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.
Mechanics: This ritual functions off a principle similar to that of Tamimah - the Ashipu must create an amulet as the focus for the ritual. The amulet itself takes one week of work, and must possess a crafts rating of at least 3. As with Tamimah, the Sorcerer must consume the soul of another through diablerie, gaining all of the drawbacks but none of the benefits for the act. Provided the ritual is successfully cast, the amulet will function for a lunar cycle (28 days). It costs a temporary willpower to be attuned to the Warrior, and once attuned cannot be passed to another. It extracts a cost of one blood per week that it is in use to keep it active. While worn, the Baali curse is wholly suppressed in the Warrior.
Taming Caine (Advanced - 5)
This rare ritual brings an outsider into the Ba’ham’s circle. The setup is important and the space prepared ahead of time. The “victim” rarely understands what is happening and either arrives as a surprise, or bound and gagged. Cain (the victim) then is divested of his clothes through force or trickery and walks down a path followed by an officiant dressed as a serpent. Lilith greets him and offers him food and drink then shows him a demonstration of her power (often just a flogging). Variations have Cain visited by three or up to six “angels” each offering a different torture. When the last angel leaves he is bathed in ice water then given blood to drink. Cain then is left alone for a short time before a path out of the garden is shown to him, then he is hounded and attacked by serpents cats and owls (sometimes actual, other times cultists in masks) until he flees the ritual.
Mechanics: The victim gains the derangement masochism for the next cycle of the moon and also the additional mental traits Insightful x2. He is also unable to hide from or lie to any of the cultists who participated in the ritual, though they are forbidden from harming him for that same amount of time. If he should successfully flee the ritual before it is completed, but after he is greeted by Lilith he only gains the derangement and no other effects take place.
Advanced
Those who engage in espionage against the various sects are hard pressed to defeat the myriad of supernatural techniques employed by their targets. Amethyst agents have developed this rote to give them an edge in evading some of those methods, however taxing it may be.
System: This ritual allows the thaumaturge to spend up to three mental traits at the time of casting to choose answers to a specific question that will show to be true under both mundane and supernatural investigation. Each trait spent allows the Amethyst agent to designate one question and answer as the truth. These questions and answers must be written out when the ritual is cast and must be specific.
These traits cannot be refreshed for the evening.
Example: If the Amethyst agent is infiltrating the Sabbat, the ritual could make it seem as though he’s telling the truth that he is a member of the sect. However, if someone asks him if he’s been through the creation ritae, an affirmative answer would be detected as a lie.
Tapestry of Mysteries is a ritual that requires an initial dedication for making the base item that is a carpet woven by the thaumaturgist, where the wool must be washed by 7 days and 7 nights in 5 points of his vitae. Absorbing all in the end creating a connection with the all mystical effects that will be added to the carpet.
The carpet may have any appearance, but must have at least 2m x 1.5m.
Once done the Regent should sew pyramids where he desire, and for each pyramid should dump 1 point of blood from a different Tremere(at maximum 7) and mystically in the exactly place will reform with the face of the blood owner. The tapestry will have 8 faces in maximum, the Sorcerer and seven more.
The sorcerer must start by adding your face to the carpet before following with others. He will be able to change the place of faces and reshape the look of the carpet as and when desired.
After entering all the desired members the Regent will know if his apprentices are safe, because when one of them is destroyed, his face will be undone mystically at the exact moment, leaving a hole at the site that can not be repaired, only moved.
The wizard can use the undone lines spending one Willpower in a brief moment of concentration and see and hear the last 5 minutes the scene where his apprentice was killed, and know exactly where it happened.The use of other powers during the vision will not be possible.
Taste of Knowledge (Basic - 2)
By drinking the blood of a target a Lillin can learn some of the important memories the victim cherishes. First the Baharist must establish the kiss upon their target. Thereafter, for each blood trait they drain from the target, the Baharist gains one memory of importance to the target. This ritual takes 10 minutes to cast, lasts for one target only, and costs 1 willpower.
