Rituels

This pointed ritual, given in a vision to an English Bishop in the 18th Century, grants the subject — designated by a touch on the neck — a resistance to the ecstasy of the vampire bite, called the Kiss. Performing this ritual requires a sorcerer to toe the edge of the Masquerade; practitioners had best be careful. Each success scored on the activation roll grants an additional die to the subject’s Resolve + Composure dice pool to resist the Kiss. In addition, the subject automatically reacts with alarm to the Kiss, however it is attempted (see Vampire: The Requiem, p. 165), and is unable to voluntarily succumb to a feeding vampire. These benefits last until the next sunrise.

A mortal may be affected by only one instance of Celibacy at a time.

The Lancea Sanctum secretly uses this ritual on mortals suspected to be singled out for the Embrace by would-be violators of the Second Tradition. It is not a guaranteed deterrent, but it has stopped many violations before they can be completed.

The roll to activate this power is penalized by the subject’s Resolve.

Offering: The sorcerer must obtain a bit of the subject’s sweat to be consumed when the ritual is enacted. Sweat can be used when touched, so a sweaty subject of Celibacy can sometimes be spotted by a smear of ash on the neck.

This ritual pains and disfigures a victim with a tortuous ring of bony thorns formed from his own skull. The victim suffers two points of bashing damage as tiny hooks of bone burst through the flesh of his head in a ring running just above his eyebrows. The thorns do damage only in the turn when the ritual is first activated, but persist for one turn per success. So long as the thorns remain, the victim suffers a –5 penalty on all Social actions. Between the bleeding wounds and the visible, unnatural thorns, the victim is frightening to behold — mundane Social actions, such as most uses of the Socialize Skill, may therefore be impossible as a result. Afterward, the thorns quickly and painfully recede.

Though the damage caused by the thorns can be healed normally, the thorns leave behind gruesome, sticky scars for a number of days per success; these scars plague mortal and vampiric victims alike. These scars impose at least a –2 penalty on Social actions, though especially pious or superstitious persons may react more unfavorably (imposing a –3 penalty, instead).

The Sanctified use this ritual to punish those who violate the canons of the covenant, or to shock mortals and ghouls with an agonizing brush of divine wrath. The pain punishes the victim, but his scars spread shock and sow fear among his kind.

The roll to activate this ritual is penalized by the subject’s Stamina.

Offering: A thorny twig or branch swallowed by the ritualist in direct sight of the subject.

The vampire sheaths himself in the healing power of Vitae to protect himself from harm. For each success achieved on the activation roll, the sorcerer may infuse one Vitae with the power to protect himself or other Kindred from harm. This empowered Vitae instantly heals the subject, counteracting damage the moment it would be applied. A bullet might pass through the subject’s body, but the wounds it leaves behind mystically vanish.

The Vitae to be used is then splashed, brushed or smeared onto the vampires to be protected (Sanctified paladins who know this ritual often paint lances of blood on their chests or faces). Damage ablated by the miraculous Vitae is subtracted from the total damage dealt in the attack; damage that is not countered affects the character as normal. All damage done to a character benefiting from this ritual affects the magical Vitae first; the character cannot choose to “save” some of the empowered Vitae for use against particular attacks.

One Vitae counters one or two points of bashing damage or one point of lethal damage; a single point of aggravated damage is countered only if the character has five Vitae of protection empowered and painted onto himself when the aggravated damage is dealt. All forms of physical damage are subject to the Hauberk of Blood, even fire. The power of the ritual persists for one scene or until all the empowered Vitae has been used, whichever comes first. A character can wear a Hauberk of Blood invested with an amount of Vitae up to his Size, so an average vampire can be painted with a maximum of five Vitae empowered this ritual.

Example: A Sanctified paladin is painted with a Hauberk of Blood made up of five Vitae. He is then struck in combat by a sword for two points of lethal damage, but the Hauberk of Blood counters that damage, reducing its total Vitae by two, from five to three. Later, the paladin is struck by an attack dealing three points of bashing damage, which is countered by two points of painted-on Vitae (two points of bashing damage are stopped by the first Vitae and the second Vitae is used up countering the third point).

The paladin now has just one Vitae left in his Hauberk of Blood when he is burned for one point of aggravated damage; because the Hauberk of Blood has fewer than five Vitae left, not even that single point of aggravated damage can be countered, so the damage affects the paladin. The last Vitae of the Hauberk of Blood still remains, therefore, when he is stabbed for three points of lethal damage. The first point of damage is negated by the last Vitae in the Hauberk of Blood. The two remaining points of lethal damage harm the paladin directly.

Offering: The Vitae used in the ritual is the offering, though it can come from any willing or unwilling source. Unlike standard Theban Sorcery offerings, this Vitae turns to ash not when it is used in the ritual, but when it finally counteracts damage.

The vampire compels her subject to reveal her most recent sin. The subject may or may not realize she is being magically influenced, depending on the behavior of the sorcerer, who may persuade (“Tell me, please, you must tell me.”) or de- mand (“With the authority of Heaven, I command you!”). The sin in question must be severe enough to warrant a degeneration roll and, of course, the subject must be aware (on some level) of what she has done.

The roll to invoke this power is penalized by the subject’s Resolve. The subject of the power must be able to hear the vampire’s voice (even over a telephone) as the ritual is completed, to be affected. The caster’s voice only has power at the moment of the ritual’s completion, so recording cannot convey the effects of this ritual.

Offering: An article belonging to the subject, traditionally something associated with vice, such as a liquor bottle, a cigarette or a handful of pills.

