Level 1 Rituals

Level 1 Rituals

Bind the Accusing Tongue (Guide to the Camarilla Pg 109)

This ancient ritual is said to have been one of the first developed by the Tremere and a primary reason for the lack of cohesive opposition to their expansion. Bind the accusing tongue; lays a compulsion upon the subject that prevents him from speaking ill of the caster, allowing the caster to commit literally unspeakable acts without fear of reprisal.
System: The caster must have a picture or other image or effigy of the rituals target, a lock of the targets hair and a black silken cord. The caster winds the cord around the hair and image while intoning the rituals vocal component. Once the ritual is complete, the target must score more successes on a willpower roll (Difficulty of the casters Thaumaturgy rating +3) than the caster scored in order to say anything negative about the caster. The ritual lasts until the target succeeds at this roll or the silk cord is unwound, at which point the image and the hair crumble to dust.

Blood Mastery (Clanbook: Tremere, revised ed. Pg 56)

Whispered rumours tell that one should never allow the Tremere to gain access to the blood of another vampire. Paranoid tales in hushed tones tell of the Tremere’s mastery over other Kindred through the sole use of a small quantity of vitae. While modern, cosmopolitan Kindred Scoff at such tales, even they are careful not to let their blood fall into the wrong hands, just in case. Such caution, though, is well deserved. A Tremere with even rudimentary understanding of blood can focus its power into sympathetic forms. By destroying another Kindred’s blood, The Tremere gains symbolic power over that kindred. This in turn allows the Tremere to manifest his supremacy over the victim.
System: The caster must mix a tiny quantity of his own Vitae (a negligible amount, less than a point) with that of his victim, then slowly burn it in a fire or boil the blood slowly over an open flame. The caster speaks the phrases of Symmetry as he finishes. Once complete, the Tremere has magical mastery over the victim, however briefly. Successful completion of the Blood Mastery ritual guarantees a victory of some degree over the victim. In the next contention that the caster brings against the victim, the ritualist automatically succeeds. If the task would require some roll, the caster garners one success automatically, but no more (and cannot roll or spend Willpower to improve the roll). This means that the caster is guaranteed a marginal success against his opponent. Of course, it may not be in the fashion that the Thaumaturge desires – one success alone is not enough to decapitate an enemy, but it might influence him briefly with the Dominate Discipline. Similarly, if the victim takes some action first, the ritual is of no help if the caster’s player could not normally make a countering roll. E.g. the caster would still be subject to an opponent’s use of Presence, because he may not normally make a roll to resist. If the victim uses some Discipline that would require the caster to resist, though, then the thaumaturge automatically counters it and thus ends the power of the ritual. Blood Mastery can only guarantee successes in one limited endeavour – a Thaumaturge cannot burn multiple points of blood to gain additional successes or success on multiple consecutive actions. Once the ritual is in place, it must be discharged before it can be invoked again against the same subject. Blood mastery expires if its effects remain unused by sunrise.

Blood Rush (Guide to the Sabbat Pg 119)

This ritual allows the vampire to create the sensation of drinking blood in himself without actually feeding. The ritual can be used for pleasure, but is more often used to prevent frenzy when confronted with fresh blood. The vampire must carry the fang of a predatory animal on his person for the ritual to work.
System: Performance of the ritual results in the Beast being kept in check automatically. Blood Rush allays the Beast for one hour, at which point the Cainite feels hungry again (assuming he did before). This ritual takes only one turn to enact.

