Level 5 Rituals

A Curse Upon Thy House (Anarch Cookbook, The Pg 78)

This affects not only the person upon whom it was cast, but his entire progeny and brood also.

System: The caster rolls normally, only one success is needed, but for every success thereafter, one other vampire is affected (beginning with the closest to the target). Each Willpower point spent likewise affects another vampire. They will all have the Dark Fate Flaw until the head of the house (the target) atones for the crime done to the curser. If the curser was an anarch, and the target was the prince, then the prince must somehow pay reparation to the anarch's memory. A 'good deed' must be done to overcome the curse, or else all the brood are affected. If the target dies, then the next one who was affected by the curse takes on the responsibility of reparation.

Abandon the Fetters (Clan book: Tremere, Revised Ed. Pg 65)

As closely guarded as any secret within the clan, Abandon the Fetters seems to depart from normal conventions of Thaumaturgy. Occult theorists note that it has more in common with primal, passionate sorcery than with the cerebral, systematic approach to Hermetic blood magic. A few even darkly hint at it's similarities to the Vaulderie - for the ritual to Abandon the Fetters shatters the blood bond. Breaking a blood bond is a grueling process. The thaumaturge must have unrestricted access to the subject, as well as a sample of blood from the master. The ritual requires an entire night; its execution is excruciating for both caster and subject. The thaumaturge forms a bond to the subject and master with a mixture of blood from all three, placed in a glass container. Next, the caster must exsanguinate and excoriate the subject - the manner is up to the ritualist's individual style; some might mortify the flesh with lashes, while others might apply brands. Once the subject hangs on the thread of demise, the caster shatters the glass container, spilling the blood to the ground and snapping the thread of the bond. The mixture of blood evaporates in a hissing, scalding steam, and the subject is freed. Of course, Abandon the Fetters remains one of the rarest of Tremere secrets. Few Warlocks could be trusted with such potent knowlege. Indeed, the merest hint that a Tremere can perfrom this ritual is enough to cause other kindred to eye her with renewed suspicion - the Tremere have sorcerous ways to steal blood, so who's to say that a thaumaturge couldn't release someone's thralls and bond them to herself instead? Even those Kindred who suffer under the bond's lash would rarely trust a Tremere enough to risk going through the process.

System: The thaumaturge must have one point of blood from himself, the subject and the subject's regnant. (If the caster happens to be the subject or regnant, no additional blood is needed.) The excoriation causes three levels of unsoakable aggravated damage to the subject, as flesh is flayed or burned away. The final venomous steam inflicts an additional level of unsoakable aggravated damage upon both the caster and the subject. The subject loses a permanent point of Willpower, but if the ritual succeeds, the blood bond atrophies immediately. However, this offers no protection against the formation of another, later bond.

At Our Command It Breathes (House of Tremere Pg 116)

Blood Contract (Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Pg 90)

This ritual creates an unbreakable agreement between the two parties who sign it. The contract must be written in the casters blood and signed in the blood of whomever applies their name to the document. This ritual takes three nights to enact fully, after which both parties are compelled to fulfill the terms of the contract.

System: This ritual is best handled by the storyteller, who may bring those who sign the contract into compliance by any means necessary. The only way to terminate the ritual is to complete the terms of the contract or to burn the document itself. 1 blood point is consumed in the creation of the document, and an additional blood point is consumed by those who sign it.

Cobra’s Favour (Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy Pg 97)

As a precaution from having their blood stolen against their will, the Tremere manipulated their vitae via this ritual to burn with a toxin that cuases it to damage anything it touches. It requires an herbal paultice and the venom of a snake to be mixed with some of the thaumaturge's blood.

System: After spilling one point of vitae into a container and combining them with the necessary herbs and poison, the thaumaturge recites an incantation and the concoction turns jet black. The caster must ingest the elixer for the ritual to take effect, suffering one level of unsoakable aggravated damage in the process. For one full month, anything consuming the blood of the caster suffers a level of aggravated damage per point ingested.