In the earliest nights of the covenant, when Theban Sorcery was barely understood and the Sanctified were surrounded by enemies both living and undead, this simple ritual saved many vampires from Final Death by leading them to secret havens beneath the sun-bleached stones of Egypt. With a touch of his hand and a soft word, the sorcerer can leave a mark — be it words or a symbol — in virtually any surface. The mark can be as subtle or obvious as the sorcerer wishes: a worn patch of stone in the shape of a skull, a rough rust stain symbolizing the Spear of Destiny or a finely-wrought inscription of Aramaic words.

The more successes that are achieved on the activation roll, the larger the mark can be. As a general rule, an inscription can be up to one foot long or wide per success. The sorcerer can choose to create an allusion (such as an iconic reference to the Testament of Longinus) or a disguised image (such as a crucifix in a stretch of water-damaged wallpaper) if he wishes, requiring either an Intelligence + Academics roll (for an obvious symbol with hidden meaning) or a Wits + Academics roll (for a hidden symbol) to be made for onlookers to understand or spot the mark. The ritualist decides which dice pool, if any, is appropriate when the mark is made. (If the Storyteller agrees, other dice pools — such as Wits + Occult — may be required instead.) Finally, the ritualist may choose to penalize the necessary dice pool by a value less than or equal to his dots in Intelligence.

Offering: The mark to be made must be drawn or placed on the surface to be affected. An inscription may be written onto parchment, for example, to be pressed to the desired surface later. Many early marks were simply drawn by hand, with chalk or blood, onto the surface.

This strange ritual was one of the original collection given to the covenant in the vaults beneath Thebes, and has been linked to other ancient magical traditions of Egypt. With this ritual, the character summons forth the guilt and immorality of a subject he can see directly into the form of a shimmering phantasmal bird — often an owl, but raptors of all sorts have been cited by sorcerers through the ages. Some incarnations shed feathers like a fire sheds cinders, others have been said to be cold, hard and sharp like ice; each bird reflects the sinner, rather than the ritualist.

The Bird of Sin immediately attacks the subject on the sorcerer’s turn. Attacks continue for one turn per success scored on the activation roll. The bird has a dice pool equal to 10 minus the subject’s Morality or Humanity for attacks; it ignores the subject’s Defense. Its spectral talons and beak deal bashing damage, but can hurt only the subject of the ritual. The bird is completely intangible to all other creatures, including spirits and ghosts.

The subject can will the bird out of existence with a successful Resolve + Composure roll penalized by the caster’s dots in Theban Sorcery. This effort is an instant action, performed on the subject’s turn. If the roll fails, subsequent attempts can be made on following turns so long as the bird remains. The action to activate this power is penalized by the subject’s Resolve.

Offering: A feather at least four inches long.

With this ritual, the sorcerer impresses, shocks or frightens onlookers with the glorious majesty of a walking saint or the terrible stature of a furious monster. When the ritual is completed, the vampire adds his dots in Theban Sorcery to all dice pools involving overt use of Presence for the rest of the scene. In the eyes of onlookers, the sorcerer takes on an exaggerated, unearthly appearance, whether darkened by an intangible malice, smoking with hellish heat or shining with an angelic light.

The effects of this ritual are never subtle. The power overtly alters the character. Her appearance attracts attention and sticks in the memories of witnesses. The character suffers a –3 dice penalty on all Social actions requiring subtlety or finesse. If the character’s appearance is truly unearthly (due to very high or very low Humanity, for example, or if the character has seven or more dots in Presence and Theban Sorcery combined), the penalty may even apply to Stealth actions, at the Storyteller’s discretion.

The aspect of the Curse that blurs a vampire’s image in mirrors and on film also interferes with this power — Damned Radiance cannot be perceived through second-hand evidence (such as photographs or TV signals), even by spending Vitae.

Offering: A mask, however cheap or exquisite, simple or ornate.

The subject of this curse is forbidden to communicate with, look at or speak of another particular person, called the exile and specified when the ritual is activated. For one night, the subject is forced to deny all contact with the exile. If the exile approaches the subject, she must leave. If the subject attempts to say the exile’s name, her voice fails her for just that moment. If the exile and the subject are forced together — locked in a room together, for example — the subject is plagued with a supernatural mental block; the exile seems to be nothing more than a silent, blurry shape that the subject cannot bear to see.

The roll to activate this power is penalized by the subject’s Resolve. If the sorcerer achieves an exceptional success, the subject is literally blinded when in the presence of the exile.

Offering: An image or unique possession of the exile, such as a photograph or monogrammed handkerchief, burned in sight of the subject when the ritual is performed.

Said to have been found in the broken remains of the Black Abbey just one night after the destruction of the Monachus, this ritual enables a practitioner of Theban Sorcery to better combat the other supernatural powers of the Damned. By activating this ritual, the sorcerer grants himself, or a subject who can hear the sound of his voice, a renewed attempt to resist any Discipline power resisted with a contested action that is currently affecting the subject or his immediate surroundings, whether he initially resisted the Discipline or not.

The original dice pool for the Discipline to be resisted should not be re-rolled. The subject is pitted against the successes rolled on the initial use of the power being resisted.

Example: Solomon, a Sanctified sorcerer, believes another Kindred named Asher has been subjected to a Ventrue’s Mesmerize power. Solomon calls Asher on the phone, his hands still stained with soot from enacting the Resistance of Discipline ritual. “Asher,” Solomon says, “think hard about what that Ventrue told you. Do you remember? Think, Asher!” Solomon thereby makes Asher the subject of the ritual, so Asher’s player rolls Resolve + Blood Potency again, this time scoring four successes, better than the three rolled on the Ventrue’s use of Mesmerize. Asher is now free to disobey the suggestion he was given by the Dragon. “Yes, yes!” Asher says, “He wanted me to spy on you…”

Offering: Any Judeo-Christian or Islamic holy symbol, such as a Star of David necklace, a prayer rug or a rosary.

