Custom Blood Magic: Path

Chango's Grace

Once a proud Yoruban king, Chango enjoys immense popularity among the the devout of the Santeria faith. He and his wife, Oya, wield the power of lightning as their favored weapon, making their mark on any battlefield they cross. By forging an association with these two Orisha's, a Cainite can borrow a small portion of Chango's and Oya's power for themselves, to devastating effect. Some would claim that the Wangateur is merely imitating a powerful deity, but the faithful know the truth; that their lightning is a blessing bestowed upon them by a proud king and his fierce queen.

Basic - Chango's Spiteful Vigor
Virility is one of Chango's most well-known traits. He is often depicted as youthful and passionate. Chango's Spiteful Vigor allows the caster to channel some of that excess energy into anyone he comes into contact with, momentarily filling them with more vigor than their body is capable of handling, and causing it to spasm out of control.

The Cainite needs only spend 1 Blood Trait. Electricity crackles around the vampire's eyes and at their fingertips. This is enough to ignite readily flammable materials (such as gasoline or cloth, though not wood). Anyone who comes in contact with the caster suffers the negative physical trait of Clumsy for the rest of the turn, as the shock causes their body to briefly twitch uncontrollably. Once activated, this power lasts for an hour or the scene, or until the Cainite decides to cancel it's effects.

Basic - Favored Arms
Both Chango and his wife, Oya, wield the power over the domain of lightning. Many tales tell of it's use, to devastating effect, on the battlefield. One story even tell of how Chango, having been captured, was freed from his prison cell when Oya sent a bolt of lightning to strike open the jail.

The caster must spend 1 Blood Trait. The electricity coursing through the Vampire's body can arc across short distances to effect those nearby. Engage in a ranged Mental challenge with a target within 30 yards. the target uses their Physical traits to soak, and must bid an additional trait while attempting to do so, as lightning can strike rather quickly. If successful, the lightning strikes its intended victim, dealing 1 health level of lethal damage and igniting anything flammable it comes into contact with.

Intermediate - Hushed Whispers
Oya is know as the 'Mother of Nine' because she gave birth to nine individual stillborn children. Hushed Whispers is a direct reflection of the sadness and emptiness she feels for being unable to bear children, and a manifestation of the eternal silence of those nine lost children.

The caster spends 1 Blood Trait and must make a static mental challenge against an appropriate difficulty (4 for standard electronics, 6 for shielded power supplies, 10 for military grade hardware, or more at the narrator's discretion). The electromagnetic wave generated by the electricity in the Cainite's body pulses outward a short distance, causing any electronic devices within 10 feet to be disabled as their batteries are immediately drained, and the devices cannot receive power for the remainder of the scene.

Intermediate - King's Decree
Before being elevated to an Orisha for performing miracles after his death, Chango was the third King of Oyo. He is of boisterous temperament, and is said to be the essence of masculinity. His indomitably assertive nature is something that can be channeled to staggering effect.

The Cainite must spend 1 Blood Trait. By channeling the fury of Chango, the Cainite is able to release a devastating sonic burst. All within 10 yards of the caster are knocked to the ground, and must spend an action to get to their feet again before taking any other physical actions. Affected individuals also suffer the Negative Mental Trait Oblivious for one minute, as the intense sound ruptures ear drums. Any who are unfortunate enough to have a means of heightening their hearing become stunned and can take no actions except to defend themselves for the remainder of the turn, and are deafened for the remainder of the scene or hour.

Advanced - Stride of Yansa
Oya is a fierce warrior Orisha who wields the might of storms as her weapon. Even as she passes through the battlefield, it is said that her movements are sudden, sharp, and precise as if she were lightning itself. Through this penultimate mastery of divine favor, the Cainite transcends the physical form. He becomes, for the briefest of moments, the pure essence of Oya's stride.

The Wangateur spends 1 Blood Trait and 1 Willpower Trait. For a brief instant the Cainite's body transcends the physical, becoming lightning itself. In this lightning form, the Cainite can move with impossible speeds and can cover great distances in a few seconds. While in this form, the caster suffers no damage except from sunlight and magic, but is incapable of interacting with surroundings in any sort of meaningful way. This form begins on the caster's turn and only lasts until the end of the round. Storytellers are advised to limit the distance to about 100 miles per round and not allow such travel to interrupt the flow of game play.

Not all battles happen in the streets or even on a typical battlefield. Some battles are fought and won within buildings. Urban warfare is a warfront that thaumaturgists have the hardest time with because most magic is painfully obvious as magic. With Innkeeper, the thaumaturgist taps into the side of war that is urban combat. They become adept at fighting inside buildings instead of on the street and this benefit increases in buildings they are intimately familiar with.