This ritual developed by the brotherhood of purity allows them to take the blood of a victim and consume it. While doing so in a ritually prepared circle with incense the Black Hand member may attempt to learn secrets from a targets blood that they themselves may not even know.
System: In order to cast this ritual you must first drink a blood trait from your target. After you perform this ritual you may engage your target in a contested mental challenge retested with occult. If you succeed you may ask one question about the character whose blood you have drank and gain an honest answer from a storyteller. This ritual will reveal any knowledge the person whose blood it is they may have, even if they are unaware that they know it.
Teleport Hub (Advanced Thaumaturgy Ritual)
Throughout history, many and varied are the methods of magic used by magicians to prove their eldritch might. One of the more common, and yet impressive magics is commonly referred to as apportation magic, or the magic of movement. The hubs would allow quick movement between areas, while keeping them from being used by the enemies of the Pyramid to do the same.
System:
Requirement: Must have sworn the Oath and be a member of the Pyramid in good standing.
Creating a teleport hub consists mainly of properly constructing the hub room. The room itself must have an even number of sides/walls, and each wall in the hub must be the same dimensions (see paired ritual (Waystation Teleport, for details on portal size requirements). The walls and floor must be made of the same kind of material, which must be a never-living material (i.e. stone, concrete, brick are suitable, wood is not).
Lastly, a keystone must be selected, and constructed from and of the same materials used to construct the walls. While the keystone is present in the hub, the hub is considered active. If not, then the hub is unusable until the keystone is replaced. Destroying the keystone counts as the keystone not being present. A thaumaturge that knows this ritual can create extra keystones by spending one night and ten traits of blood enchanting it, per keystone. If a hub’s keystone is destroyed, the first keystone to enter the hub becomes the new primary keystone for the location.
A hub without an active keystone in play for a year and a day automatically disenchants the hub room, rendering all portals to it disenchanted as well. A disenchanted hub room that remains disenchanted for a year and a day renders the hub room (and all associated waystation portals) unusable for re-enchantment. To place a hub room in the same location, all waystation portals must be removed, new portals constructed, and the whole thing re-enchanted.
Once the room has been constructed, the walls must be treated with an alchemical mixture that consists of the thaumaturge’s blood, lead, and walnut oil. One trait of blood per wall is normally all that’s needed, though an ST may require more for larger surfaces.
Once the surfaces have been painted and the alchemical mixture has dried, the thaumaturge must spent the next night enchanting the hub. This is usually done with meditative chant, with an equal amount of time spent before each wall.
Once the hub is enchanted, the ritual, “Waystation Teleport” may be used to connect location (see the ritual, “Waystation Teleport”, for details.
Ritual of the Tell Tale Heart (Intermediate Ritual)
The dangers of the more subtle of Kindred powers are arguably more than the Speed of the Toreador, Strength of the Brujah, Claws of the Gangrel or Physical Resistance of the Ventrue. The creator, being more into the subtle than the direct, wishes to create a substance that will detect the use of Kindred powers when used on a creature. His theory is that by embuing an object with vitae that has an affinity toward a certain discipline, any use of that power directed at it (meaning the person carrying the object) will cause it to react. This reaction could be caused to become apparent to the victim.
This ritual requires the heart of a mammal (of any size), the vitae of a Kindred who has at least a basic understanding of the discipline to be targeted and a specially created vial to contain the above two.
When completed, the heart will have magically soaked up all of the blood and appear to be in perfect condition. It is placed in the vial to complete the ritual. The vial need be carried on one's person to provide a connection to the vial and heart. The first time the bearer is targeted with the discipline that the heart is keyed to, it turns black and begins to decay at about a rate of an hour to completely turn to ash. Multiple vials will all react at the same time so carrying more than 1 per power will be fairly useless.