This ritual fills a space with holy or unholy resonance, tangibly altering its atmosphere and appearance. The space — which must be a single room, closed off from other rooms and hidden from sight when the ritual is performed inside it — is thereby “aligned” to grant bonus dice to all actions involving a certain Skill, no matter who performs them, when those actions are undertaken within the affected room. The space grants bonus dice equal to the sorcerer’s dots in Theban Sorcery for a number of hours equal to the successes scored on the activation roll, plus two.

A single Skill must be chosen for the space at the time the ritual is performed, but only a few Skills fall within the purview of this power: Academics, Empathy, Intimidation, Occult and Persuasion. The room takes on qualities favorable to the performance of the Skill, becoming quiet and serene for Academics use, growing dark and unsettling for Intimidation purposes, or taking on dramatic acoustics for Persuasion. Whatever the exact effect, the power of the room is clearly unearthly — frightening rooms may creak or groan or be populated by shifting shadows, while serene rooms may hum with sourceless chords or be lit by unmelting candles. Sanctified sorcerers must be careful how they use this ritual, for such supernaturally attuned spaces can lead to careless breaches of the Masquerade if happened upon by accident.

Offering: A decorative object, such as a tapestry or carpet, or an object symbolizing the action to be blessed, such a sword. When the duration of the ritual has passed, the room develops a thins coat of soot and ash.

The sorcerer’s blood is transformed into the fuel of a righteous fire with this ritual. A foe that deals lethal or aggravated damage to the sorcerer with a close combat attack is burned by this holy flame when the sorcerer’s body is slashed, pierced or otherwise physically penetrated. Treat the Blood Fire reaction as a reflexive action. The fire causes lethal damage to the attacker equal to the successes achieved on the Blood Fire ritual’s activation roll, minus the rating of any armor the attacker is wearing. No attack roll is made for this backlash of flame, and the attacker’s Defense does not apply.

Blood Fire is completely intangible to all persons except the attacker. It does no harm to other people or objects and cannot provoke frenzy from anyone it cannot harm. Once activated, Blood Fire reacts to a number of successful attacks equal to the sorcerer’s dots in Theban Sorcery. If the Blood Fire is not completely utilized by the end of the scene, any remaining reactions are wasted. The sorcerer can only enjoy the benefits of one Blood Fire ritual at a time.

Offering: A burning object, at least as large and intense as a torch.

This ritual trains a vampire’s will to endure past the moment of its own defeat — or destruction. The subject of this ritual (typically the sorcerer himself) may take a single action immediately after entering torpor or being delivered unto Final Death. The action to be performed is decided when the ritual is activated and cannot be changed, though it can be replaced by a subsequent use of this ritual. This ritual only affects vampires, and a vampire may be subject to only one instance of the Lash Beyond Death at a time.

The prescribed action can be anything the subject can perform in one turn. Generally this means an instant action, but the subject may choose an extended action, such as attempting another Theban Sorcery ritual, if he believes he can complete it with a single roll. The former Sanctified Archbishop of Naples famously (and perhaps mythically) enacted the Stigmata ritual of Theban Sorcery in the moment of his destruction, marking his assassin for destruction by nearby guards. If the vampire’s body would be physically incapable of performing the action (a vampire without a tongue cannot recite a prayer, for example), this ritual is wasted. Nearly ruined vampire bodies have proven to be capable of frightening feats, however, including walking on ashen legs and speaking with mummified tongues.

If this ritual is to be activated on a willing subject other than the sorcerer, the subject may spend the Willpower point to activate the ritual instead of the caster. Though the subject may request an action to be mandated by the ritual, only the sorcerer has the power to commit the undead body to that act. Therefore, only the action actually mandated by the sorcerer is triggered by the subject’s torpor or destruction.

If the subject is unwilling to accept the action mandated (“You will reveal the location of your sire before you are destroyed!”), the roll to activate this power is penalized by the subject’s Resolve. Self-destructive actions (“Set yourself on fire when you enter torpor!”) automatically fail when demanded of unwilling subjects.

Offering: Flesh from the subject (represented by one point of lethal damage) taken during the scene when the ritual is performed. The sorcerer swallows the ash of the offering to activate the ritual.

Similar to the Theban curse Blandishment of Sin, this ritual promises further suffering to the enemies of the covenant. This ritual, or something like it, was used by St. Daniel to bless the weapons of the Theban Legion. The sorcerer focuses this ritual on a weapon by kissing its blade or other deadly surface.

The damage rating of the blessed weapon is increased by the sorcerer’s dots in Theban Sorcery. These bonus dice apply to a number of attacks equal to the successes scored on the ritual’s activation roll. These blessed attacks can be made at any time that same night, when the weapon’s wielder sees fit. Each em- powered attack must be invoked with a prayer of the attacker’s choosing, spoken by the attacker when the attack is made. Blessed attacks not used before the sun rises are wasted.

Guns and other projectile weapons cannot be imbued with the Legionnaire’s Blessing, though thrown weapons can be. A single weapon can be affected by only one Legionnaire’s Blessing at a time.

Offering: The weapon blessed is the offering. Unlike most offerings, however, the weapon is weakened rather than destroyed by the ritual. Once the weapon’s blessed attacks are gone, the weapon’s damage rating decreases by one. Subsequent uses of this ritual gradually destroy the weapon.