Court of Hallowed Truth (Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy Pg 97)

Although this ritual was developed to be used in Tremere tribunals, recent nights have seen princes call upon Tremere to use it within their political halls in exchange for favours. Unbiased testimony and blatant truth become standard within the court, and many connivers and liars have betrayed their own plans with their unwittingly veracious words. A pair of crossed bones must be laid before every entry to the room, including windows.
System: The magic weaves its spell upon the room, and all within abide by the truth-telling edict it creates. No falsehood may be spoken, and direct questions from the presiding judge or power are answered candidly with no omission or deceit. The magic persists within the room for the length of one full month. Several princes have come to rely on this, much to their undoing, as either the prince becomes preposterously indebted to the Tremere or other Kindred resent his heavy handed tactics and refuse to attend meetings.
Curse of Clytemnestra (Milwaukee by Night Pg 53)

Dominion (Players Guide to the Sabbat Pg 120)

This ritual requires three hours of advance preparation, and prevents all uses of Animalism, Auspex, Dominate, and Presence within an area up to 500 cubic feet, except by the caster of this ritual. Iron seals must be placed over all doors in this area; if one is removed or damaged, the ritual is dispelled. Lasts one week.

Enchant Talisman (Guide to the Camarilla Pg 113)

Allows Caster to enchant a personal magical item (ex. fabled wizard's staff) to act as an amplifier for her will and thaumaturgical might. May be laden with additional rituals (ex wards). They physical appearance must be a rigid object close to a yard long. Swords and walking sticks are the most common talismans.

SYSTEM: Requires 6 hours per night for one complete cycle of the moon, beginning and ending on the new moon. During this time the Caster carves in its Hermetic runes that signify her True Name and the sum total of her thaumaturgic knowledge. Player spends 1 bp per night and makes and extended Intelligence + Occult roll (diff Cool, one roll per week. Rolls must accumulate to at least 20 net successes. If not....the ritual must be begun over. Powers of Talisman:

Difficulty of ALL magic or magik that targets Caster is increased by one.
+2 die on all rolls of Primary Path and +1 die for ritual castings.
When used as a weapon, Caster receives +1 hit die.
If separated from talisman, Caster can roll Perception + Occult, diff 7, to give its location.

Escape to a True Friend (Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Pg 90)

This five-day ritual involves drawing, in her own blood, a circle with symbols about it on the ground, using five blood points. The vampire may step into this circle, repeating a friend’s true name, and be transported to her. This circle may be reused until it is broken or otherwise defaced.

Eyes of the Beast (Players Guide to the Sabbat Pg 121)

This five-day ritual involves drawing, in her own blood, a circle with symbols about it on the ground, using five blood points. The vampire may step into this circle, repeating a friend’s true name, and be transported to her. This circle may be reused until it is broken or otherwise defaced.

Ghost in the System (Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy Pg 97)

With society becoming more dependant upon information and computer files, archaic elders needed something to maintain their places in society. In earlier nights, a Kindred could easily fake his death or move on to a different part of the country, but tonight identities are kept on ubiquitous file through the electronic data and paper trails. This ritual bypasses the normal channels for these identities, causing old computer and hardcopy files to disappear and new files to spring up. Like a ghost, the thaumaturge disappears and comes back in a new form. tHis ritual is technomatic in nature, and many vampires thoroughly disapprove ov it, preferring to remain anonymous than change to conform with the rules of the modern nights. Invoking this ritual requires the caster to melt a pile of sand into glass and suspend an ant within the cooling silicon.

System: This ritual takes an entire week to perform, with breaks from the chanting and ceremony only in the form of sleep each day. A botch on the activation results in a complete corruption of all files dealing with the Cainite, to the point that a major government agancy takes active interest in the anomalous activities. A failure results in problems for a few months before everything is arranged correctly - "We're sorry , sir , but the files say that you are dead; we'll take care of this mistake right away." It effectively creates a series of false citizenship, including driver's license numbers for licenses that do not exist, false birth certificates, Social Security numbers, etc.