Brand of the Paramour (Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy Pg 87)

Thaumaturges cast this ritual to maintain an active awareness of their ghoul’s physical condition. The Thaumaturge must first perform this ritual over the blood of mortal twins, then share the vitae with his ghoul. After imbibing the blood, the vampire remains aware of any physical harm befalling his ghoul by feeling a phantom pain. Hence, should the “paramour” ghoul sustain a bullet wound to the chest, the caster is immediately alert to his danger. This alertness also triggers should the paramour trip and fall, bruising his knee. The extent of danger is unknown to the thaumaturge, simply the fact that his ghoul has been harmed somewhere on his body.
System: Both the caster and his ghoul he desires to create as a paramour must each drink one of the two blood points of the mortal twins. Afterward, should any physical peril befall the ghoul, the caster feels a sympathetic pain in the same part of the body. Hence, if the vampire’s ghoul is hit in the shoulder by a stray bullet, the caster feels an acute pain in his shoulder. This pain, however does not translate as damage to the vampire should his ghoul sustain extreme bodily harm. If the ghoul sustains any levels of health damage, the Thaumaturge will still only feel pain centred on the location where his ghoul suffers his damage. Brand of the Paramour remains active so long as the ghoul is alive and remains a ghoul; the Embrace will negate this bond, as Thaumaturges cannot create a paramour of another vampire.

Building the Voice

This Ritual allows the caster to increase the volume of their voice. This increase from a shout to a bullhorn all the way to a deafening blast that can cause hearing loss and even physical damage.
System: The caster rolls Acting & Stamina (Diff 6) and consults the table below. A botch indicates the caster looses their voice for a length of time.

1 success: One loud shout of up to 2 words

2 successes: One loud shout, a full breath of words or a louder shout of 2 words (Bullhorn level)

3 successes: A loud bullhorn shout of a full breath of words.

4 successes: A painfully loud shout of 1 breath. All within 40 yds must attempt to soak 2 normal wounds and may be temporarily deafened.

5 successes: A shout so loud it can be heard for almost a mile. All within 40 yds must attempt to

soak 4 levels and most mortals will suffer permanent deafness. All within 80 yds must attempt to soak 2 normal wounds and may be temporarily deafened.

Carrion Fly Delayed, (House of Tremere Pg 110)

This ritual allows for the preservation of body parts from the living (or unloving) beings so that they can be used in rituals demanding fresh fleshy components long after being hewn from their original owners. The caster must make a series of incantations before vivisecting the living victim. He conducts the vivisecting and then passes the desired parts through smoke from a censer burning alchemical salts. Creative Vampires may devise other uses for the ritual. For example, it is more disheartening to the Kin of one’s enemy to drop a fresh-looking head in his lap than to deliver a mere skull. It is also useful in the formation of alibis; by the time discoverers find a body treated in this way, the caster may have travelled many leagues away, leaving a corpse that looks fresh killed. This ritual can also preserve blood for later consumption.
System: Simple success preserves five blood points or 100 pounds of meat from a single specimen for up to a week. Players can spend additional successes to extend the preservation time (one week per success) or the amount preserved (five blood points / 100 pounds per success.

Communicate with Kindred Sire

By enacting this ritual, a Tremere may join minds with their sire, speaking telepathically with them over any distance. The communication may continue until the ritual expires or until either party ends the conversation. The caster must possess an item once owned by their sire for the ritual to work.
System: The caster must meditate for 30 minutes to create the connection. Conversation may be maintained for 10 minutes per success on the activation roll.

Counting Coup (Anarch Cookbook, The Pg 60)

This ritual allows the caster to leave a “pre-recorded” message at the scene of her crime, for the eyes of the prince or his brood only. This is often done to tell the prince exactly who ruined his building or destroyed his theatre. It will only activate when the prince or his brood enters the site and only they will perceive it. The caster rolls her Wits + Intimidation (Diff Cool. The designated viewer(s) must be Kindred and casting the ritual takes 15 minutes and a piece of chalk.

One Success: Allows a visual message, such as a symbol or icon that floats before the prince’s face.

Two Successes: Add a brief auditory message, such as a laugh or statement of the Anarch Manifesto.

Three Successes: Allow moving pictures.

Four Successes: Allow the creation of multiple images and sounds.

Five Successes: Allow the images to be touched, although they can cause no damage.

After the message is delivered, all traces of the ritual disappear and no magical methods can be used to track the caster.

