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.
Intermediate
Often members of House Amethyst must assume an alternate identity to fulfill their assignments. This rite allows their form to be cosmetically altered without relying upon rare and forbidden disciplines such as vicissitude.
System: The Amethyst agent makes a salve of the victim’s blood and hair and anoints himself with it. Upon success, the thaumaturge takes on the appearance of the victim to include the timbre of their voice. The confusing nature of wearing another’s visage causes the agent to suffer the negative mental trait Unstable x1 while under the effects. This ritual expires at dawn.
Prerequisite: Serenading the Kami
System: Muck like Serenading the Kami this ritual takes time to cast. By binding a spirit to their physical form, the caster gains a boost to their strength temporarily once activated. To activate it the caster must spend 1 blood and say a prayer to the Kami for their help. Once it is activated, the caster is granted 2 bonus physical traits that last for the scene/hour whichever is shorter. It is not simply their next action. These 2 bonus traits can be used just as Serenading the Kami. It lasts until it is used or until sunset whichever comes first.
It takes an hour to cast this ritual, and only one can be cast per night. By building a small shrine and burning incense. You must also bring some fruit and water as an offering during this time. When you cast this ritual, it allows you to make a request of the Earth based Kami.
This ritual allows the practitioner to magically enchant an object. The next time the user desires the object in her hand, all she has to do is speak a magic word and the object appears. Converted from the Basic level Dark Thaumaturgy Ritual: Aport Object.
In honor of the glory of the king of Oyo, this ritual was devised to simulate his strength, charisma, and wisdom. While it is not a perfect facsimile, it surely affects the closest approximation a Cainite will ever get.
System: Over the course of 3 nights, the character ritualistically carves a tri-part amulet, similar to those employed by the path Binding Chango, but with a far more benevolent purpose. The process involves purifying the amulet in salt water from the Caribbean sea at regular intervals and steadily investing it with the will and desire to assume Chango's perfection. Over the course of the 3 nights, the character spends up to 2 Willpower Traits, invested into the Amulet. At the end of the third night, the caster cleanses the amulet one final time, then adorns themselves with it. If successful, the Willpower Traits invested into the Amulet become a pool of traits that the caster can divide as they choose among Physical, Mental, and Social Traits. This choice must be made when the caster dons the amulet and cannot be changed after. The effects of this amulet last for one lunar month, or until the amulet is removed or destroyed.
The caster spends 20 minutes praying/meditation/or paying homage to the Aralu of the Tal'Mahe'Ra. At the end, they mix a combination of dirt, water, and human blood into a paste that they use to draw the Mark of the Hand on their chest. At the end of the ritual, all traces of magic in their aura will be hidden from detection. This only hides any magic in the caster's aura that was present before the mark is placed.
System: Once the mark is placed on the caster's chest all magic that is currently active is hidden from their aura. Powers such as Aura Perception, Thaumaturgical sight, and other detection based powers will find no trace of these powers. This only applies to any powers that were active at the casting of this ritual. Any powers activated afterwards are not concealed, and will show per normal.
Description: While Demonic Trappings are temporary, these reinforced bindings prevent an infernal entity from breaking out of Demonic Trappings. These permanent imprisonments invoke natural earthly elements of a specific location to subdue infernal powers.
System: In order to lock the prison this ritual must be cast on the Base after the initial Trap has succeeded and there is something in there. The demon within the trap is engaged in a mental challenge, with a -3 penalty to mental traits.
Effect: Inside the trap, Fallen are incapable of using Evocations and other powers, and include other infernal servants such as imps, hellhounds, and characters with Investments. Additionally, Infernal creatures may not use their investments within the location.
Cost: 1 blood, 1 wp
Inhabit the Empty Shell
With this powerful ritual, the necromancer combined his fondness for the Dominate power of Possession with his mastery of undeath. The Necromancer lays a suitable body that has previously been Animated with Necromancy: Bone Path: Shambling Hordes, on a ritual alter and anoints the corpse with a trait of Vitae. The Vitae creates a mystical bond between the Corpse and the Necromancer. The Necromancer will lie on the alter next to the corpse and begin meditating on the stages of life and death and how as a vampire he is removed from the proper cycle, the meditation serves to loosen his soul from his own body. After a proper mental state is achieved, the necromancer will breathe into the mouth of the corpse, if the ritual was successful he will finish that breath inside of the corpse.
System: This is a thirty minute ritual that costs 1 blood 1 will and 5 mental traits. mental challenge vs 7 traits. If successful the Necromancer is possessing a bloodless lifeless corpse. As a shambling hordes Zombie the corpse will have the phys traits it had in life and four health levels. The necromancer will not have access to any physical disciplines, disciplines that require blood, or form powers. Like the power of dominate if the body is killed while he inhabits it he will return to his body in torpor. Unlike normal Possession, the grip of the corpse is not easily relinquished, in order to stop the effects of the ritual you must either be where the ritual was cast or win a mental challenge vs 7 traits. If the necromancer is still in the body at sunrise he is violently returned to his own body in torpor.
