Level One Rituals

Flickerlight

This Ritual forces all electrical and electronic equipment to shut down within a 50 meters radius of the user - with a small "safety zone" around the Thaumatugist to ensure that his carried equipment (beeper, cellular phone, headset, watch, etc.) does not shut down. The affected equipment does not function for the next 20 minutes (unless the Thaumatugist dismisses the Ritual), and because the equipment is turned off, backup or emergency power will not kick in. To any outsiders it will seem as if some malfunction within the equipment has caused it to shut down - perhaps the French have begun to test their nuclear arms in space?

For the Ritual, the Thaumatugist needs a copper-wire which must be rubbed in the juice from crowberries while a mantra in Latin is repeated over and over for 20 minutes. When he wishes the Ritual to take effect, he must tie a knot on the wire and say in Latin "Let all things cease to work."

Known Tremere Users: Gabriel Alexander Crowley, who is also the creator of this Ritual.

This Ritual enables the Houngan to communicate on a very basic level with the spirits of the dead, as well as those low-level spirits of the Loa world. He can only ask very simple questions to the spirits and they cannot, of course, answer questions to which they did not know the answers when they were alive - of course they might lie...
Those spirits which are contacted can either be ones known to the character by name or the spirits of corpses which are found - for example if a character wanders into an area of a recent shoot-out, finds lots of bodies and destruction and wishes to know what happened in detail.
In case of an unknown spirit to be summoned, the character must be in possession of the body's head (lowers the difficulty by 1 in the case of a known spirit) or the entire body (lowers the difficulty by 2 in the case of a known spirit and by 1 in the case of an unknown spirit).
Any attempt spirits which have been outside their body for more than 7 days (i.e. dead for 7⁺ days) will have their difficulty raised by +2 in the case of a known spirit, and by +3 in the case of an unknown spirit.
Attempts to summon spirits which has been gone for one or several centuries, will have their difficulty raised by an additional +1 for every century.

In order to use this Ritual, the Houngan must draw a circle at the site of contact - a circle which has a diameter of at least 1 meter - and inscribe the symbols for Water, Fire, Earth, Air and Ether at their correct positions around the circle and in the center of the circle the Veve of Guede must be drawn; If part of the body is available it must be placed in the center and the Veve of Guede drawn on top of it; If the body is buried beneath the circle, a hole must be dug through the Veve of Guede and blood poured into the hole to give the spirits the power to manifest and the ability to talk. If the remains are present above the ground, the blood must simply be sprayed over the remains. In the case of an unknown spirits, the first procedure described must be used.
Then the Houngan must position himself outside the circle and chant "The Song of Returning Spirits" which will take 2 hours to complete. The completion of the Ritual demands the expenditure of 5 points worth of Vitae. The Vitae must be from a human, but never from the Houngan - if so the spirit will possess the Houngan! And imagine what a vengeful spirit might do when it finds itself inside the body of its tormentor....
Roll Perception + Occult (Basic difficulty 5) - the number of successes indicates the number of minutes the spirit will stay. If the Houngan wishes for the spirit to stay for an extended period of time, he must expend an additional 5 points of Vitae, and the spirit will then be forced to stay and answer questions for another [equal to the number of successes the Houngan rolled originally] turns.
The spirits must answer any question put to them by the Houngan, although the StoryTeller must judge what they know and how correct it is.

Building the Voice
Courtesy of: Oliver Cromwell ([email protected])
Modified By: Darrell Benvenuto ([email protected])

Level: 1
Time Required: 15-Sec Incantation + 15-Min Preparation
Duration: One Shout
Components: Tongue of a crow, belladonna and weak sulfuric acid.

This ritual allows the thaumaturgist to increase the volume of his or her voice. This increase can range from a shout to a bullhorn all the way to a deafening blast that can cause hearing loss and even physical damage. The caster must chant a fifteen second incantation and chew up the tongue of a crow. The tongue must have been previously enchanted during a fifteen-minute-long ritual in which the tongue is bathed in a mixture of belladonna and weak sulfuric acid. The effect lasts for one shout. The caster does not eat the tongue; the chewed-up slivers are sprayed out with the shout.

System: The caster rolls his or her appropriate skill (Acting, Oratory, Public Speaking, etc. + Stamina and consults the following table of Successes. A Botch indicates that the caster has lost the use of his or her voice for a length of time.