To be considered attuned to a building the Thaumaturge must have spent 3 consecutive days sleeping in the building or have an alternative means of mystically attuning to it.

All levels require the expenditure of 1 blood to activate 

1. Weapons at the Ready
Being disarmed can mean life and death but being in a building means that there are always weapons to be found. A chair or table leg can be broken off and used as a club, a drawer may have a knife or letter opener. If one weapon is lost, it can easily be replaced by reaching out for another. When a thaumaturgist reaches out, the building they are in will help that weapon find their hand even more quickly then if they were to flail around for one on their own.

System: The thaumaturge is always able to re-arm themselves immediately upon being disarmed as the house will provide them a new weapon.  Regardless of the actual item provided by the house, statistically it will always be a 2 Traits 2 Lethal 0 negative trait weapon. At the end of this power any items provided as a weapon revert to their usual statistics. If used in a building the thaumaturge is attuned to, the item is instead of a 3 trait, 2 lethal 0 negative traits weapon with high caliber. Once active, this power is on for the scene.

2. Kill the Witch
A mob, unlike an individual or matching size party, is much easier to fight in a building. The mob has to both attempt to get to their target and keep out of each others way. They will try to go through doors at the same time, swing and foul another’s shot and so forth. This makes getting around their attacks easier and gives you a better chance of succeeding so long as you are outnumbered.

System:  So long as the thaumaturge is outnumbered they will have an additional retest in all defensive challenges. Limited to the number of aggressors or 5, whichever is less. This benefit is lost if they are no longer outnumbered.  If they become outnumbered again, or have used all the available retests, they may reactivate this power. If used in a building the thaumaturge is attuned to, the power provides the thaumaturge a bonus retest in all defensive challenges for the scene or hour.

3. House Mouse 
Every mouse has its bolt holes and knows the lay of the land it lives in, the same is true of the thaumaturge inside of a building. They are most comfortable in the enclosed environment of halls and rooms, allowing them to be able to move easier beause they know the exact distance of every part of the home.

System: So long as the thaumaturge is in a building they are up 2 traits in all physical, social, and mental challenges. If it is a building they are intimately familiar with (attuned to) they are instead up 3 traits. This benefit can only be used in one trait category per round.

4. Lockdown 
Being able to barricade  a room to create a controlled environment for fighting or to keep others from getting to you can mean the difference between survival or death. With this power the thaumaturge’s willpower becomes that barricade.

System: The Thaumaturge can bar the exits of a room even if there are no physical doors or window like things to bar the way.  Anyone attempting to break in/out of a locked room must make a contested Willpower challenge against the caster retest Security. The Thaumaturge gets a free retest for this power if enacted in a building they are attuned to.

Additionally, those attempting to leave the room via non-physical means automatically win on ties. Attempting to enter the room in this fashion, however, is as per physically entering and does not automatically win on ties.

5. Explosive Demise
In every fight there is that moment when you realize that things have gone sideways and that it is time to pull the pin and toss the grenade. Instead of physically pulling the pin, the thaumaturge will pull the magical pin and use the room as its grenade.

System: First, spend a temporary Willpower trait in addition to the blood point required to activate this power. Then, risk a number of Mental traits equal to no more than 3 (or no more than 6 in a building to which you are attuned) and make a static Mental challenge difficulty 10 (difficulty 7 in a building to which you are attuned). Retest with Occult. If successful, an explosion tears through the room ripping electrical lines, water pipes, gas pipes out of the wall and setting the room aflame for a brief moment and deals aggravated to all targets equal the traits risked within the chosen room. The concussive force sends everyone in the room prone (on their back, on the floor). This can be avoided by spending a point of Athletics to catch oneself from falling. This power does not differentiate between friend and foe, all caught inside are within the radius of the explosive blast. The flames will last through the end of the round if not otherwise extinguished. If used on a room that has been secured by Lock Down, the force of this path’s magic being turned back on itself causes the metaphysical barriers of Lockdown to fall, ending the power. While it goes without saying, the effects of this power will damage both the room and all items in the room. Paper goods will likely be destroyed, walls will be scorched, furniture potentially burned beyond repair, and even sturdier goods may be damaged.

****In order to not have to be within the room upon activation or have line of sight of the room, the Thaumaturge MUST be attuned to the building. If they are not attuned then they must either have line of sight or be physically present in the room and suffer the consequences of this power in order to activate it.

