Custom Blood Magic: Ritual
Some chronicles allow for their players to develop customized powers for their characters. The following is a compilation of player created custom content in OWBN. At this time, custom content that is created and/or used by vampire PC's is required to be listed.
The caster must place the book to be copied on a flat surface. A tray must be placed on top of the book and filled with a mixture of one trait of vitae and 200ml of black ink per hundred pages to be copied. A blank book of the same size or larger (length, width, and page count) must then be placed into the ink.
The caster then chants the incantation for ten minutes, drawing a copy of the knowledge from the first book up into the second and awakening the blood in the ink, causing it to bind the ink on the pages into a perfect replica of the first book.
The entire contents of the first book are copied over exactly. Nothing can be omitted, added, or changed. Any text with a magical effect active upon it will fail to be copied.
A hero and reputedly a god himself, Hermoor was commanded by the Odin to carry a message to Hel that Baldur was to be released. Enduring all else, Hermoor delivered his message, no matter how many he had to slay. He is a patron of both heroes and messengers.
System: The Koldun takes a rock -approximately the size of a softball-and carves runes asking Hermoor to carry his message and message of one other, in a perfect line around the rock. The Koldun then, at a difficulty of 6 traits, twists each half of the rock and it comes apart completely smooth. Each end that is held may be listened to and spoken into and each carrier may speak to another no matter the language or distance. Each language is understood by the bearer of each half, though those listening will hear nothing. The ritual lasts one night and the two halves may be rejoined for use in casting again, or they crumble to broken frost at dawn, as Hel bars Hermoor his message.
Advanced Ritual
Time Required: Thirty minutes.
Duration: One Night
Components: Possession of item from ‘mirror’.
Prerequisites:
Thaumaturgy: Path of Blood – Potency of Blood
Disciplines: Obfuscate: Mask of 1000 Faces; Presence: Entrancement
Ability: Occult – 3; Subterfuge – 2
Drawing on the hermetic teachings of sympathetic magic and constructive reality, this ritual creates a mirrored image to envelop the caster and cause her to appear as someone else entirely. Unlike the powers of Mask of 1000 Faces, this ritual allows the caster to ‘mask’ completely as the mirrored person – regardless of size, shape, sex, or distance from the caster.
The caster must collect an item from a person who will then act as a ‘mirror’ for their ritual. The caster must discover and take into possession an intimate object of the ‘mirror’ or a piece of their body, such as a large lock of hair or a removed finger. After the ritual is cast with the item, the caster uses this ‘mirror’ as their default mask when using the Mask of 1000 discipline. They must continue to spend a mental trait to assume a different mask, and they will no longer have the option of choosing the usual unidentifiable visage that comes free with the power.
When the mask is activated, the caster will appear exactly as the ‘mirror’ appears at that same point in time. They will have the same clothing, same five o’clock shadow, same ketchup stain on their chin, etc. Once the image is captured, the caster may then carry on as she would and the image matches her own actions and words. At this point, the image is no longer dependent on the ‘mirror,’ so that if the ‘mirror’ suddenly takes his clothes off, the caster will not be unexpectedly standing in Elysium in the buff. If the mask is dropped for any reason, the image is recaptured when the power is reactivated and a new image is gained based on that new time.
For example, Ivan the Thaumaturgical takes a lock of Susie’s hair while she is sleeping. Susie is a twelve-year-old girl from Sheboygan. Ivan casts the ritual three nights later in his chambers while holding the lock of hair. Later that evening, he goes to the area pinball arcade where foul dealings are suspected in the back alley. When he activates his Mask of 1000 Faces, his default mask is Susie. He now looks like a 5’3” 12 year old girl wearing jeans and a Brittany Spears t-shirt. He camouflages well in the crowd of teenagers and spies on the group that is congregating in the alley. Half an hour later, Ivan has to drop his Mask to report to his allies. After reporting, he masks again as Susie to return to his observations. Unfortunately, it is a little late by now, and Susie is in pink pajamas and has toothpaste on her chin. Ivan captures the image and finds himself suddenly very conspicuous and has to retreat.
A Tremere may have a stock of items useful in creating numerous ‘mirrors’ though she may only activate one ‘mirror’ at a time and must recast the thirty-minute ritual again to change to another ‘mirror.’
This ritual has never been known to work with non-sentient creatures or items, though it has been tested successfully on other vampires and garou.
This ritual was developed by the ritualist isolating the changes in a Kindred after nightly uses of Blood Potency and comparing it to their blood normally. After numerous nights, a small portion of the change was isolated. This ritual requires two components. These are the blood of a thaumaturge and the blood of a healthy mortal. Those two are combined into a tonic and mixed together while the Thaumaturge intones cleansing chants to create a higher purity of blood, with it being drunk at the end of the ritual. This tonic cannot be preserved and drank at a later time. It must be consumed at the end of the ritual.
Mechanics: Lasts an evening. The user may spend 1 additional blood per turn. They also gain the flaw: Addictive Blood for the evening.
Sanctity of the Garden (Basic - 2)
By seeding the ground with her blood, the Baharist consecrates the garden. Any character or creature that moves within the garden that is not a Baharist or has the Baharist blessing becomes the subject of an immediate attack from the garden. The attack comes from phantom thorns and brambles that slice like razor blades and pierce like syringes (Static Mentals vs Static Willpower) once per turn. If the garden is successful the intruder takes 2 lethal per attack. Attempts to leave the garden are not blocked.