Courtesy of: Darrell Benvenuto ([email protected])

Level: 1
Time Required: 15-Sec. Casting
Duration: See below
Components: Viewing medium (see below)

With this ritual and either a crystal ball or a wide, flat body of water (a puddle or a bowl would work fine, though unnatural surfaces such as mirrors cannot), a Magus can view distant events, places or people. Other thaumaturgists of rank II or higher, or mortal Psychics or Mages may detect this scrying (Contest of Perception+Occult to detect versus caster's Wits+Stealth to spy softly). Active Countermagick of any type prevents scrying, as does the presence of persons possessing True Faith. No sound can be heard, although lips can be read. Auras cannot be seen. The interior of relatively small enclosed objects (boxes, safes, people) cannot be viewed. Concentration is required; loud noises or interruptions will either require a willpower roll with an appropriate number of dice lost from the pool, or will simply break the caster's concentration.

System: The casting Magus must enter into a light trance and concentrate on the water, while murmuring a fifteen-second incantation and passing her hands over it a series of circles. After a successful willpower check, the Magus can either send her sight to a place she can clearly visualize or she can move it from her current point of reference, flitting it about as though from a flying perspective, sending it down pipes, through open windows, doors, etc. In either instance, the Magus must make a willpower check (or spend a willpower point) every half-hour beyond the first to maintain her concentration. Failure means that she has lost focus and must rest for an hour or so before continuing. She can force herself to continue without resting, but she must make an initial willpower check with -2 dice to her roll and every roll thereafter. A botch on either the normal roll or the forcing roll indicates that the Magus has developed a splitting headache (caused by a disruption of the energies of the mind, not of the body, thus Kindred are affected) and cannot continue that evening. In fact, the Magus will be at -2 dice to all actions for the rest of that night, or at least for several hours. In any event, the caster cannot scry for longer than one hour for every dot of stamina she has without taking an hour to rest. No blood points are required, and the Magus need only maintain her concentration to scry. The Magus, at her will, can spend a Blood Point to cast a slightly blurred version of the Vision of what she is seeing upon a reflective surface, such as another basin of water, or a mirror. This other surface will continue to display the visions for an entire Scene unless the Magus ceases concentrating.

Courtesy of: DataWolf ([email protected])
Modified By: Darrell Benvenuto ([email protected])

Level: 1
Time Required: 15-Min + Preparation time
Duration: Permenent util activated
Components: poke berries, blood, virgin paper

This ritual can be, and often is, used between Chantries for the delivery of messages that are not important enough for the use of direct mental contact, yet require security. It has a number of other uses as well. Cipher of Vitae is somewhat similar to the old practice of writing messages on paper with milk or lemon juice. In that instance, when the paper is heated over a flame, the writing would become visible. For this ritual, the juice of poke berries mixed with a point of either the caster's or another's vitae.

System: The message is first written on virgin paper. When complete, a series of incantations are begun that end with the writing fading from sight. Another message can be written in a more mundane fashion on the other side of the paper to help disguise the nature of the page, or simply left blank. The message is completely undetectable by physical means until the paper is touched by the person whose blood was used in the ink, at which time is becomes visible again. Anyone using Auspex level II and getting 4 or more successes will see a dim magical aura about the message, though it cannot be read.

Courtesy of: Darrell Benvenuto ([email protected])

Level: 1
Time Required: 5-Min.
Duration: One night or until the wood is removed
Components: a short length of wood

This ritual acts in a simple manner, yet can be very helpful and effective in certain circumstances. With it, a Magus can create nerve blocks at certain locations in his body, blocking or minimizing sensory input from digits, limbs or even the entire body. This is extremely valuable in a situation where one has been injured, or needs to deliberately injure himself (such as in the Casting of the ritual of Rutor's Hands). Indeed, a Kindred that has suffered heavy, painful, crippling wounds may still manage to function and flee to safety through the virtue of this ritual keeping back the red flood of pain.