While this may not actually protect the bearer in anyway, it may allow future investigations some measure of insight on certain situations. The ritual when it is active is not keyed to any particular person, just a certain power. Thus it could be given to a ghoul or loyal retainer for checking after they have gone to have a meeting with one's rival and so forth. It is found that a lead shielding of at least 1/4 inch thick will prevent these from activating, so a small lead-lined box would allow for multiple vials to be carried, just not active. Once the heart has "told" it of course needs to be discarded while the vial itself is reusable.
When created, a heart is soaked in a blood point from a kindred who has at least one level of the chosen discipline that the creator wished to be warned against. The heart is placed in a specially created vial which may be reused after the heart has been used up. The first time that the chosen discipline is used on the bearer of the heart/vial, the heart will turn from normal looking to black and it will start to decay at a fairly rapid rate. At the end of about an hour it will have dissolved completely. This allows the bearer to know somewhat how long ago they were affected. The discipline in question must be one that is directly targeting the bearer and require a contested challenge. Example: Aura Perception would not set it off, but telepathy would. Entrancement would but Magisty would not since it is a defensive power. Thaumatergy paths would need to be "keyed" individually. As stated in the previous section, all of the vials that are keyed to a certain discipline will all activate if multiple are carried.
# Tempus Edax Rerum (Advanced Koldunic Sorcery Ritual)
Possessors of this ritual believe that even forever isn't long enough.
By pouring a blood trait upon a 20lb or larger stone from their
homeland during the last light of day, they summon the power of earth
to create a gravity disturbance in a localized area. This disturbance
creates a swirling bubble of increased gravity in this area causing
time to pass more slowly within it. The ritual can be ended by the
caster at any time but it can only be cast at sunset, either requiring
a Willpower to awaken earlier than normal or the Merit "Early Riser".
It ends automatically at sunrise.
The gravity bubble extends 20 feet in every direction centering on the
rock. Anyone viewing the bubble immediately becomes aware of the
danger as an uneasy feeling that gets worse as they approach the
disturbance. Aegis must be expended to even attempt to pass through
the gravitational bubble as the extreme gravity attempts to rip apart
anything not supernaturally resilient.
Everything inside the bubble experiences time at a slower rate. One
minute outside the bubble is a variable amount of time inside it,
between two and twenty-four minutes, selected at casting time. Mundane
signals can transmit into or outside of the bubble, but experience lag
or compression depending on the direction. Inbound signals experience
extreme lag, and outbound signals are extremely compressed. This makes
watching television or making phone calls nearly impossible without
specially designed equipment to compensate for the shifted time.
Magical effects can pass through the bubble as normal but are affected
by the same temporal shift. For example, using Scry on someone from
the inside would make the person on the outside appear as if they were
standing still, whereas someone whom was using Scry on the individual
inside the bubble would see blurs of motion due to the compressed
time.
Vampires inside of the bubble must expend a blood trait every 24 hours
of percieved time, as if they were awaking for the evening. They are
also unable to regain spent Abilities or refresh Attributes more than
once. Anything that is usable only once per evening or game session
does not refresh until the character rests normally during the day.
Terraportation (Advanced - 5)
With this ritual, you are able to enter a tree of a size big enough to crawl through. This allows the Lilin to use the tree as a gate to their Garden. You may safely take one person with you through the tree. The tree seems to break apart, as if spreading apart by sap, forming a doorway big enough for the Lilin to enter, returning to normal after the Lilin has gone through. You must be wearing a ring made from twigs from the tree in the Lilin’s garden when this ritual is in effect. If you are being chased, this ritual may be used as a Fair Escape. However, the pursuers, or anyone within five feet of the mirror when this is cast, may immediately state their intention to follow you through the mirror; otherwise the opportunity to follow is lost.
If the person does not come through the tree willingly, they must win a Static Physical Challenge against a difficulty of 6 or be killed, one half of her lying in front of the entrance tree and the other half lying in front of the tree in the Garden. You must expend three Mental Traits to enact this ritual.