Dedicate the Chantry (Clanbook: Tremere Revised Ed. Pg 57)

Tremere chantries typically house arcane books, special resources, servants and other major assets. It’s no wonder they’re so closely guarded. One common practice includes the casting of various wards over a chantry site, to prevent unauthorised entry and to make the place difficult to locate. Dedicate the Chantry expatiates this process, making it easier to place subsequent enchantments over the area. To Dedicate the Chantry, the caster must walk a counter clockwise circle around the entire grounds and sprinkle stagnant water as he travels. Once the ring is complete, the thaumaturge must return to the (rough) centre and anoint his hands with the stale water, then the lowest level of the floor.
System: A dedication functions over a single building. So a complex of homes or an estate and grounds may require several castings. One dedicated, the chantry is open to more defences; any site ritual cast over the chantry, from a ward to potent magic’s like Deny the intruder (Level 2 ritual), has its casting difficulty lowered by one.

Defence of the Sacred Haven

This Ritual prevents sunlight from entering an area within 20 ft of this rituals casting. A mystical darkness blankets the area, keeping the baneful light at bay. Sunlight reflects off windows or magically fails to pass through doors or other portals. The caster draws sigils in his own blood on all the affected windows and doors, and the ritual lasts as long as the Tremere stays within the 20 ft radius.
System: This ritual requires 1 hour to perform, during which the caster recites incantations and inscribes glyphs. 1 blood point is required for this ritual to work.

Deflection of Wooden Doom (Vampire: The Masquerade, revised Ed, Pg 184)

This ritual protects the Tremere from being staked, whether or not she is resting or active. While this ritual is in effect, the first stake that would pierce the Tremere’s heart disintegrates in the attacker’s hand. A stake merely held near the Tremere is unaffected; for this ritual to work, the stake must actively be used in an attempt to impale the vampire.
System: The Thaumaturge must surround herself with a circle of wood for a full hour. Any wood will work: furniture, sawdust, raw timber, 2’ x 4’s, whatever. The circle must remain unbroken, however. At the end of the hour, the vampire places a wooden splinter under her tongue. If this splinter is removed, the ritual is nullified. This ritual lasts until the following dawn or dusk.

Devil’s Touch (Vampire: The Masquerade, revised Ed, Pg 184)

The Tremere use this ritual to place curses on mortals who earn their ire. Using this ritual marks an individual invisibly, causing all those who come in contact with him to receive him poorly. The mortal is treated as the most loathsome individual conceivable and all who deal with him do anything in their power to make him miserable. Even bums spit at an afflicted individual and children taunt him and barrage him with vulgarities.

System: The effects of this ritual last one night, disappearing as the sun rises. The mortal (it doesn’t work on vampires) must be present when the ritual is invoked and a penny must be placed somewhere on his person (in a pocket, shoe, etc).

Domino of Life (Guide to the Sabbat Pg 119)

A vampire wanting or needing to simulate a human characteristic can do so once Domino of life is cast. For one entire night, the vampire can eat, breathe, maintain a 98.6 degree body temperature, assume a human flesh tone or display some other single trait of humankind she desires. Note that only one trait can be replicated in this fashion. The vampire must have a vial of fresh human blood on his person to maintain this ritual.

System: Using this ritual adds one die to the Thaumaturge’s Masquerade dice pool (see Vampire Storytellers Companion). Unless onlookers are especially wary, the Domino of Life should fool them into thinking the caster is mortal- not that they should have any reason to think otherwise.

Eyes of the Night Hawk

This ritual allows a vampire to see through the eyes of a bird, and to hear through its ears. The bird chosen must be touched by the vampire when the ritual is initiated, and it must be a predatory bird. At the end of this ritual, the caster must put out the bird’s eyes, les she suffer blindness herself.

System: The vampire is able to mentally control where the bird travels for the duration of the ritual. The bird will not necessarily perform any other action than flight – the thaumaturge cannot command it to fight, pick up and return and object or scratch a target. The bird returns to the vampire after finishing its flight. If the vampire does not put out the bird’s eyes, she suffers a three-night period of blindness. This ritual ceases effect at sunrise; if the bird has not reached its destination or is too far from the vampire for the final step to be taken, too bad, Dracula.