System: This ritual takes approximately five minutes to cast, and requires a short length of wood for each limb or section of the body to be affected (a strong toothpick will do in a tight spot). The short sliver(s) of wood is held in the Magus's mouth in a special fashion, pressed against the roof by the tongue. The Magus must hum softly, while concentrating (Willpower roll, difficulty 4 + 1 for every level currently wounded). Once the sliver has been prepared, it will change color, to a glistening light green. The converted sliver must then (within five minutes) be thrust deeply into flesh at the joining interface (to numb a hand: at the wrist, a forearm: the elbow, an arm: the shoulder, the legs: the hips, the body: the neck). The effect will last for either one day or until the sliver is removed, at which time sensation will slowly and agonizingly begin to return. The limb will not be fully restored to sensation for at least half an hour. Note that a numbed limb is fairly useless unless the Magus has extensive experience in manipulating his or her limbs without virtue of sensation (very rare... i.e., past victims of leprosy that either survived or were embraced might have this skill). Thus, a Magus who was injured to Crippled as a result of an explosion that tore shrapnel through his legs would still only be able to crawl -- but would not suffer from the effects of the mind-numbing agony associated with the horrible wounds, and, once calmed, would not suffer the additional risk of frenzy. However, since the Magus determines the level of the nerve block, he can set it so that some minor sensation is still received -- as though the limb had fallen asleep, were they still mortal. It would respond poorly, but might still be able to be used in an emergency.

Courtesy of: Deird'Re Brooks ([email protected])

Level: 1
Time Required: 5-Min.
Duration: Permanent
Components: None

This five-minute-long ritual leaves a mystical mark or symbol upon the target individual, in a place determined by the caster, that any Kindred can see. If the recipient of the mark is attacked or harmed in any way, the caster knows something happened and where the recipient is. This ritual was originally created by a non-Tremere thaumaturgist to keep track of her Brood.

Courtesy of: John Simeonidis ([email protected])
Modified By: Darrell Benvenuto ([email protected])

Level: 1
Time Required: 20-Min.
Duration:
Components:

This ritual requires sesame seeds that are enchanted in a twenty minute ritual, where they are steeped in a solution of olive oil and salt as the caster incants, then allowed to dry. When sprinkled into the keyhole of a metal lock (the lock must be a padlock, or separable from the object it is locking in some fashion, and must be metal) accompanied by a brief incantation, the lock may open. In this instance, a small lock is one weighing up to a half-pound, a mid-sized lock weighs up to five pounds and a large lock weighs up to twenty pounds. Locking devices larger than twenty pounds cannot be affected by this ritual.

System:The caster rolls his or her levels of Thaumaturgy + Perception and consults the following table of Successes. A Botch indicates that the lock has been jammed inside, and all future attempts to open it will be at -2 dice to the roll.

Courtesy of: Thomas Jensen ([email protected])
Modified By: Darrell Benvenuto ([email protected])

Level: 1
Time Required: 15-Min.
Duration: Variable
Components: 1 blood point from caster

This ritual allows the caster to peek into the Near Umbra in his immediate location (this range can be extended if used in conjunction with the Ritual of Casting the Sight). He will be able to see spirits and other beings either native to or traveling through the Near Umbra surrounding his area.
While doing this, the caster enters into a trance-like state, completely unaware of events taking place around his physical body. If he has not taken protective measures, he will be unable to defend against either physical menaces or creatures from the Near Umbra (i.e., Garou) detecting the caster's presence and emerging to see what is causing it.

System: The caster must prepare for this ritual by incanting the names of the Archangels in Latin while painting a Thaumaturgic Triangle surrounded by a Circle upon the floor with freshly drawn Kindred Vitae (this process requires one blood point's worth), from which point he or she cannot step without breaking the Circle and requiring it to be redrawn. Once the Circle has been laid, the caster will close his eyes and focus his will. He must roll Perception + Spirit Lore against a difficulty determined by the level of the Gauntlet in the area. The more successes, the better the caster will be able to perceive the Umbra. Supernaturals (Kindred, Garou, Wraiths, Changelings, and Mages) in the Umbra near the caster when the ritual is in effect have a chance (Perception + Alertness against a fixed difficulty of 8) to realize something odd just happened in their vicinty (a feeling somewhat akin to one's neck hairs prickling); exactly what has causes this, they probably will not know, as the caster presents no visible aura or shape as he views. It is not likely they will investigate by dropping to the normal world, but the possibility remains that they may choose to do so, just to be sure.

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