Another ritual seemingly adapted from the tombs of Egypt, Pharaoh’s Paces grants the sorcerer a supernatural manifestation of an ancient royal custom. When this ritual is activated, the sorcerer is imbued with the honorary privilege of the Pharaoh: no one may touch the sorcerer (by hand or with an object) or even set sight directly upon him for the remainder of the scene. The ritual’s name comes from the third effect: no one may approach within nine paces of the sorcerer. Those within nine paces immediately step away, unless doing so would cause them harm. Only those persons within direct sight of the sorcerer when the ritual is performed fall under its effects.

Characters wishing to violate this arcane custom (to look at or attack the sorcerer, for example) can force themselves to do so with a successful Resolve + Presence action and a cost in Willpower. This effort of the will is an extended action with additional rolls possible every turn, provided the resisting character spends a Willpower point each turn he attempts a new roll. Willpower points spent to overcome this ritual’s effects only make the extended action possible, and do not grant extra dice on any rolls. The target number of successes is equal to the successes scored in the ritual’s activation action. Resisting characters can do nothing else but move their Speed while mustering the courage necessary to break through this magic.

Example: Solomon, a Sanctified Bishop, invokes the Pharaoh’s Paces in the presence of Matthew, a lay neonate, and scores five successes in total on the ritual’s activation roll. Matthew immediately backs away from Solomon, casts his eyes to the ground and finds he cannot bring himself to look back at the Bishop. On his turn, Matthew spends a point of Willpower and attempts to overcome Solomon’s sorcery. “Stand up to him,” Matthew whispers to himself. “What are you so afraid of?” His Resolve + Presence action (with no additional dice from the Willpower point spent to allow the action) produces two successes. The Bishop walks over to a nearby computer and begins to type. On his next action, Matthew spends another Willpower point and earns another three successes, achieving the target number and overcoming the ritual. He grabs Solomon by the wrist and says, “Sorry, Bishop, but those files aren’t for you.”

Once an onlooker has broken the spell, he cannot be made subject to this ritual again for the remainder of the scene. Anyone the sorcerer touches or makes eye contact with is instantly freed from the power of the ritual.

The sorcerer can continue to activate this ritual on himself to affect new onlookers or to replace his activation roll with a second, and hopefully better, result. Successes scored on a subsequent activation roll replace those of the previous activation roll, but resisting characters do not lose the successes they have already achieved on rolls to resist the power.

Offering: An article of gold, jade, or sapphire jewelry.

The sorcerer infuses an object the sorcerer touches with an intense psychic vision of his own creation. Whoever next touches the object receives this vision as a rush of sounds and images in the mind. Anything the sorcerer can imagine can be instilled in the vision, but the vision can last only as many turns as there were successes on the activation roll. The vision is undeniably intense, and can be used to persuade, enlighten, frighten, or intimidate the viewer.

The sorcerer can devise a vision that simply imparts facts or instructions (by depicting a journey across a foreign land, for example, or conjuring a vision of a wise man) or it can be used to attempt a Social action on the viewer (using Skills such as Expression, Intimidation, or Persuasion). The exact dice pools of such efforts must depend on the style and purpose of each particular vision but are always based on the caster’s traits since the vision comes from the caster’s memory or imagination. Because the sorcerer’s own personality doesn’t have to be a feature of the vision, Mental or Social Attributes are equally viable for these dice pools. A vision intended to frighten someone away might allow a dice pool of Presence or Intelligence + Intimidation, for example. A vision devised to pacify or soothe the viewer might use a dice pool of Wits or Manipulation + Persuade. Typically, a vision’s dice pool is contested by the viewer’s Resolve + Composure, but the Storyteller gets final say on the dice pool to be used for both the sorcerer and the viewer. When a vision is created, make a note of the dice pool it uses; don’t roll the dice pool until the vision is experienced.

While the vision is being experienced, the viewer is unaware of her body or the outside world. Whether or not the viewer is affected by any Skills used by the sorcerer through the vision, the experience continues until it reaches its intended conclusion or until the viewer musters the will to resist the psychic presence of the vision. To resist a vision, the viewer must complete an extended Resolve + Composure action with a target number equal to the successes scored on the ritual’s activation roll. Each roll requires one turn.

Example: A ghoul treasure-hunter digging in Jerusalem happens upon an urn that had been infused with a Vision of the Will one thousand years before, and lapses into a trance while horrific visions of human slaughter splay through her mind. The sorcerer who created this vision is attempting to scare trespassers away from the tomb where he lays torpid — the vision has a dice pool made up of the sorcerer’s Wits + Intimidation. The ghoul opposes the vision with Resolve + Composure and succeeds: she is frightened, but not scared off. Still, the ghoul wishes to free herself from the hellish vision, so she makes the first roll of an extended Resolve + Composure action with a target number of six (the successes scored on the sorcerer’s activation roll a millennium ago). She produces just one success on her first roll and so stands entranced for a turn while the vile scene plays out in her head … unaware that zombies in the catacomb with her are drawing ever closer.

A vision has no expiration date, and may lay waiting for an audience for millennia. This ritual causes a vision to be experienced only once, by the next person to touch the object, but the sorcerer may choose to infuse the vessel with more instances of the vision by investing more Willpower points in the ritual. To do this, the sorcerer must spend one turn in contact with the object for each additional point of Willpower to be invested. Extra Willpower must be invested after the ritual has been activated but before the sorcerer breaks contact with the object. This investment of Willpower does not require an action on the part of the sorcerer — he needs only to keep touching the object. Remember that a character can spend only one Willpower point per turn.