Encrypt Missive (Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy Pg 87)

To insure that messages remain secure against prying eyes, the Tremere sometimes use this ritual the encode documents magically. Created during nights long past to send messages across battle lines or hostile borders, this ritual is not used as often in the age of electronic communications, but is occasionally used to communicate between chantries. Also, this is a fairly common ritual – many anarchs of the Anarch Free State seem to have learned it, and use it to encrypt graffiti messages to others of their kind.
System: The Thaumaturge writes the message in blood over the course of a night and speaks the name of the person he wishes to read it. Only the writer and the person to whom the letter is addressed can read the document, but numerous “counter-rituals” exist that can be used to confound the magic of this ritual. To any others who observe the letter, the writing simply appears as gibberish.

Engaging the Vessel of Transference

This ritual enchants a container to fill itself with blood from any living or un-living being who holds it, replacing the volume of blood taken with an equal amount previously held inside the container. When the ritual is enacted, the vessel (which must be between the size of a small cup and a gallon jug) is sealed full of the casters blood and inscribed with the Hermetic sigils, which empowers the ritual. Whenever an individual touches the container with his bare skin, he feels a slight chill against the flesh but no other discomfort. The container continues to exchange the blood until it is opened. The 2 most common uses are to covertly create a blood bond and to obtain a sample of a subject’s blood for ritual or experiment purposes.
System: This ritual takes 3 hours to enact (reduced by 15 minutes for each success on the casting roll) and requires one blood point, which is sealed into the container. The ritual only switches blood between itself and a subject if it is touched bare handed – even cotton gloves keep it from activating.

Expedient Paperwork (Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy Pg 87)

This beneficial ritual expedites paperwork through the bureaucratic systems of governments or other hierarchies. By preventing the ensorcelled documents from being misplaced, the paperwork goes through the swiftest channels, even bypassing normal daytime agencies that would hinder the Kindred’s nocturnal lifestyle. Although extremely useful in modern society, this ritual was developed to handle the Church bureaucracies of earlier nights and allay any suspicion towards the caster. The ritual requires the hairs of the dog, known for protection and loyalty, to protect and guide the paperwork.
System: This ritual enchants the expedited paperwork, which shows up as an aura to anyone who looks for such. Normal handling time of a given document is reduced to roughly one third and it will not get lost. The ritual ends when the material is finished being processed.

Illuminate Trail of Prey (Guide to the Sabbat Pg 119)

This ritual causes the path of the subject’s passing to glow in a manner that only the Thaumaturge can see. The foot prints or tyre tracks (or whatever) shines distinctly, but only to the eyes of the caster. Even airplane trajectories and animal tracks shine with unhealthy light. The ritual is nullified if the target wades through or immerses himself in water, or if he reaches the destination of his journey. The Thaumaturge must burn a length of white satin ribbon that has been in her possession for at least 24 hours for this ritual to take effect.
System: The Thaumaturge must have a mental picture of or know the name of her prey. The individual’s wake glows with a brightness dependant on how long it has been since he passed that way – old tracks burn less brightly, while fresh tracks blaze.

Impressive Visage (Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy Pg 89)

A Thaumaturge may enhance his sexual appeal and charm when interacting with other individuals after casting this ritual. When the ritual is cast, the caster gains a degree of animal attractiveness; he’s simply more desirable than anyone else and commands attention as if he were a top model. For this ritual to take effect, the caster places a sprig of dried mint in a pocket or in his shoe.
System: The caster gains two dice on all appearance rolls for the duration of this ritual. This power lasts for a number of hours equal to the successes scored on the activation roll. Storytellers may opt to narrow the use of this ritual by having the character pick one attribute. I.e; Smile, eyes, voice.