This path finds it roots in the folklore of moon gods and lunar magic.  A versatile path created by a self-proclaimed Druidic Dur-An-Ki practitioner.

Level One:

"By The Pale Moonlight"

A nimbus of moonlight surrounds the character, enabling them and others close by to see more clearly in even the darkest of conditions.  The aura of light is slightly controllable, meaning it can be dimmed or flared for cosmetic effect, but roughly radiates no more than 20 feet around the character.

System:

Spend a blood.  You now find yourself shrouded in moonlight.  This effect radiates out from you (moving with you).  You now find it easy to see even in the darkest of conditions.  Your allies and you may treat this as a source of lighting similar to Eyes of the Beast, Heightened Senses, or Tongue of the Asp when effected by darkness conditions.  Additionally, you personally gain the ability: "Luminous" which you may use to cancel the "Darkness" re-test.  This power last for a scene or an hour.

Level Two:

“Reach For The Stars”

“If you aim for the stars and miss, you’ll still hit the moon,” is the mantra of this level.  While within their own moonlit shroud, the caster has the ability to blink within it’s range -- surprising enemies and avoiding entrapments.  Aesthetically, this appears as a flickering of the illuminated character as seen when clouds obscure the moon’s light.

System:

Spend a blood at the beginning of the round.   If moonlit by “By The Pale Moonlight” the caster of this path may move to anywhere within the 20 illuminated feet, returning to the original starting point at the end of the round or remaining at their new location at the cost of reactivating “By The Pale Moonlight” the following round.  This does not grant additional actions (and in fact costs an action), however it does grant a “Surprise” retest on the next attack the first time it is used in a scene.  This power only allows one to move to an area illuminated by the previous level of this path and cannot be used to bypass objects such as walls, unless of course there may be a window or doorway in to which your light spills in to.  If the character returns to an area that is now inhabited, they will take one level of aggravated damage and be flung anywhere within the circle at the Storyteller’s discretion.

Level Three:

“Blood Makes Noise”

Long has the phase of the moon been tied to the blood that flows within our veins.  Everything from blood pressure, sleep, and menstrual cycles have direct correlation to the phases of the moon.  Knowing the pact that Luna has made with man, you may now directly control it’s effects on the body.

System:

While radiating Luna’s glow, you may now directly affect the blood that rushes in the veins around you.  By spending a blood and a willpower you may choose to either lessen or increase the blood pressure of those within your aura.  Lessening the pressure will allow faster healing of aggravated damage while raising the pressure will cause wounds to bleed more freely, causing additional bashing damage to those around you.  When activated you may either choose to heal one aggravated wound in your presence or cause an additional level of bashing damage be added on each subsequent attack of the round.  This power relies on the first level “By The Pale Moonlight” to be active and lasts only one round.

Level Four:

“Moonglade”

Faerie rings.  Druid groves.  Standing stones.  Moon bridges. 

Many cultures, both Earthly and Supernatural have associated the moon with protection of sacred places and the mystical ways that bind them together.  This power allows you to identify, mark, and in some cases even consecrate these monuments to Luna.

System:

Spend a blood point to activate this power to identify a sacred area (or to test if a newly created area is appeasing to Luna).  ST discretion on what may constitute such an area.  Additionally, you may spend a willpower to attune yourself a specific location for one lunar cycle.  Within the Moonglades that you are attuned to, you gain the following benefits:

The Hunter’s Eyes – Within your Moonglade you gain the beneficial effects of Heightened Senses: Sight for free.  Additionally, you may spend willpower to re-test any attempt you make at breaking obfuscate, chimerstry, or other similar effects.

Through the Looking Glass – With the expenditure of a permanent willpower you may step between any Moonglade attuned to you.  This effect takes place at the end of two consecutive rounds (leaving round and arriving round).  You must be personally attuned to each location for this power to work.

Level Five:

“Lunatique”

“Madness is the gift, that has been given to me.” – Disturbed

System:

Spend three blood and a willpower.  Depending on your Pantheon the visual effects of this power vary, but all have similar overlying themes, a large, mythical creature whose aura radiates moonlight.  Whether it be the Huntress form of Diana, one of the mythical Loup Garou, or Heng’e Celestial Form, the effects granted by this power are more-or-less the same.  You gain Two Bonus Physical Traits (Fierce and Energetic), the Merit: Huge Size, and the Merit: Lucky for the remainder of the scene, at the end of which the player finds themselves suffering from the Negative Physical Trait: Frail x3 and the Derangement: Schizophrenia for the remainder of the night.  This power may only be used once per game.