Custom Blood Magic: Path

The Path of Vanity

Tremere are the masters of the hermetic arts, and the power they have amassed can lead to vice.  Some Tremere even learn to harness their vices, using them to transmute a weakness into strengths, or in this case, conceit into actual beauty.  Using the power of this Path, the Thaumaturge draws on the powerful energies that surround the vices of pride, conceit and vanity, usually drawn from the Thaumaturge himself, and uses them to bolster his own appearance.  The creator of this path, Regent Premysl, sought its power to overcome his own physical afflictions.

Manipulating these negativities comes with a price, though.  In addition to the normal cost of Thaumaturgy, 1 blood trait per use, each use of the Path of Vanity imparts to the Thaumaturge the negative trait Condescending, which remains for the night, as the Thaumaturge is overcome with their own beauty.  Multiple negative traits can be stacked with repeated uses of the power.  STs are encouraged to enforce the role-playing aspect of this draw-back, since the more Condescending traits a character has, the more of an insufferable jerk they become.

This Path uses Occult for retests.

Level 1:  Convalescent Composure

Hygiene and proper grooming are the basic keys to beauty.  This most elementary power of the Path will allow the kindred to instantly straighten up their appearance.  With some chanting, simple gestures and a mystical swirl of color and light, clothes will appear cleaned, free of stains and ironed and hair will be combed and trimmed.  The kindred's face will be groomed however he/she seems fit, including make up (if any), a haircut, facial hair grooming (if it was already present), etc.  This discipline cannot be used to grow hair, change eye color or perform any other significant physical modifications to the Thaumaturge's body.  The kindred’s physical appearance reverts to its natural state at dawn the next day.

Level 2:  Fountain of Youth

A night of intrigue, backstabbing and politicking can take it's toll on a kindred, causing them to lose confidence in their ability and grace.  Drawing on the energy of his vices, the Thaumaturge spreads his hands at his sides with his fingers pointed out and creates a prismatic light show, which quickly funnels into his mouth.  As the thaumaturge drinks in this mystical elixir of energy, he instantly replenishes all traits in the Appearance related category:  Gorgeous, Elegant, Seductive, Alluring, Dignified (and whatever the book says).  The effect lasts the entire round in which the Thaumaturge casts the power, and the replentishing happens at the end of that same round. This power may only be used once per night.

Level 3:  Glamour Siphon

A thaumaturge wielding this power has attained the ability to use the power of his vices to strike at others, and to reap the benefit of the negativity that the attack causes.  With a few gestures, the Thaumaturge indicates a target, and rays of dark colored light strike out, stealing beauty and confidence from the victim.  The energy returns to the caster in rays of brightly colored light.  Mechanically, the Thaumaturge engages his victim in a social challenge.  If successful, he "steals" 2 appearance related social traits (caster's choice) from the victim, gaining those 2 traits as temporary social traits (which can exceed his generational maximum) for the scene.  The victim loses their appearance related social traits for the night.  If the subject has only 1 appearance related social trait, only one may be "stolen".  If the victim has no appearance related social traits, the power is ineffective on that victim.  The Thaumaturge may only reap the benefits of this power once per scene, but in that scene may inflict social trait loss on many different victims.  Once this power is used on a victim, they are immune to further uses of the power from the same thaumaturge for the rest of the night.

Level 4:  Premysl's Pleasing Pulchritude

No longer needing to steal energy from another, the Thaumaturge is able to channel his vices directly into his own physical beauty.  The caster raises his arms into the air, and warm colored lights surround him, settling on his skin and fading, leaving behind a dazzling radiance.  The Thaumaturge gains the traits gorgeous and elegant which remain until the end of the scene, an hour, or whenever they are spent or lost, whichever of the three is shorter.  In addition, while the thaumaturge has the Social traits awarded by this power, he may call for a retest in a single failed Social Challenge (To be clear, only one retest in one Social Challenge is awarded by this power per scene).  This retest can be called in addition to any other retests the thaumaturge has already used, such as those awarded by abilities, surprise, merits, disciplines and willpower. This power may only be used once per scene.  Traits gained from this power can be stacked with any traits gained from Glamour Siphon and may take the user's traits above the normal generational maximum.

Level 5: Airs of Aphrodite

Upon mastering the pinnacle of the Path, the intense vanity of the Thaumaturge is transmuted into an intense, persistent brilliance, surrounding him and allowing him to dazzle, intimidate, seduce or otherwise manipulate those around him twice as effectively.  By spending a temporary Willpower, the caster may now take an extra action during his turn so long as that action is Social in nature, be it a Social-based discipline, talking someone down from frenzy or use of an ability.  These actions take place simultaneously on the thaumaturge's turns.  Additionally, the Airs of Aphrodite make it difficult to resist the user's beauty and guile.  While under the effects of this power, if the thaumaturge uses the Presence discipline, powers that allow the victim to win ties (Iron Heart, Perfect Clarity, etc) are ineffective, and traits are compared normally. There are no other benefits to this power; all actions still require any expenditures, challenges or penalties they would have if performed separately, and no more blood may be spent per turn than is allowed by the thaumaturge's generation.  This power lasts for one scene or 10 minutes.  It may be activated concurrently with "Dual Thought", but the caster must choose each round between taking the extra action granted by “Dual Thought” or this power.