Imp’s Affliction (Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy Pg 89)

A disgusting ritual, the Imp’s Affliction curses the subject by aggravating his ears, throat and nose. Mucus membranes inflame, ears fill with liquid, the throat becomes raspy and dry, and the subject’s eyes brim with tears. This ritual requires merely that the Thaumaturge write her victim’s name on a scrap of paper.
System: The Imp’s Affliction lasts for one scene, during which the victim becomes winded after five minus Stamina turns. Subjects so exhausted suffer a temporary level of unsoakable bashing damage, which vanishes at the end of the scene as the symptoms disperse. This ritual is most often used to torment people in social situations, as their unpleasant maladies make them odious, to say the least – the difficulties of Social rolls for a character stricken with the Imp’s Affliction increase by one. This ritual has no effect on Kindred

Incantation of the Shepard (Guide to the Camarilla Pg 110)

This ritual enables the Thaumaturge to mystically locate all members of his herd. While intoning the ritual’s vocal component, he spins in a slow circle with a glass object of some sort held to each of his eyes. At the end of the ritual, he has subliminal sense of the direction and distance to each of his regular vessels.
System: The ritual gives the character the location relative to him of every member of his herd. If he does not have the herd background, Incantation of the Shepard locates the closest three mortals from whom the Thaumaturge has fed at least three times each. This ritual has a maximum range of 10 miles times the character’s herd background, or five miles if he has no points in that background.

Learning the Mind Enslumbered (Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy Pg 90)

This ritual is used to determine the cause of torpor in a vampritic body or the cause of destruction in kindred’s ashen remains. To conduct this ritual, the vampire places a penny or small coin over the eye of the torpid kindred, and hears in the vampire’s voice the cause of the cold rest. If the kindred are ash, the caster need only lay the penny in the ashes.
System: This ritual requires one half hour, at the end of which the caster hears the message. This power has no effect on creatures other than kindred.

Now It’s Sight is Ours (House of Tremere Pg 110)

This ritual creates a scrying device which can be used to observe enemies and events from safety; Paul Cordwood devised it for his use and for that of his spies. The ritual requires a three inch, golden pin, a length of wire, a small golden claw cast it the shape of a rooster’s foot, some of the casters vitae and a human victim with at least one healthy eye. As the ritual begins, the victim is on her knees, bound, gagged and blindfolded. The ritualistic (or an assistant; usually two helpers are required to restrain the victim during the stage to follow) removes the victim’s blindfold and shines a bright light into her face. Using a calliper, the vampire plucks out the desired eye, taking care not to unduly damage it. While assistants remove the victim, the ritualist speaks a series of incantations and pierces the eye with the pin. He attaches the pin to the wire and the wire to the claw, draws the eye through the smoke of several censers as a preservative measure and then dips it in a pool of his own vitae that rests in a golden bowl inscribed with the image of Thoth, Egyptian God of knowledge. The vitae is then drawn off, placed in a solution of preservative salts and essences and saved. The device can now be placed in any location the vampire wishes to survey from a distance. The claw is used to secure it to a surface. Needles to say, it must be well hidden from observant targets. To see through the eye of the device, the user (who must be a vampire, but needn’t be the original ritualist) ingests the vitae potion. The device takes over his visual perceptions; instead of what stands before him, he sees what the device sees.
System: The ritualist must spend at least 3 blood points in making the vitae potion but is not limited
to the quantity. Each point yields four doses of the potion. Using the device requires no roll, unless the user is fed the prepared blood unwillingly. In that case she may roll Willpower against a difficulty of 9 to resist the vision. The image flooding the user’s vision is flat; a single eye yields no sounds, smells or other sensory information. The user may vary the duration of the vision by altering the quantity of the vitae he drinks. It lasts for ten minutes for every dose consumed. The potion does not also nourish the drinker; it can’t be used to increase her blood pool. The eye remains potent until destroyed but is useless without the correct potion of blood. The original Thaumaturge can perform a new ritual using an existing eye (and no new victims) to gain further doses of blood. Each time this is done to a single eye, the ritual difficulty rises by 2.