Offering: The object to be infused with the vision, which can be no larger than a human skull. When the last of the visions bound to the object have been experienced, it crumbles to dust.

This ritual was discovered in the vault of Thebes on the first night after the angel Amoniel gave Theban Sorcery to the Sanctified, but was renamed following St. Daniel’s day of reckoning. This ritual simply allows the sorcerer to successfully awaken any time during the following day, without planning in advance what criterion might be necessary to rouse her. A minor degree of clairvoyance is involved in this magic, as the character may even be roused by stimuli seemingly too distant to hear or feel — in short, the sorcerer automatically awakens when her sleep is disturbed. She may even awaken based on information that would normally be unavailable to a sleeping vampire, such as the time of day, the delivery of a package or the falling of snow. The range of this vague clairvoyance is extremely limited; the sorcerer is not made aware of anything outside the boundaries of the building or immediate region where she sleeps, but the specific limits are up to the Storyteller’s assessment of the circumstance. As a guideline, assume the sorcerer senses anything she could if she were awake and walking circles around her sleeping body. For example, the sorcerer may sense a car door slamming outside her haven, but not a car just driving by. She may become aware of rain clattering on the roof, but not of an approaching storm. She may dream that she’s sitting by a campfire on the dirt above her slumbering corpse when she sees eyes shining at the edge of the firelight, but be unable to discern anything going on out in the darkness. The sleeping vampire doesn’t necessarily see or hear these stimuli, however, but knows they’re occurring.

Once the sorcerer is awake, she may remain awake all day without an extended action. Vitae must still be spent, as usual, to rise and to carry on into the night. A vampire under the effects of this ritual may also use the successes scored on the activation roll in place of her Humanity, if she chooses, to determine the maximum dice pool size for actions undertaken during the daytime. This use of the ritual lasts for a number of hours equal to the sorcerer’s dots in Theban Sorcery, beginning when she first awakens. When those hours pass, her dice pools are limited by Humanity again, as normal. (For the complete rules on daytime activity for vampires, see Vampire: The Requiem, p. 184.)

If nothing awakens the sleeping sorcerer, the Willpower point spent to activate this ritual is still paid and the ritual is wasted.

Offering: A white bird, alive or dead.

The sorcerer exaggerates the Beast into a physical manifestation of malevolence. The subject of this ritual can be any single vampire within direct earshot of the sorcerer — including himself. His teeth — all his teeth — grow long and sharp. His eyes flash with a savage fire. His fingers become serrated and bony. Kindred in the presence of the Display of the Beast must make an extended action to resist the frenzy of fear. The successes required to overcome the fear are equal to the successes scored on the ritual’s activation roll.

Mortals and ghouls who look upon the Display of the Beast go mad with fear. Terrified ghouls and kine must spend their turns retreating (moving at least their Speed away from the subject) until they cannot see the Display of the Beast any longer. Any non-reflexive actions taken in the meantime suffer a penalty equal to the sorcerer’s dots in Theban Sorcery. Mortals automatically lose a point of Willpower upon first seeing the Display of the Beast in a given scene. Mortals and ghouls alike must spend a Willpower point to muster the courage to attack the subject of this ritual (no bonus dice are granted by the expenditure).

The roll to activate this ritual is penalized by the subject’s Stamina. The Display of the Beast lasts for one scene, or until ended by the sorcerer, whichever comes first.

Offering: The skull of a dead mortal, whether naked or still clad in flesh.

With a stripe of blood and an occult prayer, the sorcerer can ward a haven against those who would trespass in the lair and do harm to sleeping vampires. One point of Vitae must be spent for each dot the haven to be protected has in Haven Size (mini-mum of one Vitae). This Vitae can be donated by any vampire, willing or unwilling; it does not have to be the sorcerer’s Blood. The Vitae is painted over doorways and windows, plainly visible to visitors and intruders. Any mortal or supernatural creature who enters the haven intending to harm any vampire sleeping within is subject to one point of lethal damage for each success scored on the activation roll. This damage is completely supernatural in origin — gashes spontaneously appear on the flesh, stomachs give up throatfuls of blood, bones suddenly snap — and cannot be dodged or stopped with armor.

A trespasser who knows how the ritual works can attempt to hide his intentions even within his own heart, fool the scrutiny of the ritual’s magic and avoid all damage with a successful Resolve + Subterfuge roll penalized by the sorcerer’s dots in Theban Sorcery. Note that visitors and intruders who do not intend harm as they enter are unaffected by the ritual, but are not prevented from (or wounded for) developing violent intentions once they’re inside.

Once the Mark of the Damned has been activated, the damage it deals to trespassers diminishes by one point per night, until the power has faded completely. Washing or scraping away the Vitae used to activate the ritual does not remove its power, but does diminish the damage and duration of the ritual by two. Any given haven can be subject to only one instance of this ritual at a time; fresh applications of this power replace previous applications.

Offering: Vitae, as described above.

As hunters attract prey, so do vampires attract the kine. This ritual lures mortals into the predator’s lair with a subtle psychic call. The sorcerer selects a secluded location where he wants his prey to come, such as a cloistered garden or forgotten side yard, and plants there a thorny bush or tree, which is the offering for this ritual. The tree calls out to mortal minds with memories of hope and sensations of faith and awe. This song reaches out through homes and down streets, stretching as many blocks as the sorcerer has dots in Theban Sorcery.