Haunting Breeze (Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Pg 79)

The vampire may summon a very cold breeze which carries the sounds of the dead (curses, threats and such), and in which the shapes of ghosts can be seen. This wind may even be summoned in an enclosed area. All those in the area suffer a +2 difficulty to Perception rolls, and a +1 difficulty to all other rolls. Mortals are also affected as per Fog.

Lion Heart (Players Guide to the Sabbat Pg 121)

The vampire gains 2 Strength, 3 Dexterity, 1 Stamina, 3 Courage, 2 Brawl, and 2 Leadership. This lasts for twenty minutes. If the vampire does not rest within two hours afterward, she will lose one Health level every ten minutes until she rests.

Mark of the Beast (Anarch Cookbook, The Pg 78)

This is an ancient ritual, created when the world was young. The target goes through a painful transformation, at the end of which he arises with the Beast upon his face - his visage shifted to one horrible to gaze upon. He will resemble the Nosferatu; his appearance will be reduced to zero. Nosferatu are immune to this curse.

System: If successful the only chance for a cure is if the target falls in love: not infatuation or desire, but true love - love for which he would die the Final Death. If this love is returned, the target will change back into his true form. The storyteller should roleplay this out in a sotry. Falling in love is also one of the things that can resore lost Humanity to a vampire.

Mind Crawler (Players Guide to the Sabbat Pg 121)

This ritual involves dyeing a tick red, painting a symbol on it, and crushing it on a victim’s head. A victim will lose one mental attribute per day, in the order of 1 Perception, 1 Intelligence, 1 Wits, 1 Perception, 1 Intelligence, 1 Wits, 1 Perception, etc, until all mental attributes are at one. The victim may rebuild them at a rate of one per week.

Night of the Red Heart (Clan book: Tremere, Revised Ed. Pg 65)

Neonates whisper that Tremere elders can utterly destroy their enemies with but a sample of vitae. Although little is ever that simple, some truth lies behind the dread rumor. With Night of the Red Heart, a thaumaturge can send his enemies shrieking in terror, slay them outright or force a confrontation. The thaumaturge needs only a quantative sample of the victim's blood. Over the course of an entire night, the caster chants the syllables of the ritual continuously. After the first iteration of the ritual )which takes about 10 minutes), the vitim suddenly feels a foreboding sense of dread. Whenever the subject faces the caster, he realizes that a ritual is in progress to slay him - and that he must either escape its power, or else find and interrupt the caster by following the preternatural knowlege imparted. Once the ritual ends at sunrise, if the victim is within its range, he spectacularly crumbles to ash in a matter of seconds. In addition to the victim's blood, the caster must have an effigy of the victim that he has carved himself from bone, rotten wood harvested at midnight or stone from the grave of a fiathful priest's headstone.

One Mind of the Covens (Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Pg 91)

This one-hour ritual involves chanting for an hour, into a silver mirror. This ritual is only used by the Regent of a Tremere Chantry, to communicate with all other Regents of the other Tremere Chantries.

Paper Flesh (Players Guide to the Sabbat Pg 121)

This dreadful ritual enfeebles the subject, making her skin brittle and weak. Humors rise to the surface and flesh tightens around bones and scales away at the slightest touch. Used against physically tough opponents, this ritual strips away the inherent resilience of the vampiric body, leaving it a fragile, dry husk. The thaumaturge must inscribe his subject’s true name (which is much harder to discern for elders than it is for young vampires) on a piece of paper, which he uses to cut himself and then burns to cinders.

System: This ritual causes the subject’s Stamina and Fortitude (if any) to drop to 1. For every generation below eight, the subject retains one extra point of Stamina and Fortitude (though she may not exceed her original scores). For example, a vampire of the Fourth Generation targeted by Paper Flesh would drop to a Stamina + Fortitude score of 5 (assuming the score was more than 5 to begin with). This ritual lasts one night, and it is popular among packs that regularly undertake War Parties and Wild Hunts.

