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Thaumaturgical Paths
Path of Corruption
These powers must be used on a victim within arm’s length. Followers of Set may learn this path without knowing Thaumaturgy.
Level 1--Contradict
Roll: Manipulation + Subterfuge, difficulty Willpower + 1 The vampire may cause a victim to do the opposite of what she was originally going to do.
Level 2--Disfiguration
Roll: Intelligence + Disguise, difficulty 8
The vampire may alter the facial appearance of a target. This may be used to make someone look better, worse, or just different. The difficulty to use this power for impersonation is 10.
Level 3--Change Mind
Roll: Manipulation + Empathy, difficulty Willpower + 1
The vampire may choose a Demeanor, and force a victim to adopt it, for the following time
periods:
1 suc. one turn.
2 suc. one day.
3 suc. one month.
4 suc. one year.
5 suc. permanently.
Level 4--Cripple
Roll: Willpower, difficulty Courage + Fortitude + 3
The vampire can make a victim effectively paraplegic, for the following time periods:
1 suc. one turn.
2 suc. one day.
3 suc. one month.
4 suc. one year.
5 suc. permanently.
Level 5--Corrupt Soul
Roll: Charisma + Empathy, difficulty Willpower + 3
The vampire may choose a Nature, and force a victim to adopt it, for the following time periods:
1 suc. one turn.
2 suc. one day.
3 suc. one month.
4 suc. one year.
5 suc. permanently.
Movement of the Mind
Roll: Willpower, difficulty [level of power used] + 3
By spending a blood point, the vampire may telekinetically lift or manipulate things as if she were holding them in her own hands. At level three, the vampire is assumed to be able to telekinetically move herself, even if she exceeds 200 pounds. The level of the effect (the weight of the object being moved) is limited to the number of successes on the Willpower roll.
Level 1--one pound
Level 2--twenty pounds
Level 3--two hundred pounds
Level 4--one quarter-ton
Level 5--one half-ton
Neptune’s Might
Level 1--Eyes of the Sea
Roll: Perception + Occult, difficulty 7
By looking into a standing body of water, the vampire may see past occurances in that body of
water. The amount of time by which the vampire can see into the past is as follows:
1 suc. one day.
2 suc. one week.
3 suc. one month.
4 suc. one year.
5 suc. ten years.
Level 2--Jail of Water
Roll: Dexterity + Survival, difficulty 6
Resist: Strength, difficulty 8
The vampire may command water to rise, and trap a target. The vampire may dissolve the jail at will, but a target may only be in one of these jails at a time. This power must be used near a large amount of water.
Level 3--Dehydrate
Roll: Willpower, difficulty 8
Resist: Stamina + Survival + Fortitude difficulty 9
The vampire may pull water out of a target, leaving exit wounds. Humans so injured lose one health level per success, and vampires so injured lose one blood point per success. To take an action the next turn, the target must roll Courage, difficulty 6, and score three more successes than the vampire scored. Failure means that she is in too much pain to act.
Level 4--Flowing Wall
Roll: Willpower, difficulty 6
By spending three willpower points, and touching a standing body of water, the vampire may make a wall of water. Supernatural creatures must score three successes on a roll of Strength + Courage, difficulty 9, to cross this barrier. The vampire may dissolve the barrier at will.
Level 5--Blood to Water
Roll: Willpower, difficulty Humanity + 3, to 10
By touching a victim, the vampire may convert one of the victim’s blood points to water for each success. This is fatal to mortals, and vampires lose one die from all pools for each blood point lost this way. When the vampire sleeps, the water disappears, but the blood does not return.
Lure of Flames
Roll: Willpower, difficulty [level of power used] + 3
By spending a blood point, the vampire may create a flame, anywhere within line of sight, that will not burn anything until released. She must also roll Perception + Alertness to place it anywhere other than her own body. The level of the effect (the size of the flame) is limited to the number of successes on the Willpower roll.
Level 1--candle flame
Level 2--hand of flame
Level 3--torch flame
Level 4--large bonfire
Level 5--large forest fire
Blood Thaumaturgy
Level 1--A Taste for Blood
Roll: Perception + Occult, difficulty 7
By touching the blood of a vampire, the vampire may make an approximation as to the last
feeding time, the amount of blood left in a vampire, her rough generation, etc.
Level 2--Blood Rage
Roll: Dexterity + Subterfuge, difficulty Willpower
The vampire may force a vampiric victim to spend one blood point per success, and may decide how the blood is spent.
Level 3--Blood of Potency
Roll: Manipulation + Survival, difficulty 8
The vampire may temporarily reduce her generation. Each success either reduces the vampire’s generation by one, or adds one hour to the time period for which it is reduced.
Level 4--Theft of Vitae
Roll: Intelligence + Medicine, difficulty Willpower
The vampire may steal blood from a victim, at a rate of one point per success. The difficulty to use this power is 6 against a non-living source (i.e. a plasma bag).