The Song of the Prey affects wandering minds, steering folks on idle walks and vagrants with nowhere to go toward the tree with an indefinable sensation. A subject simply approaches the tree as a troubled soul approaches an open church in the middle of the night. Once in the vicinity of the tree, a subject sits down and wonders, dreams or explores old memories. While she does, she is entranced and the vampire may feed. When dawn comes, the subject is surprised to find that she’s spent the whole night thinking, dreaming or perhaps praying, and hurries off without any knowledge that she’s been attacked.

In the abstract, Song of the Prey can be used to guarantee tidy, quiet hunting. Each success earned on the activation roll yields the sorcerer one Vitae. This interpretation of the ritual is suited for use during in-between times of a story, and can be assumed to be a night’s work — while the sorcerer is doing other things, prey is coming and waiting for him at the tree he planted.

When used in the thick of a story, this ritual attracts one or more unwitting mortals for the sorcerer to use as he sees fit. The total number of mortals drawn over the course of four hours is equal to half the number of successes scored on the activation roll. When dealing with specific, established characters this ritual can be resisted with a contested action, pitting the sorcerer’s Intelligence + Academics + Theban Sorcery against a mortal’s Resolve + Composure. Mortals who resist the Song of the Prey are not steered by the ritual and do not approach the tree, though they may nonetheless dream of it. A player’s character entranced by the tree automatically awakens if attacked or otherwise surprised, but not if subjected to the Kiss with finesse. Characters may attempt to resist the Kiss as usual, but are assumed not to be surprised by it.

In the 1950s, this ritual saw some use in English cities as Sanctified gathered up homeless kine for an unknown purpose. They were never seen again. In the American South this ritual is called The Smoldering Bush.

Offering: A living, thorn-bearing tree, bush or flower, which withers slowly as the ritual’s power fades.

With this ritual, a Sanctified sorcerer can assault his enemies with his will alone. A number of subjects equal to the caster’s Theban Sorcery dots, and who can be seen directly, may be chosen as victims. The sorcerer can choose to include fewer victims if he desires, and can include or exclude any eligible targets he chooses. The victim closest to the sorcerer suffers lethal damage equal to the successes scored on the ritual’s activation roll. The next closest victim suffers one less point of damage than the first, and so on, until every victim has been affected or no more damage remains to be suffered. The victims do not have to be arranged in a row or line, as the Spear of Faith has no trajectory. Defense and armor are no help to the victims, as the Spear of Faith never misses.

The sorcerer hardly needs to move to use this power, but most sorcerers enact this ritual with grand gestures and loud proclamations of faith. The wounds each target suffers erupt exactly as though the victim were pierced or slashed in an exposed area with a spear, from blood spatter to torn clothing.

The roll to activate this ritual is penalized by the highest Stamina of the selected victims.

Offering: A metal pendant or idol in the shape of a crucifix or spear (Size 1 or larger).

This is the legendary ritual used by St. Daniel to brave the sunlight and deliver merciless vengeance upon those who cut down the pious soldiers of the Theban Legion. No sorcerer since has been able to bring about the magnificent darkness of that holy day, but a few, powerful Sanctified have come close. This much-revered ritual draws forth thick clouds to blot out the sun and render the daylight a soulless, monotone gray. These conditions allow vampires to move about beneath the sun with minor pain and superficial burns rather than enflamed flesh and hair. The ritual reduces the intensity of the daystar’s rays to that of “faint, filtered sunlight” (see Vampire: The Requiem, p. 173), and reduces the damage to vampires within the area of power. Kindred beneath the unholy canopy of clouds suffer lethal damage every minute, rather than aggravated damage every turn. In the event of an exceptional success, the sky darkens to such a grim depth that vampires suffer just two points of bashing damage per minute.

Unlike most Theban Sorcery rituals, it takes time for the power of the Damned’s Day to amass even after the ritual has been completed. For each roll the sorcerer made to complete the ritual, the sky spends an hour thickening with smoke-like clouds. Note that rolls to complete the ritual are still made every turn — the clouds gather over one or more hours after the ritual has finally been completed. The clouds persist for 20 minutes per success scored on the ritual’s activation roll, then swiftly, strangely drift apart. Incidental rain may accompany the clouds of Damned’s Day, but such circumstances are not up to the sorcerer.

The clouds of Damned’s Day gather directly above the sorcerer, and reach out to cover a region one mile in diameter. Though this grants a great deal of freedom to many vampires, it also draws much attention to the sorcerer. Experienced Sanctified know that a Damned’s Day tempts Kindred to test the limits of the Masquerade — any sorcerer who enacts this legendary ritual sacrifices his subtlety and secrecy in the process.

Offering: The vampire’s own flesh is offered up, seared away, as he enacts the ritual outdoors in sight of the sun. A minimum of one point of aggravated damage must be suffered for each roll the character makes to complete the ritual, though on especially bright days even more damage may be suffered before the ritual can be completed. The sorcerer gains no special benefit to resist the Rotschreck during this time, but the rolls of the extended action to resist frenzy may be made reflexively by the sorcerer while activating this ritual.

Is this the terrible power wielded by St. Daniel against the Romans? Sanctified scholars cannot say for certain, though this ritual was known to sorcerers at the time of his Requiem. It was one of the original powers given to the Monachus by Amoniel.