Sculpting the Perfect Servant (Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy Pg 97)

Intrigued by the manner in which the Fiends bred their revenant servants and, improvising on those methods, a powerful European thaumaturge ritualized the ability to enroll an individual's service even before the child had been born. By manipulating an unborn fetus in the womb of a pregnant woman, a magus has the ability to grant exceptional aptitudes and attributes that develope in the child. These Warlocks may also be exceedingly cruel, cursing these innocents with scars and defects. This technique of creating ghouls was founded to increase the abilities of their ghouls, as well as the service of the mother. Children affected by Sculping the Perfect Servant, though possibly growing up normally, always feel a supernatural connection to the magus. To use this ritual, the caster must rend a stillborn baby in half and allow its blood to flow over the belly of the pregnant mother.

System: While it takes only a moment to curse or damage a child, a caster who expends the time and energy in blessing (which requires five hours every week until the pregnant mother comes to term, starting in the first three months of the pregnancy) will reap the benefits. This results in the baby possessing exceptional Attributes (three or sometimes four points per trait, rather than the usual two points most mortals have) and gaining an extended life span (usually living for about 100-120 years). Unfortunately despite being strong, handsome and healty, these mortals are also cursed by the lack of moral development; their Humanity can never be raises above 6. For every curse inflicted on the unborn child, one common deformity may be created as well, to bind the child to the magus.

Severed Hand (Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy Pg 98)

Used during the Dark Ages, this ritual was used as a punishment for Cainites who did not deserve destruction. In Muslim countries, crimes of theft would be addressed by cutting off the offender's hand. Because of the great healing ability of vampires, threat of this punishment did not carry the grave penalty it had for mortals. This ritual prevents a severed body part from healing normally. Although a severed hand was the most commong appendage removed, this ritual can affect eyes, fingers, tongues and other body parts. The most important component is the severed anatomy of the subject, which is why this ritual is almost always performed at the maiming.

System: This ritual takes an entire night to perform, during which time the wound is treated with different alchemical compounds to prevent the regeneration process. Although the health levels can heal in the normal way, the severed body part is unable to be restored to its former condition without magical healing (such as Obeah).

Shadow land Passage (Dirty Secrets of the Black Hand Pg 80)

The vampire may appear in any location in the Shadowlands where she has already been. She does this by stabbing herself in the heart with a silver dagger which has a vampire fang in the hilt. (This ritual inflicts at least two levels of damage that can not be soaked.) She then falls into a body of water that can completely cover her.

Spirit of Torment (Players Guide to the Sabbat Pg 121)

Roll: Manipulation + Spirit Lore, difficulty 7. The vampire may summon a spirit, which stays for the following time periods:

1 suc. one turn.
2 suc. one hour.
3 suc. one night.
4 suc. three nights.
5 suc. one week.

The spirit has the following traits: Physical Attributes 13, Social Attributes 3, Mental Attributes 7, Brawl 4, Empathy 3, Intimidation 3, Stealth 3, Occult 1, Spirit Lore 2, and the following Arcanos: Argos 3, Embody 5, Pandemonium 4, and Outrage 4. If only Vampire rules are available, the Arcanos may be replaced with Spirit Thaumaturgy 2, Obfuscate 5, Auspex 2, and Potence 1. The spirit may also spend a willpower point to achieve a physical form, and gains three dice on all attempts at frightening someone.

Stone of the True Form (Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy Pg 98)

This ritual banishes the false form of an individual and causes him to return to his original, natural form. This ritual will also expose, say , an Obfuscated Nosferatu who lurks unseen in the shadows. The flesh of a grotesque zulo-formed Tzimisce will crawl around it's body and reform into its original guise. Even enraged Lupines have been known to lose their lives after shifting into mortal or wolf form, unable to shift back to their warrior-form before being drained of blood and torn to pieces by a thaumaturge. This ritual requires a small, round stone, which changes the subject's shape after coming into contact with her.

System: The thaumaturge must cast this ritual on a small round stone the size of a marble. After completing the ritual incantation, the thaumaturge coats the ball with a point of his vitae. The marble must touch a victim in order to force a transformation to natural form. After the stone makes physical contact with a victim, both he and the magus enter into a contested Willpower roll (difficulty of each other's Stamina). If the caster wins by even one success, the subject will immediately shift to his natural form for a single turn. Every success above and beyond the first success extends the number of turns a target is unable to assume a shape other than his original form.