While hundreds of variations no doubt exist some commonalities occur. The initiate must painfully enter into the sacred space, sometimes through a gauntlet or a wall of thorns, or perhaps walking on broken glass. The initiate then drinks a brew consisting of a plant (often poisonous or with hallucinogenic properties), the blood of an animal sacrifice and the blood of the initiator as well as initiate, sometimes a little red wine is mixed in as well. An oath is performed and the initiate is flogged, fucked or otherwise christened into their new life. Among Lhaka sometimes a second initiation will occur to welcome them to the undeath or help transition them to a path.
Game mechanics: A successful initiation grants the initiated clear vision until the next sunrise. They gain insightful as an additional mental trait as well as a retest to resist their will being subverted. If the ritual is to help a Ba’ham onto a path then they gain a retest to succeed instead.
The ritual, Personal Symbol of Power, must be learned and successfully cast before this ritual can be used.
Inscription of the Hermit allows the Thaumaturge to inscribe a series of glyphs upon their body to act as an amplifier for her Thaumaturgical might. The glyphs, comprised of the caster's Personal Symbol of Power and symbols representing the desired effects of the inscription, must be self-inscribed upon the caster's person. These glyphs are of the same nature as those used in Enchant Talisman.
Prior to the ritual, the caster must declare which Path her Inscription will be linked to. This link cannot be changed and remains until the Inscription is dispelled or destroyed. This ritual takes 3 hours per night for two weeks, beginning on the night of the new moon. The caster enters one extended challenge per night. The challenge is 3 static mental challenges against 16 traits. The caster must win or tie (be sure to compare traits on a tie on the RPS) 10 times over the course of the 14 sets of challenges. Failure means that the effort has been wasted, and the thaumaturge must start over.
If successful, the caster now has a potent inscription attuned to her body with the following benefits:
The caster is considered 1 trait up on any Magical attack made against her.
The caster is considered 2 traits up on any challenge with her chosen path.
The caster is considered 1 trait up when casting her rituals.
If another person ever views the Inscription, they may make the test (as per Personal Symbol of Power) to determine the meaning behind the caster's True Name symbol used in the Inscription. If they succeed, they are considered three traits up in any Magical attack against the Inscribed thaumaturge. Inscriptions are considered an enchanted item even though they are part of the thaumaturge’s flesh, and remain until the caster’s death or is otherwise removed. The caster must specify the medium used to apply the rune at casting. Tattooing and scarification (such as ash rubbing, cutting or branding) are common methods.
You may only have one Inscription of the Hermit at a time. Inscription of the Hermit and Enchant Talisman may both be cast at the same time, though the Paths chosen must be different, and the bonuses do not stack.
Note: The bonus provided by Inscription of the Hermit and Enchant Talisman do not stack. The ritual, Symbol of Encryption, must be case before Inscription of the Hermit, if both rituals are to be in effect. Casting Symbol of Encryption after Inscription of the Hermit destroys the Inscription whether or not the ritual succeeds, but the Personal Symbol of Power is not destroyed, and the Personal Symbol of Power is Encrypted if the ritual is successful.
Ritual Name: Instill Knowledge
Ritual Level: Basic
Ritual Concept: This rituals allows an caster to learn the knowledge held within a text while keeping up with their other tasks and not falling behind on their studies. As a crafter and researcher locally for House and Clan this ritual was crafted to make the best use of the limited night hours.
In Game: The Text (A book, scroll, pamphlet, or other physically written object) is place within an symbolic circle and the casters ear is removed and placed on top of the object. The ear will slowly ash over the course of the ritual, once it completes this process the knowledge of the object is placed within the mind of the caster.
System: The Ritual is cast, then after the length of time it would take the caster to read the book the knowledge of the books contents are place within the casters memories, this includes images of pictures. This Ritual cannot be used to bypass magically enchanted books (the ritual will just fail) but will worked on books that have preserve and similar magics that wouldn’t affect the reader. Knowledge gained must still have XP spend to be understood if the knowledge would be reflected by ability dots. Casting this ritual causes 1 unsoakable lethal damage to that caster. If that damage is healed before the rituals completion the ritual automatically fails. The Ritual is considered complete once the time to read the book in question passes or immediately if the ritual casting chop results in a failure.
Challenge: Social (Retest Occult)
Cost: Double the cost of Ex Nilo
Duration: Instant
Difficulty: Shroud Raiting
Notes: This Ritual may only be used on another target;
Pre-Requisit: Charon’s Lantern
Effect: Through use of Ex Nilo, you may take a willing passenger with you into the shadowlands. Or you may pave the way so that they may travel alone.
As Charon used his Ore and Boat to navigate the Tempest and the Abyss, by studying his methods a Samedi has learned to allow another to travel the Lands of the Dead. This ritual is akin to Ex Nilo, thus the special rules for Voundun Blood Magic; still apply.