Level 5--Cauldron of Blood
Roll: Willpower, difficulty [blood points to be burned] + 4
The vampire may boil some of the blood of another vampire or mortal, which will burn all at once. This causes one aggravated wound per blood point boiled, in addition to blood loss.
Spirit Thaumaturgy
Level 1--Evil Eye
Roll: Manipulation + Intimidation, difficulty Humanity
The vampire may inflict one botched die per success on the victim any time during that scene.
These botches can be accumulated, and added to any roll, in any number, but any unused by the end of the scene are lost.
Level 2--Spirit Sight
Roll: Perception + Occult, difficulty Willpower
The vampire may see spirits in whatever form they have taken, and may even communicate with them.
Level 3--Spirit Slave
Roll: Willpower, difficulty 6
Resist: Willpower, difficulty 6
The vampire may demand a service of a spirit in her presence, and if the spirit is capable of this task, it must perform it. The spirit is free to leave afterward.
Level 4--Fetishes
Roll: Willpower, difficulty Willpower
Resist: Willpower, difficulty Willpower
The vampire can force a spirit to inhabit an object, where it will become a permanent slave. She automatically loses one Humanity for doing this, if the spirit was not willing.
Level 5--Journey
By spending a willpower point, the vampire may leave her body, and roam the physical world as a spirit. In this form, she may be attacked as a spirit, but not physically, and may use mental disciplines. She is generally visible, and appears naked, unless she uses Obfuscate.
Weather Control
Roll: Willpower, difficulty [level of power used] + 3
By spending a blood point, the vampire may create weather anomalies. She must also roll
Manipulation + Survival, difficulty dependent on the typical likelihood of the weather pattern being perpetrated. (Lightning on a sunny day in Kenya is difficulty 9; fog in London is difficulty 3.)
In the event of lightning, treat the strike as a firearm, doing ten dice of damage. The level of the effect (the magnitude of the weather anomaly) is limited to the number of successes on the Willpower roll.
Level 1--fog
Level 2--rain
Level 3--storm
Level 4--wind
Level 5--lightning
Gift of Morpheus
Level 1--Cause Sleep
Roll: Manipulation + Empathy, difficulty Willpower + 3
The vampire may put a victim to sleep. If the target is a vampire, a willpower point must also be spent.
1 suc. the victim loses one die from all pools next turn.
2 suc. the victim loses one die from all pools next turn.
3 suc. the victim goes to sleep.
Level 2--Mass Slumber
Roll: Charisma + Leadership, difficulty 8
The vampire may affect several victims with the power Cause Sleep. Interpret successes as per Cause Sleep.
Level 3--Enchanted Slumber
Roll: Intelligence + Subterfuge, difficulty Willpower
The vampire may put a victim to sleep, and name an event that must occur that will enable the victim to awaken. If the target is a vampire, a willpower point must also be spent. If the event does not occur, the victim will stay asleep for up to the following time periods:
1 suc. one turn.
2 suc. one night.
3 suc. one week.
4 suc. one month.
5 suc. one year.
Level 4--Dreamscape
Roll: Wits + Dreaming, difficulty Willpower
The vampire may project her own image into a dream, but has no control over the dream other than by her own actions within it. The vampire must have a belonging of the victim to use this power.
Level 5--Master of Dreams
Roll: Manipulation + Dreaming, difficulty 7
Resist: Manipulation + Dreaming, difficulty 7
The vampire may start changing the target’s dreams, once she has entered them by using
Dreamscape. If the target is a vampire, a willpower point must also be spent. Once this power has been used, the target may also change her dreams with resistance rolls, and both characters may act in the dream as if they were awake. If either character dies in this dream, the character also dies for real.
Thaumaturgical Forensics
Level 1--Thaumaturgical Forensics
Roll: Intelligence + Medicine, difficulty 5
The vampire can learn things about a target from a piece of hair, skin, blood, or other tissue.
Things that can be learned by this power include age, sex, race, clan, generation, tribe, Garou gifts, vampiric diablerie, infernal diablerie, disciplines, Vicissitude infection, etc.
Level 2--Animal Experimentation
Roll: Intelligence + Medicine, difficulty 8
The vampire may alter an animal. Each success represents one attribute dot, two abilities dots, one instinct, one behavior pattern, one aspect of the creature’s niche in the ecology (such as diet or habitat), or one feature that can be added, removed, or modified. The Storyteller must approve all such changes.
Level 3--Thaumaturgical Surgery
Roll: Wits + Medicine, difficulty 7
The vampire may heal two levels of normal damage, or one level of aggravated damage, done to a target, per success. This power may not be used twice on the same injury. The surgery takes an hour; the recovery time is one week.
Level 4--Human Experimentation
As Animal Experimentation, but may be used to alter mundane humans.
Level 5--Supernatural Experimentation
As Animal Experimentation, but may be used to alter vampires, mages, mummies, werecreatures, spirits, faeries, etc.
Elemental Mastery
Level 1--Elemental Strength
The vampire may spend two willpower points to increase all of her physical attributes by one.
This power costs one willpower point per turn.