Preserve Blood (Sabbat)

This ritual involves burying an earthenware container for three nights. Blood may be preserved in such a container by putting in a little burdock, reciting a few incantations, and sealing it with wax. This blood will be preserved until the container is broken or opened. This container can not be used twice with the same blood.

Preserve Corpse (Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Pg 79)

This ritual enables the user to create a special elixir that keeps dead things from rotting and deteriorating. The ritual requires the caster to use her hand, coating the material to be preserved with a special liquid composed of decaying organic materials and rare herbs. Once the liquid dries into the surface, the material is protected indefinitely. The ritual produces enough of the liquid to cover one large adult corpse. The elixir will lose potency unless applied within one week of its manufacture. This is a widely known ritual among the Nagaraja.

Purge the Inner Demon (Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy Pg 90)

All kindred have a raging monster within their souls. A caster invoking this ritual can silence the beast in a vampire for a time, even removing the vampire from the beast’s control. The caster must push a sturdy pin through his own hand to begin the ritual. This causes the subject to become strangely submissive, even pulling her out of her frenzy. In actuality, her bestial nature has been temporarily separated from her psyche. According to legend, some kindred have willingly starved themselves into torpor after having been subjected to this ritual.
System: This ritual; lasts for a number of nights equal to the number of successes the caster scores on a manipulation + Empathy roll (Difficulty 10 – subjects humanity, never less than 1). During this time, the subject cannot frenzy. The caster may not use this ritual on their self

Purify Blood (Clanbook: Tremere Revised Ed Pg 57)

Kindred learned to be cautious of diseased vessels during the Black Plague. Experimentation showed that most diseases, even blood-Bourne ones, rarely have any affect upon Kindred, but that vampires can carry such diseases and pass them to their victims. Cautious Tremere can use a simple rite to ensure the blood remains safe to drink. The caster simply decants the blood into a suitable container and makes a few passes of his hands over it, combined with some thaumaturgical phrases and a mixture of ash and crushed ginger. The blood lightens slightly in colour if the ritual succeeds and the rite cleanses all poison or disease from the sample. Unfortunately, Purify Blood does not function on blood that’s still in a creature’s system. The ritual therefore cannot cleanse a human of disease or make drinking from such a vessel safe; it will only purify blood that is removed from the human first. Some vampires shun this ritual because of the extra work involved in securing blood without the kiss, and the less than satisfactory taste (not to mention the lack of a warm, beating pulse) definitely puts off Kindred connoisseurs. For these reasons, Purify Blood remains more a survival ritual during desperate epidemics, not a nightly staple. (See also Cleansing the flesh Lvl 3 and Purity of flesh below)
System: A surpassingly simple ritual. Purify Blood requires only a minimal investment in time and effort. The caster can tell from the colour of the blood if the rite succeeds. Purify Blood functions on up to one point of blood. Because of the volume limitations, Purify Blood can cleanse only one blood point at a time (unless used on the vitae of very low generation vampires). Poisons, diseases and other are removed, while foreign substances bubble to the top. However, the ritual does not in any way change the potency of the blood; vitae can still cause a blood bond and blood rendered acidic or caustic by a discipline (like Quietis or Vicissitude) cannot be cleansed. This ritual cannot counter the Vaulderie (nor is it stealthy enough to perform unnoticed in the midst of such a rite). Rotten, solidified or otherwise befouled blood also vanishes if subjected to the ritual, so a vampire needn’t fear gagging on old, dead blood.

Purity of Flesh

The caster cleanses the body of all foreign material with this ritual. To perform it, the caster meditates on bare earth or stone while surrounded by a circle of 13 sharp stones. Over the course of the ritual, the caster is slowly purged of all physical impurities: Dirt, alcohol, drugs, poison, bullets lodged in the flesh and tattoo ink are all equally affected, slowly rising to the surface of the casters skin and flaking away as a gritty grey film that settles within the circle. Any jewellery, makeup or clothes that the caster is wearing are also dissolved.
System: The player spends one blood point before rolling. Purity of flesh removes all physical items from the casters body, but does not remove enchantments, mind control or diseases of the blood.

