Custom Sabbat Ritae

The ritae is meant to help the cainite mind and the beast understand how each will react under a given situation.  The priest guides their packmate in an hour-long meditation, walking them through a series of imaginary events that ultimately cause the cainite to enter a controlled fenzy.  The events described by the priest will place the cainite in situation of personal challenge they are currently ging through or are likely to face in the future. 

Mechanics: The subject of the ritae spends a temporary willpower and enters into a controlled frenzy.  For the remainder of the night they are plus two on all instincts challenges.

System: At the successful completion of the ritae, and the training/sparring concludes, all participants regain traits/items spent during this training/sparring session. This includes temporary willpower, attributes, abilities, health levels, all uses of Aegis, and items such as bullets or throwing daggers. Vitae expended is still spent. Any disruption of the ritae will cause the ritae to fail, and all benefits negated. Presiding priest must decide at time of performing the ritae what is expected of participants, drawing the line between acceptable and unacceptable conduct.

Several packs have variations of this ritae all of which are principally focused on dedicating the pack to some set of guiding principles and rewarding those who live up to them.  Performing this ritae for a pack member often corresponds with them being awarded the Proven status trait. 

The following is an example of this ritae as performed by its originators the Brass Ring.

Members of the Brass Ring are known to carry on their person a brass ring. But what is not as commonly known is that not every member of the pack is even entitled to one.  The brass ring is reserved for those cainites who time and time again have proven to live by the pack’s tenants of, resilience in the face of adversity, living life to the fullest and dedication to the Path of Caine.

The ritae begins with the pack priest making a mold of their brass ring.  While this is going on the rest of the pack sets to work on building a bonfire that will get hot enough to melt brass.  The pack priest them consecrates a vaulderie in a crucible.  After the vaulderie has been shared the priest takes raw brass adds it to whatever vitae remains in the crucible.  He then takes the crucible and places it in the flames.  As the fire burns and the brass melts the pack engages in a fire dance. Once the brass has completely melted down the pack gathers and watches while the priest pours it into the mold.  Each pack member gives a blessing to or recounts a story of how the member being honored proved them self.  The next night, after the ring is cooled, it becomes the focus of a game of instinct, in which the pack member being honored must find and retrieve their brass ring.

The Last Supper

The Sabbat has had a long and marred history with the demonic. Two separate Inquisitions and several hundred years of pursuit have done nothing to wipe away the stain on existence that is these foul beasts wandering the far reaches of Hell and beyond. In a rite very similar to the Christian practice of the Eucharist, the priest sanctifies a piece of bread or some sort of other small food, and bestows it upon the participants in the name of Caine. By the power of the rite, a vampire can consume this food with no ill effects, and go forth against the demonic, bolstered by the blessings of Caine. System: If successfully performed, the imbibing of the bread does not cause the vampire to immediately attempt to vomit it back up, nor do they have do so to within an hour as with the Eat Food merit. The rite causes the food to transubstantiate upon ingestion, though the ritual challenge is thrown before the consumption of the bread, so a failed ritus may well end more disgustingly than most. A successful ritae also endows each participant with the ability to cancel any one retest used against them by the agents of Hell for the remainder of the evening, regardless of source. They need only invoke this blessing, and the demon's or infernalist's retest is considered blocked. The Last Supper is meant to be performed before known or expected demonic conflicts, and it is considered an abuse of the ritae to simply perform it every evening as a defense against uncertain demonic threats.