Level 2--Wooden Tongues
Roll: Wits + Linguistics, difficulty 7
The vampire may communicate with, and get the impressions of, inanimate objects.
Level 3--Animate the Unmoving
Roll: Willpower, difficulty 7
The vampire may animate and control otherwise inanimate objects. This power costs one
willpower point per turn, and will not make an object perform tasks of which it would be
incapable even if it could move.
Level 4--Elemental Form
Roll: Stamina + Repair, difficulty 6
The vampire may turn into an inanimate object of size roughly equal to her own. At least three successes are required to be able to use disciplines in this form.
Level 5--Summon Elemental
Roll: Manipulation + Science, difficulty 8
The vampire may summon an Elemental. With a roll of Charisma + Intimidation, it may even follow her instructions...
Path of Conjuring
The vampire may not summon an object larger or heavier than herself with any power on this path.
Level 1--Summoning the Simple Form
Roll: Intelligence + [ability], difficulty 6
By spending a willpower point, the vampire may create a simple, featureless object with no
moving parts. She must spend a willpower point each turn to prevent it from disappearing.
Level 2--Permanency
Roll: Intelligence + [ability], difficulty 6
By spending a willpower point and three blood points, the vampire may permanently summon a simple, featureless object with no moving parts.
Level 3--Magic of the Smith
Roll: Intelligence + [ability], difficulty 7
By spending a willpower point and five blood points, the vampire may summon a complex object with moving parts. The quality and functionality of the object depends on the degree of success on the above roll.
Level 4--Reverse Conjuration
Roll: Willpower, difficulty Willpower
By spending twice as many willpower points as the target did, the vampire may dissolve the conjuration of a target. The above roll is used as a roll to resist the Conjuration roll
Level 5--Power over Life
Roll: Intelligence + Empathy / Animal Ken, difficulty 8
By spending ten blood points, the vampire may summon a creature that will intelligently follow her instructions. However, this creature will slowly become more insubstantial, and in a month will have faded away.
New Thaumaturgical Path
Thaumaturgy is not exclusive to the Tremere. There were vampires practicing similar ancient arts long before the birth of the clan founder himself. The system of rigid, inflexible Thaumaturgical magic is the creation of super' natural forces, possibly even Lilith or Caine.
The Black Hand may very well have created a number of different Thaumaturgical paths. The magickal knowledge of the Verbena and the Euthanatos, combined with previous knowledge of thaumaturgy, led to many great advancements in the arts. In fact, Blood Magic is believed to be the creation of the Verbena. This may be why an ancient Kindred such as Baba Yaga knew Blood Magic long before the birth of Tremere. She may have once had ties to either the Verbena or even the Black Hand.
The following Thaumaturgic paths are practiced by members of the sect. The origins of the paths remain mysterious and few outside the Black Hand practice them.
Biothaumaturgic Experimentation
This is almost a "dark science" unto itself. Practitioners of this path need a laboratory and all sorts of strange equip' ment to carry out their experiments. The average cost of experimentation is $1,000 per week times the rating of the Thaumaturgical power. It costs no Blood Points to use the powers of this path, but it does require one full week of work for each roll made.
Level 1--Thaumaturgical Forensics
The vampire can study the blood, hair or remains of subjects to determine various information about them, such as type of creature, whether they were natural or supernal u ral, age, sex, race, clan, tribe, generation, whether or not they were diabolists, signs of Vicissitude infection, Garou Gifts and vampiric Disciplines.
System: Roll Intelligence + Medicine (difficulty 5 ). For each success, the character gains one piece of information, such as a Discipline or Gift the deceased possessed.
Level Two - Animal Experimentation
The vampire can Thaumaturgically alter lesser life forms. The vampire can change the size, Attributes, Abilities, instincts, nature, ecology, and internal makeup and appearance of animals and other creatures less complex than humans.
System: Roll Intelligence + Medicine (difficulty 8). For each success, one Attribute dot, two Ability dots, one instinct, one behavior pattern, one aspect of the creature's ecology (such as diet or climate) or some physical feature (such as a leg, tentacle, set of feelers, etc.) may be added, subtracted or altered. The Storyteller must
approve all modifications.
Level 3--Thaumaturical Surgery
The vampire can perform Thaumaturgical surgery on patients using all sorts of wickedly shaped tools. The surgery can heal all sorts of wounds in both natural and supernatural creatures, including aggravated wounds.
System: Roll Wits + Medicine (difficulty 7). For each success, two levels of normal damage or one level of aggravated damage can be healed. Surgery cannot be performed on the same patient more than once per injury. Note that this surgery does not necessarily require one week to perform, but it takes at least that long to recover from.
Level 4--Human Experimentation
The vampire can perform alterations on humans just as she can on animals.
System: Treat as Animal Experimentation, except that it functions on humans.
Level5--Supernatural Experimentation
The vampire can perform alterations on supernatural creatures, such as vampires, Lupines, Mummies, mages, faeries, and wraiths, just as she can on animals and humans.
System: Treat as Animal Experimentation, except that it functions on supernatural creatures