With but a look and the sound of his voice, the sorcerer turns a victim’s sins into white-hot flame (though some witnesses describe the dark power as something more akin to electricity). The sorcerer proclaims the sinners who are to be punished (“Murderers!”) and any mortal, ghoul or vampire within direct sight of the sorcerer who has committed such a sin is tormented by the Fires of Vengeance. The flames cause one point of lethal damage for every success scored with a dice pool equal to 10 minus the victim’s Humanity or Morality, which can be resisted with a Resolve + Stamina roll (think of it as a reflexive, contested action between the victim and his own sins). If the victim’s successes equal or surpass the points of damage dealt by the Fires of Vengeance, the victim suffers no damage from the ritual in that turn. Otherwise, the victim suffers the full force of the power that turn. Each turn the Flames of Vengeance continue to burn, the victim must resist them anew.

The sorcerer may keep the Fires of Vengeance burning for one turn per success scored on the activation roll. If the sorcerer performs any action other than moving his Speed, the Fires of Vengeance go out. If the sorcerer loses sight of a victim, the effect ends for that victim. Only those sinners in sight at the moment when the ritual is completed are effected by it.

Example: Ezekiel, a Sanctified Bishop, has found the neonate coterie who stole an artifact from the covenant at a recent rite. They’ve hidden themselves in an abandoned hotel room on the outskirts of the city and there are only two ways into or out of their room: the front door, and a small window in the bathroom. Ezekiel arrives early in the evening, when the whelps are still tying their shoelaces, and has his loyal minions break down the door. Ezekiel steps into the moldy room and throws his hands apart, shouting “Thieves!” He can see all three of his enemies from where he stands. Each of them is soon sheathed in blue flames that spread from their thieving hands.

All three of Ezekiel’s victims have a Humanity rating of 5, so the Fires of Vengeance burn each of them with a dice pool of 5 (10 minus Humanity 5). The players agree to roll just one dice pool for the Fires and use that value for the lot of them, to keep things simple, and get three successes as a result. Each of them makes a reflexive Resolve + Stamina roll to contest the miraculous fires. Two of the victims roll fewer than three successes, so the poor bastards both suffer one point of lethal damage for each success scored by the Fires of Vengeance. The fortunate third victim gets three successes on his roll and suffers no damage whatsoever, though he still shrieks and panics over the fires licking up from his flesh.

While Ezekiel continues to glare and pray, one of the wounded victims bolts for the bathroom window even as his undead flesh blackens and cracks. Once he’s in the bathroom, he’s out of Ezekiel’s sight, so the Fires of Vengeance go out — but there isn’t enough room in the bathroom for anyone else. So, meanwhile, his two cohorts stand in sight of Ezekiel and continue to burn. One pleads for mercy, the other pulls his knife, then tosses it away when Ezekiel’s enforcers reveal their fire-axes.

Both of Ezekiel’s remaining victims must roll for and against the Fires of Vengeance again. This time, however, they both suffer four points of lethal damage! While their coterie-mate struggles to open the boarded-up window in the bathroom, these two collapse onto the rotted carpet and, writhing, beg forgiveness from Ezekiel.

The Fires of Vengeance are a spiritual force not be confused with earthly fire. They do not invoke a vampire’s fear of fire (though may otherwise provoke frenzy) and deal lethal damage to Kindred and kine alike.

Offering: The vampire’s Humanity. To perform this terrible ritual, the vampire gives his body up to the Beast and cannot deny the loss of his self in the process. The sorcerer’s Humanity automatically drops by one. A derangement roll may still be called for, but sorcerers who choose to use this ritual based on their own Virtues or Vices may be pardoned from the risk if the Storyteller approves — the monster who learns this power is unlikely to be further deranged by its use.

This ritual desecrates and destroys, spreads ruin and woe, and turns beauty to ash. By standing in the place he wishes to desecrate and making his offering, the sorcerer erodes and decays the environment around him, while simultaneously infusing it with an aura of sin.

A building desecrated with this ritual is ruined: Paint is blackened and blasted away, floorboards collapse, windows yellow and crack, ceilings split, and furniture rots away as though the building had been abandoned, abused, and exposed to the elements for two years per success scored on the ritual’s activation roll. The equipment in a desecrated room is most likely ruined, as well, negating any bonuses typically granted by the space or the things kept within (the equipment in a ruined doctor’s office is no longer a benefit to Medicine actions, for example).

The space also resonates with a Vice, as though the building were a character of its own. The sorcerer’s player may choose any Vice to distill into the subject space. As long as a creature (mundane or supernatural) occupies the space, it is treated as if it had two defining Vices: its own and the space’s. Thus a drug addict (whose Vice is Gluttony) who uses a space cursed with the Vice of Lust as a den of prostitution may regain a point of Willpower for her actions, even though she is not normally a lustful person. If she were driven to prostitution to pay for her drug addiction she could regain two Willpower, one for each Vice.

The Vice of the cursed site is insidious. It seeps into the minds and hearts of susceptible creatures who dwell too long within the place’s resonance of sin. How long constitutes “too long” is up to the Storyteller, but may be defined as a period equal to the character’s Morality or Humanity multiplied by ten minutes for first-time visitors. (Over time, the necessary exposure may expand into multiples of hours for frequent visitors.) For every such period a character inhabits the cursed space she must make a reflexive roll to resist undertaking actions that would earn her Willpower based on the place’s Vice. This roll is a contested action, pitting the visitor’s Resolve + Composure against a dice pool equal to the successes on the ritual’s activation roll. If the character succeeds, she feels an impulse (to drink, to fight, etc.) but isn’t carried away by it. If she fails, she attempts some sinful action appropriate to her own Morality or Humanity — perhaps, “feeling spontaneous,” she decides to trash the space or pick a fight.