This rituals effects last for a year and a day however the garden must be fed blood weekly by the local Baharist to maintain the ritual.
Sanguine Lure
Advanced Thaumaturgical Ritual
Approved April, 2011
The ritual must be cast in a Sanctum or some area of intense magical
power. In order for this ritual to take effect, it requires a number
of sacrifices in order to accurately key itself to its caster.
The caster must place a single trait of blood within a stone basin in
order to begin its casting. Over the course of one full night, she
must speak words of power over this basin and her blood as she works
the power of the ritual. The caster must also give an offering of
body, mind and soul in order to create the Lure. This requires a
sacrifice of a health level, a Mental trait and a Willpower trait.
The caster must then sacrifice someone of her own creature type, IE:
Kindred for Kindred, Mortal for Mortal, Ghoul for Ghoul, etc. As the
soul passes through the basin on its way to damnation or salvation, it
stains the blood used in the ritual, causing it to congeal into a
pebble. This act will also take with it a loss to the caster's
Humanity/Path rating. Characters reduced to 0 Humanity/Path Wassail
as per normal.
So long as the Lure is active the maximum values of the five traits
given (blood trait, health level, Mental trait, Willpower trait and
Humanity/Path trait) are reduced by one. Once the Lure is deactivated
all lost traits return except for the Humanity trait, which is
permanently lost (although may be repurchased).
From the moment the Sanguine Lure is created, all attempts to
supernaturally track/watch the caster automatically succeed but are
misdirected to the Lure instead. The Lure instantly erodes and
crumbles to ash under the touch of any being other than its caster,
who immediately knows of its destruction. The Lure may be deactivated
at any time by its caster. Only one Lure may be attuned to the caster
at any given point, additional castings result in failure though the
caster still loses a permanent Humanity trait for making the attempt.
A Sanguine Lure may only misdirect supernatural powers less than or
equal to its power, IE: Advanced or lower, this ritual has no effect
on Elder powers or greater no matter what it is augmented by.
A Bahari discovered an extensive underground network connecting plants by their roots, serving as a complex interplant communication system. One organism is responsible for this amazing biochemical highway: a type of fungus called mycorrhizae. This Bahari found that through the application of their Vitae and the fungus mycorrhizae, they were able to connect their mind to the network of plantlife.
The Bahari soon realized the major boon this fungus had to their own Gardens and took a sample with them. The fungus was able to grow within the Garden of the Bahari, soon the Bahari was able to mix their vitae and the fungus on various other plant life not connected to the garden and was able to connect it to a greater network, thus enabling the spread of the network of the mycorrhizae and the Bahari.
Mechanics: With the power of the fungus, mycorrhizae and their own Vitae, the Bahari can observe what happens in the vicinity of any plant life they apply the salve of Sanguise Mycorrihizae. The Lilin must spend the standard one viate to complete the ritual (it must be the users blood and no one elses). However the blood is applied to the plantlife, it remains as detectable as any ordinary blood. If it's scrubbed or wiped away the power of this ritual is broken.
For one full evening per Vitae spent at the casting of this ritual, the user gains the ability to witness events at the location as though they were present at the spot they had marked with the salve.
If the user marked several plantlife, causing a trail of blood, they may observe different locations at any point. The user may even observe events that occur during the day. They would come to the user as if it were a dream. While the user is watching through the plantlife, they are unable to see or hear in their own body.
There is no limit to this power, only the blood being spent. The users perception can be limited due to obstacles in the world (such as closed doors, people, smoke, shroud, etc…) No other Disciplines may be used through the salve, so a user may not use Heightened Senses, for example. This ritual maybe performed before hand, and the salve's may be saved up to a maximum of the users occult rating. That is if the user has Occult 5, they may have up to 5 salve's saved at 1 time.
This simple ritual lets the caster detect the "scent" of Demons in the area. The thaumaturge prepares a small herbal bundle with milkweed, holy water, sage and a handful of simple grass. With a short set of phrases she takes a whiff from the mixture, after which she can immediately tell any Demonic presence by scent. This does not mean that she can detect Demons at a distance, merely that she can tell if a person or anything they are carrying's smell happens to be demonic, which can be useful when combined with augmented senses.
System
The thaumaturge simply completes the ritual and sniffs from the herbal bundle. Afterward, she can detect Demons by scent; actually sniffing someone up close would require no test, but catching a scent at a distance of a few feet might take a Static Mental Challenge (difficulty 6). Detecting a Demon hidden around a corner, for example, could increase the difficult to 8. The scent distinction lasts for an entire scene.
With a mixture of sulfur, and wax from black candle, and chanting, the caster makes a poultice that allows you to sniff out a insight into the killer while placing the mixture in the mouth and eyes of the victim. You may engage in a mental test against the traits of the killer using the body as a sympathetic link that breaks the bond after this ritual has been used. If the caster is successful they may gleam a insight into the killer spending 1-3 mentals to learn 1+as many mentals spent to learn flaws possessed by the killer.
If the character has lore infernal they can then compare the flaws to see if they are common infernal taints This creates a ritual that is more versatile and will cause less issues bypassing investments that hide a infernals true nature to sts that do not understand or know.