The Path of Nature's Touch * The Voice of the Mother This level of the Path allows the Magus to receive impressions from plants, insects and low forms of life (worms, spiders, etc). Although these creatures are not sentient, by interpreting the impressions from a number of plants and creatures in an area, a Magus can gain an idea of what took place recently, or, in a densely populated place like a forest, what is happening elsewhere in the forest. Note that plants such as trees do not notice a great deal of what does not intimately concern them (fire, trees being cut down, etc). Use of this Level of the Path does not require a Blood Point. Drastic events taking place in densely crowded areas of vegetation such as forests can be communicated throughout the length and breadth of the region, from plant to plant. System: The Magus rolls Wits + Linguistics against a Difficulty of 7 to see if s/he can properly interpret the impressions that the surrounding plants and lower life forms are giving off. The more successes, the more that can be understood, ranging from brief flashes of disconnected concepts to a fairly clear impression of what has recently happened or is happening within the domain of these life forms. 2. The Mother's Influence This Level of Mastery of the Path gives the Magus limited control over plants and lower life forms. By channeling his or her own potent life force through the expenditure of Blood Points, the Magus can cause vines to snake around opponents' limbs or direct swarms of insects at targets or areas. The life forms to be controlled must be in the immediate vicinity of the Magus (15 - Generation x 10'). The control lasts for approximately ten minutes, after which another Blood Point must be spent. Note that vines are not very strong unless in large numbers (figure 1 Strength dot per every 2 vines wrapped around an opponent); so unless one is near an ivy-covered wall, a Kindred or strong Kine could easily rip them apart. In addition, swarms of stinging insects may be horrifying and potentially lethal to Kine, but are a mere annoyance to Kindred. However, this ability comes in very handy in a variety of situations System: The Magus makes a Willpower Roll versus a Difficulty of 6 and expends a Blood Point to use the Path Level. Then s/he makes a Manipulation + Survival Roll versus a Difficulty of 7. The more successes gained on the roll, the more control the Thaumaturgist gains over the plants or creatures s/he is attempting to influence (they must be within line of sight), ranging from being able to make a vine slowly creep towards a target at an inch a minute, or one or two insects to obey a limited directive, to having a great number of vines leap from a wall and entangle a target, or a large swarm of insects, as from a nearby wasp nest, will rush to obey. 3. Call to Arms At this Level of Mastery, the Magus gains two abilities. S/he can summon lower life forms from a distance to serve his or her will, and has gained enough control over plant life to enable him or her to bond them into new forms. Thus, a Magus can draw on the plant life around himself and create a Wall of Thorns, or a new form of plant. There must be enough living organic material around the Magus to create the form; if done properly, the form will be able to exist, and will not die out over time. Extreme caution should be used while exercising this ability, as a new form of plant life may be too aggressive for the local environment to handle, and it may soon supplant other plants. It is highly recommended that new plant life created be created (a) sterile, and (b) without the ability to grow unchecked. Beyond these restrictions, the Magus can experiment freely. System: There are two systems, one for summoning lower life forms and another for manipulating and bonding plants. Each requires a Willpower Roll against a Difficulty of 6 and the expenditure of two blood points. System To summon lower forms of life: roll Charisma + Survival Roll against a Base Difficulty of 6, (or lower/higher, depending on the area and scarcity of creatures. (it's easier to summon large quantities of insects in a jungle than it is in the scorched heat of a desert). The number of successes rolled determines the number of beings that will show up, as well as from how far they will come to answer the Magus's call. It may also, at the Storyteller's discretion, represent the amount of control the Magus has over the summoning (i.e., they wish to summon only wasps, not all flying insects). The summoning will be "heard" approximately 500 yards distant per success. All lower forms of life that are summoned will respond to the call. To bond plants, the Magus rolls Manipulation + Survival. The number of successes indicates how well the bonding has occurred (three successes indicates a fully stable construct), as well as how large the form may be. This power will never make a plant intelligent, nor can it force a plant to perform instinctive actions that it would not have before the bonding (i.e., trying to turn a Rose into a Venus Fly Trap). 4. Becoming One with Nature This level of mastery of the Path is somewhat similar with the Protean Discipline's Earth Meld, in that s/he who has achieved it may sink into the Earth. However, the Magus may also enter into other organic plant forms that are large enough to hold them (a large tree). This form must be solid, and cannot have spaces (such as bushes). This melding takes approximately a minute, as does exiting the melded form. System: The Magus expends two blood points of energy and makes a Stamina + Survival Roll against a Difficulty of 7. If s/he is successful, s/he begins to meld with the Earth or plant form. The downside of this is that any damage taken by the plant form will also be taken by the Thaumaturgist; it's easy to perish in a forest fire. 5. The Stream of Life This power allows the Thaumaturgist to draw upon the life force of a plant or lower life form to replenish his or her own life force and heal themselves. This level may effectively be used to help the Master of this Path replenish his or her Blood Pool. System: The Magus expends two blood points of energy and makes a Stamina + Survival Roll against a Difficulty of 7. If s/he is successful, s/he begins to meld with the Earth or plant form. The downside of this is that any damage taken by the plant form while s/he is within will also be taken by the Thaumaturgist. It's easy to perish in a forest fire. Note that this ability touches very closely upon the true nature of Kindred; they exist as parasites, by consuming the life-force of others. There is no need to consume it via the coarse medium of Blood; it can be taken directly from living creatures through the use of Blood Thaumaturgy Level 4, or from living plants. Note that any lower life form, not just plants, can be used, including insects and bacteria. Though there is not much life essence in bacteria, draining it away effectively stops growth, killing the bacteria. Extensive use of this utmost level wreaks changes in the Kindred. The skin, normally a pale white or sallow color, becomes light brown over the course of a century or so. After this century-long change, the Magus feels a strong attachment to the forest, and will rarely, if ever, leave it. Forest and Nature spirits will come at the Magus's call as though commanded by the Path of Spirit Thaumaturgy, and animals will have no fear of the Magus whatsoever. Indeed, they will act to protect him or her if s/he is threatened. The Thaumaturgist can draw from the life force of all forms of plants, from flowers to extensive, mile-long branching root networks and towering redwood trees. The Magus deals one point of damage to the target plant for every point of energy taken; no big deal for giant trees such as redwoods, but smaller plants will become sickly and even die if more than half of their life force is removed. General Guide: 1 Blood Point........ 20 fresh flowers 2 Blood Points....... Large hedge or Bed of Ivy 4 Blood Points....... Small tree 6 Blood Points....... Mid-sized tree 8 Blood Points....... Large tree 10 Blood Points....... 100 sq. ft. of Jungle 20 Blood Points....... Giant sequoia (redwood) System: The Magus rolls (Stamina + Survival), and will gain one blood point per success, at the cost of one health level of damage to the form that s/he is draining