The power of the place doesn’t instantly make her into a monster, but it does lower her normal boundaries so that, for example, a prideful argument might lead to violence or a night of drinking might lead to infidelity. As a guideline, assume that the character undertakes an action that she’ll regret and will probably, but not necessarily, provoke a degeneration roll (let individual circumstances guide such decisions). If the character cannot indulge in the place’s Vice when she falls victim to it, she goes where she can (to a bar, to her home, etc.) as soon as she is reasonably able (possibly skipping appointments or missing work). Think of it as the character taking some of the Vice with her when she leaves — she might not rush out in search of drugs, but the Vice hangs over her until she acts on it.

A character influenced by a cursed space retains the extra Vice until she has regained one Willpower point by acting in a manner consistent with that Vice. Once a character has won Willpower from the extra Vice, she is free of it unless she returns to a space affected by this ritual.

Example: A Sanctified sorcerer, intending to test the goodness of God’s beloved mortals, breaks into an abandoned church (which the Storyteller decides would have a Haven Size of 3 dots) and performs an Imprecation of Sin using a man-sized wooden cross he finds in a storage room and scores seven successes on the activation roll. As the offering crumbles to ash the building rots as though fourteen years of rainstorms, rats and ransacking had taken their toll. The sorcerer infuses the building with the Vice of Gluttony.

Over the next several months, neighborhood kids venture into the church on weekends to explore and wreak havoc. Before long, it is a popular site for drinking and drugs. Secretly, local Sanctified use it for brutal feeding frenzies in which human victims are utterly consumed by new converts (who feel stronger and more confident with the satisfaction of recovered Willpower).

Eventually, realtors come out to the church to see if it can be converted into luxury condos. They poke around the place for an hour or so, taking measurements and photographs. One realtor, failing his Resolve + Composure roll (against the building’s dice pool of 7), says “You know, we haven’t really gone partying for a while. What do you say we go out tonight and get fucked up?” By midnight, he’s convinced his colleagues to go with him out to an underground club and by three in the morning he’s passed out from drugs and beer and under the fangs of a hungry vampire.

The roll to activate this power is penalized by every dot the place would have in the Haven Size merit, were it a haven (see Vampire: The Requiem, p. 100). The effects of this ritual are permanent until the space is affected by some other, more potent magic or is otherwise spiritually cleansed. A complete renovation can hide the appearance of sin, but the place’s Vice may remain: Roll a dice pool equal to the successes earned on the ritual’s activation roll; if a success is produced, the Vice remains. Only the complete destruction of the afflicted building ends the power of this ritual.

Offering: A ceremonial cross, spear or other symbolic representation, offered up at the site to be ruined. The offering must have a Size at least equal to the dots the space would have if it were a haven.

The sorcerer dispatches an echo of damnation to the sleeping or torpid mind of a victim he can see directly (though, traditionally, Sanctified sorcerers whisper in the ear of their victim), whether mortal or vampire. This shred of Hell explodes in the victim’s mind, unfolding into what seems to be years of anguish and suffering. The exact nature of the terrible vision depends on the victim, for it is her own hell she samples. The victim gains a severe derangement and loses all of her Willpower points as a result of the time she spends in torment. The victim’s derangement may be overcome with time (and experience points) or, if it is the exacerbation of a preexisting derangement, the Storyteller may require the victim to reconcile her troubled mind through therapy or life changes. The lower the Humanity or Morality of the victim, the more her hell is her own doing, and the harder the derangement is to be rid of.

A torpid victim ignores the normal intervals of her sleep and lays unconscious until roused. A living victim sleeps through hunger and thirst to starvation. A victim cannot free herself from the nightmare unless her body suffers at least one point of lethal damage, at which point she comes back, screaming and terrified, to her ordinary, waking life; Kindred victims must immediately roll to resist a frenzy of fear (target successes: 10) upon waking. (At the Storyteller’s discretion, more powerful magic or psychic forces may be able to penetrate the Night of Hell and help the victim.)

The roll to activate this power is penalized by the victim’s Resolve. If the victim knows the sorcerer well, she may recognize his voice or face from her Night of Hell with a successful Wits + Resolve roll, penalized by the sorcerer’s Wits, made reflexively during the torment.

Offering: Blood or hair from the victim.

The sky or ceiling erupts in a downpour of deadly blood. This ritual enables a sorcerer to transform his own Vitae into a slicing, scalding rain of blood. The rain falls slowly at first, a drop at a time, as the sorcerer enacts the ritual. Once completed, however, it pours down as hard as the sorcerer likes (and imposing as much as a –5 penalty on actions that could be affected by ordinary rain). Though the Rain of Blood falls on everyone and everything within a roughly 40-yard diameter (or smaller, decided by the sorcerer), only those the sorcerer wishes to harm are hurt by the rain. The rain inflicts one point of lethal damage per turn for a number of turns equal to the successes scored on the ritual’s activation roll. No armor or Defense short of complete cover can stop this damage. Living victims who fail a reflexive Composure roll are also nauseated by the warm and gruesome storm, and suffer a –4 penalty on all non-reflexive actions so long as they are within, can see or can smell the Rain of Blood.

The Rain of Blood is real enough to the senses: it stains, it sticks, it soaks, it puddles and it remains even after the ritual’s effects are ended. It may even provoke Wassail. It cannot be consumed as Vitae, however, and does not yield conclusive scientific results if tested for DNA or blood type; it seems to be an indecipherable mixture of human blood.

The sorcerer must be somewhere within the area to be affected when the ritual is completed, but can thereafter leave. If the sorcerer wishes to, he can end the Rain of Blood at any time with just a thought.

Offering: A single Vitae, which is turned into the Rain of Blood itself, drawn from the sorcerer’s own body by blade or bite.