Rebirth of Mortal Vanity (Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy Pg 90)

This ritual allows a vampire to grow her hair again. For every inch of hair the Thaumaturge wishes to grow, she must pluck one hair from the head of a human child. She places them on a mirror while mutely gesturing over it, inscribing glyphs into the air. As her hair begins to grow, the mirror absorbs the hairs in its surface. Once the ritual is complete, the vampire’s hair follicles die again, but the hair remains at the new length until cut. This ritual may be cast on another Kindred, but the recipient must pluck the hairs himself, and both caster and recipient must stand over the mirror during the ceremony.
System: The number of successes determines how rapidly the vampire’s hair grows. With one success, it takes 10 minutes for each inch of hair, whereas at five successes, the hair seems to pour forth from the subject’s scalp, growing up to a foot a minute. If the hair is ever cut shorter than it was at the time of the vampire’s Embrace, it will return to its original length the next night. A vampire who was bald in life will remain so in undeath; his hair simply does not grow, though some speculate a more powerful version of this ritual exists for the truly vain among the undead touched by baldness.

Rite of Introduction (Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy Pg 90)

The Tremere use this ritual as the formal method of presentation for arrivals in a new city. However, it is an old ritual and not as widely used as it once was. Many young members of the clan are not even aware of its existence. Still, some traditional regent’s regents insist on its use and tolerate no excuses for a breach of courtesy. It is also possible to use this ritual to request aid. The caster boils a handful of ground tamarisk root in a pot of rainwater and recites a short incantation into the vapours that form over the water, and then adds a drop of galangal oil. He then speaks a brief message, which is telepathically communicated first to the regent and then to other clan members in the city according to their place in the hierarchy. The ritual allows the regent to reply telepathically, though she is bound to do so only by tradition.
System: The caster may make a 30 second “introduction speech” in which he presents himself to the other members of the city. The ritual also enables telepathic communication with the regent for five minutes.

Sanguineous Phial (Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy Pg 90)

This ritual allows a vampire to enchant a vessel so that it may hold a quantity of blood and keep it from spoiling. It is useful for kindred who do not have the medical knowledge or technology required preserving blood in a more mundane fashion. The caster takes a covered earthen ware jar and buries it in the earth for two nights, then digs it up the following evening. He crumbles a dry ash leaf into the empty canister and pours the blood in, closing the container and sealing the lid with tallow melted from a candle. The blood will remain fresh until the seal is broken. System: After the container is opened, the blood begins to spoil at a normal rate. If the vessel is broken, the blood immediately deteriorates to the state it would have attained had it not been preserved at all. The canister may be used more than once, but the ritual must be recast or the blood will go bad.

Scent of the Garou’s Passing (Clanbook: Tremere Pg 37)

By sniffing a strange herbal mixture containing milkweed, wolves bane and some other more noisome materials, a Kindred can detect the presence of a Garou by smell on a Perception + Alertness roll (Diff werewolf’s willpower). The Thaumaturge must actually be able to smell the werewolf in question and three successes are required to identify a particular Garou. This ritual lasts for one scene.

Scent of the Lupine’s Passing (Clanbook: Tremere, Revised Ed. Pg 58)

Developed in a besieged Carpathian chantry where Tremere fell as often to the claws of night-black Lupines as to the other clans, this simple ritual lets the caster scent Lupines in the area. The Thaumaturge prepares a small herbal bundle with milkweed, wolfs bane, sage and a handful of simple grass. With a short set of phrases she takes a whiff of the mixture, after which she can immediately tell any Lupine by scent. This does not mean that she can detect lupine at a distance, merely that she can tell if a specific person’s smell happens to be Lupine, 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 Lupines by scent; actually sniffing someone up close would require no roll, but catching a scent at a distance of a few feet might take a Perception + Alertness roll (Diff 6). Detecting a lupine hidden around a corner, for example, could increase the difficulty to 8. This scent distinction lasts for an entire scene.