Stone Slumber (Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy Pg 98)

This ritual protects a sleeping vampire by turning her into solid stone. The caster must smear her entire body with the blood of a 12-hour-old corpse and stand completely still in an open area facing east. When the first rays of the rising sun strike her, the vampire's body turns to stone. In this form, the Kindred is completely protected from all forms of physical damage and most types of flame (including sunlight) and heat, unless the heat would be strong enough to melt rock (as with a lava flow or other disaster). Telepathy and other mental Disciplines are also useless, as the thaumaturge's mind is dormant.

System: The caster must begin this ritual exactly one hour before sunrise. If the timing is not exactly right, the ritual will not work and the caster suffers aggravated damage from the light of the sun, as normal. The ritual lasts until 10 minutes after the following sunset. During this period, the Kindred is completely oblivious to her surroundings and cannot wake up. In addition, waking up the next evening costs an additional blood point.

Thirst Unquenchable (Players Guide to the Sabbat Pg 121)

This ritual uses a handful of salt. The victim suffers a +2 difficulty to thirst-related frenzy rolls, and any gains are halved.

Transform the Skin to Stone (Vampire: The Dark Age Book of Storytelling Pg 80)

Umbral Walk (Clan book: Tremere Pg 38)

This ritual requires a human sacrifice. The vampire may travel into the Umbra, and may even take others with her,though an additional human sacrifice is required for each passenger. All such travelers appear in the Umbra naked, though some talismans can cross the Gauntlet.

Virus Acquirit Eundo (Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy Pg 98)

This is simply a way of extending the effect of another ritual. The caster recites an elaborate incantation, then breaks an hourglass and casts the sand over a green flame while performing the other ritual. The only disadvantage to using this ritual is that it has different effects depending on what the caster uses it with.

System: The storyteller has the final decision on the effects of this ritual. Generally, it adds time or potency to another ritual in order to extend it's duration or prolong its effect. The efficiency with which it does so depends on the number of successes on the caster's roll.

Verdant Blade, The (Archons and Templars, Pg 146)

Archons sometimes have to take Kindred either for judgement or (more likely) for questioning. Carrying a heavy wooden stake is fairly conspicuous, though, and it lets your target know that you don't wnat him dead. Several Quaesitors developed the Verdant Blade in the 1800s. Its use is limited largely to that group, though a few other archons have learned it. The ritual temporarily enchants any sharp object - as word or large knife, a bone, a piton or tent spike - to paralyze Kindred staked with it as though it were wooden. The weapon or item must be placed in a vat or tub along with a freshly cut tree branch, several ounces of sap and a gallon of water. When the ritual is complete, the weapon will paralyze a vampire when driven into it's heart. This effect works only onece; once the weapon is removed, it must be enchanted again if the caster wishes to use it to stake another Kindred.

System: The caster expends a blood point when making his Intelligence + Occult roll, and must spill a second blood point into the vat with the items described above. The chanting that follows takes 25 minutes. If the roll is botched, the weapon is not enchanted and will shatter on impact. The item or weapon must still be large enough to use as a stake (a large knife or a sword will work, but a pen will not). The ritual does not make the actual staking process any easier, and the weapon is not considered enchanted in any other respect.

Ward Versus Spirits (Vampire Players Guide, 2nd Ed. Pg 90)

This warding ritual functions exactly as other wards except it inflicts injury upon spirits.
System: Ward Vs Spirits behaves exactly as ward Vs Ghouls, but it affects spirits (including those summoned or given physical form by thaumaturgical paths such as elemental mastery). The material component for ward Vs spirits is a handful of pure sea salt.

Ward of Rotschreck

This Ward is identical to the Ward Vs. Kindred, with one addition. Any kindred who come into contact with it must make courage (Diff Cool roll or flee in Rotschreck