock is one weighing up to a half-pound, a mid-sized lock weighs up to five pounds and a large lock weighs up to twenty pounds. Locking devices larger than twenty pounds cannot be affected by this ritual.

System:The caster rolls his or her levels of Thaumaturgy + Perception and consults the following table of Successes. A Botch indicates that the lock has been jammed inside, and all future attempts to open it will be at -2 dice to the roll.


Successes Effects
1 The lock has been weakened. Small locks may be forced open with an extra two dice added to the forcer's strength roll.
2 Small locks will open. Mid-sized locks may be forced with an additional two dice added to the roll.
3 Small locks will crumble. Mid-sized locks will open. Large locks can be forced with an extra die added to the roll.
4 Small and mid-sized locks will crumble. Large locks will open.
5 Small, mid-sized and large locks will crumble.

Perceive the Umbra

Courtesy of: Thomas Jensen (tj@hum.auc.dk)
Modified By: Darrell Benvenuto (benvenut@qcunix.acc.qc.edu)

Level: 1
Time Required: 15-Min.
Duration: Variable
Components: 1 blood point from caster

This ritual allows the caster to peek into the Near Umbra in his immediate location (this range can be extended if used in conjunction with the Ritual of Casting the Sight). He will be able to see spirits and other beings either native to or traveling through the Near Umbra surrounding his area.
While doing this, the caster enters into a trance-like state, completely unaware of events taking place around his physical body. If he has not taken protective measures, he will be unable to defend against either physical menaces or creatures from the Near Umbra (i.e., Garou) detecting the caster's presence and emerging to see what is causing it.

System: The caster must prepare for this ritual by incanting the names of the Archangels in Latin while painting a Thaumaturgic Triangle surrounded by a Circle upon the floor with freshly drawn Kindred Vitae (this process requires one blood point's worth), from which point he or she cannot step without breaking the Circle and requiring it to be redrawn. Once the Circle has been laid, the caster will close his eyes and focus his will. He must roll Perception + Spirit Lore against a difficulty determined by the level of the Gauntlet in the area. The more successes, the better the caster will be able to perceive the Umbra. Supernaturals (Kindred, Garou, Wraiths, Changelings, and Mages) in the Umbra near the caster when the ritual is in effect have a chance (Perception + Alertness against a fixed difficulty of 8) to realize something odd just happened in their vicinty (a feeling somewhat akin to one's neck hairs prickling); exactly what has causes this, they probably will not know, as the caster presents no visible aura or shape as he views. It is not likely they will investigate by dropping to the normal world, but the possibility remains that they may choose to do so, just to be sure.

Sense the Supernatural

Courtesy of: Thomas Jensen (tj@hum.auc.dk)

Level: 1
Time Required:
Duration:
Components:

This ritual allows the caster to sense whether or not any other Supernatural (Kindred, Garou, Wraith, Mage or Changeling) is in the immediate vicinity. It may also at times give a general indication of the target's direction, if there is only one Supernatural in the vicinity.

System: The caster must smear her eyelids with fresh Kindred Vitae, as well as the palms of her hands. Holding her hands outstretched, the caster must close her eyes and roll Perception + Occult versus a difficulty of 7 (unless the target is magically or spiritually protected). One success will alert the caster to a Supernatural Presence (beyond his or her own). Achieving one or more 10 (complete successes) will give the caster a rough idea of what direction the target is at (at that precise moment -- they may be moving), but not knowledge of what the target is. Five or more successes not only exactly pinpoints the current location of the target but gives the caster the knowledge of which type of Supernatural it is (assuming the caster knows of the type detected); one dot in the appropriate Lore is required or the caster has no idea what the results mean (she doesn't know they exist, or anything about them if she does).

The Creation of Gregor's String

Courtesy of: Darrell Benvenuto (benvenut@qcunix.acc.qc.edu)

Level: 1
Time Required: 15-Min.
Duration: (15 - Generation) Hours
Components: A short length of string or twine and 1 blood point of the Caster's Blood.