Scribe (Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy Pg 91)

This ritual creates a written document from the spoken words of the caster. The Thaumaturge simply speaks, and the words mystically appear on paper before her. Some Thaumaturges have observed variants of this ritual that involve moving feather pens writing the words as they speak them, but the most common form of this ritual makes no such overt display. Further, some young Thaumaturges have developed a variant that records their words directly to computer files – which their elders almost universally decry as vulgar. This ritual requires the beak of a bird or the tongue of a lizard to be crushed between the caster’s thumb and forefinger.
System: For the duration of the scene, any words spoken by the Thaumaturge are transcribed to whatever surface she wishes. This is most commonly paper (whether loose or bound into a book), but may also be a wall, the head of a pin, anything. The Scribe automatically fits the Thaumaturge’s ideas on a given surface, but it makes no provisions for legibility; transcribing all 400 pages of The Seventh Sigil onto a note card isn’t going to make it readable without a microscope. Additionally, the Scribe does not improve a speaker’s eloquence – in matters where clarity or quality is crucial, the speaker’s Expression Trait may come into play. The Scribe may be cast on someone other than the Thaumaturge, should the latter so wish. Also, she may voluntarily end the effects of the power before the end of the scene.

Sense the Mystical (Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy Pg 91)

This ritual provides the ability to sense the ‘magical residue’ left by magical objects and effects. This ritual was originally developed to seek out non-Tremere who uses thaumaturgy and magical artefacts, and is common among the younger Tremere seeking a name for themselves. While this power is in effect, the caster carries a lit candle, whose light causes the stuff of magic to glitter.
System: After chanting for 5 minutes, the caster is able to sense magical effects. Sense the Mystical can detect Thaumaturgy, Necromancy and similar blood related vampiric magic if used within several of the object or person in question. This power does not distinguish between the different types of blood magic, nor does it pick up “normal Disciplines. This ability lasts for one scene.

Serenading the Kami (Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy Pg 91)

Through invocations and smudging with incense, the ritualist gains the temporary support of spirits known as Kami, “highly placed beings” that are found in all things. Developed by a traditional Japanese Kindred to aid in a duel, this ritual is used prior to a major feat of strength. The Thaumaturge must burn a stick of incense to invoke this ritual.
System: This half hour ritual allows the Thaumaturge to reduce the difficulty of any physical action by two immediately following the completion of the ritual. This may be an extended action such as digging a ditch, or it may be as brief as guiding a deadly blow.



Wake with Evenings Freshness (Vampire: the Masquerade, Revised Ed Pg 183)

This ritual allows a Tremere to awaken at any sign of danger, especially during the day. If any potentially harmful circumstances arise, the Tremere immediately rises, ready to face the problem. This ritual requires the ashes of burned feathers to be spread over the area in which the Kindred wishes to sleep.
System: The ritual must be performed immediately before the Tremere settles down to slumber for the day. Any interruption to the ceremonial casting renders the ritual ineffective. If danger arises, the Tremere awakens and may ignore the humanity dice pool limit rule for the first two turns of consciousness. Thereafter, the penalty takes effect, but the Tremere will have already risen and will be able to address problematic solutions.


Widow’s Spite (Guide to the Sabbat Pg 119)

This ritual causes a pain, itch or other significant (but not deadly) sensation in the subject. Similar in effect to the old “Voodoo doll” effects, this ritual is used more out of scorn or malice than actual enmity. In fact, it requires a wax or cloth doll that resembles the target, which bleeds when the power takes effect.
System: The ceremonial doll must resemble, however rudely, the victim of the ritual. It produces no mechanical effect, other than a simple physical stimulus. The caster may determine where on the subject’s body the pain or itch appears.

Will o’ the Wisp (Sabbat)

The vampire may turn a small branch from a willow tree into a floating ball of light that is under her mental command, that will continue to glow if within sight of the vampire.