This ritual takes a short length of string or twine, perhaps no longer than a foot (1/3 meter) in length and two to four millimeters in thickness, and imbues it temporarily with a bit of the Magus's life essence (one Blood Point is expended in the casting of this fifteen-minute-long ritual). The caster can then mentally command the string, as long as it is in sight, to slither along, like a snake or worm, wrap around objects, tie itself or untie itself, retrieve small items and the like. The string has a strength of zero -- it can barely move itself. It is incapable of even throwing a light switch. However, it could laboriously retrieve a ring, if it was not too heavy. Note that the string must be composed of material that was once alive, such as cotton or hemp. The ritual otherwise has no effect. It is an interesting ritual that was developed by a young Magus upon his entrance to the Neonate's Sixth Circle of Mystery. He later continued in this vein with the level 3 "Gregor's Rope", some hundred and twenty years later, a much more useful ritual. The enchantment of the string lasts for approximately (15 - Generation) Hours.

The Rune of Vigilance

Courtesy of: Yann Golanski (ymg@ukc.ac.uk)

Level: 1
Time Required: 1-Hour
Duration: Permanent
Components: 1 blood point from the caster per rune

This ritual requires approximately an hour for an experienced caster. It allows the caster to prepare a small vial of Vitae, which, when painted upon a wall or other flat object in the form of a thaumaturgic Rune (betokening Vigilance), approximately three inches high by three inches wide, will slowly fade to match the color of the object upon which it has been painted. Any individual passing within a meter of the rune will trigger it, and the caster will instinctively know which Rune was triggered. Since the rune has no mind, it is unaffected by Obfuscate. The caster may have as many Runes active as she has ranks in Thaumaturgy.

System: The Rune can be perceived by someone looking carefully about or with Auspex as a Perception roll with a Base difficulty of 7. This is modified by the Storyteller based on location; a Rune upon a door at eye-level is much easier to perceive than one hidden on the underside of a desk drawer.

Tongue of the Spirit

Courtesy of: Thomas Jensen (tj@hum.auc.dk)

Level: 1
Time Required: 5-Hours + Preparation
Duration: Variable
Components: The head/corpse of the summoned spirit and 5 blood points of blood (but not the caster's blood)

Refer to the Thaumaturgic Path of Voodoo.

This ritual enables the caster to communicate on a very basic level with the spirits of the dead, as well as weak spirits of the Loa. The caster can only ask very simple questions to the spirits. The spirits are under no compulsion to tell the truth, and may not know the answers in any event. The caster can contact either spirits whose name they know, or the spirits of corpses which are found. This ritual does nothing if the spirit no longer exists, is bound or is not within ten miles of the caster.

System: In case of an unknown spirit to be summoned, the caster must be in possession of the head of the spirit's corpse. Having the head of a known spirit lowers the difficulty by one. If the caster is in possession of the entire corpse, his difficulty is lowered by one in the case of an unknown spirit and by two in the case of a known spirit. Spirits which exist but have been spirits for several centuries will be at a +1 difficulty to summon for every century since death. The caster must draw a circle around the site of contact -- a circle which has a diameter of at least three feet -- and inscribe the the thaumaturgic Symbols for Fire, Water, Earth, Air, and Ether at their correct positions around the circle. In the center of the circle, the Veve of Guede must be drawn; if part of the body or the body itself is available, it must be placed in the circle and the Veve of Guede drawn on top of it and blood (human blood, but not the caster's) sprayed over the remains to give the spirits the power to manifest and to talk. If the body is buried beneath the circle, a hole must be dug through the Veve of Guede and blood poured into the hole. When this is complete, the caster must position himself outside the circle and chant "The Song of Returning Spirits" (See the thaumaturgical Path of Voodoo) which will take two hours to complete. The completion of the ritual demands the expenditure of 5 blood points. The Vitae must be human, but never the caster's -- or the spirit will possess the caster!

Roll Perception + Occult against a difficulty of 5. The number of successes determines the number of minutes the spirit will stay. If the caster wishes the spirit to stay for an extended period of time, he must spill forth an additional five blood points of human vitae. The spirit will then stay for an additional number of minutes equal to the number of successes originally rolled by the caster. The summoned spirit will feel compelled to answer the caster, but the Storyteller will decide whether or not the spirit either knows the information desired and/or is willing to share this information. All questions must be phrased in a very simple fashion.

Created and Maintained by Lance W. Larsen
(lance@iit.edu)
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