Maleficia (path)

**Dark Thaumaturgy: Maleficia** *(Sometimes spelled Malificia)*

The signature path of the Maleficians, a cloistered Malkavian infernalist bloodline, Maleficia deals with manipulating the strands of fate and time. By twisting and examining these threads, the caster is able to warp the futures of their victims and unravel the mysteries of the cosmos hidden in the tangled webs of time.

**Price:** Lust for Knowledge of the Unknown, Madness, Eyes

Meddling with the strings of time and fate can lead to serious repercussions, the worst of which aren’t always accidentally hexing yourself. Practitioners are exposed to deep knowledge and the very fabric of time, a knowledge that fundamentally impacts (for better or for worse) a caster’s mind. Derangements on botches are common, and some practitioners find the path’s costs too great, stepping away from the magic to save their minds. But for others, the lust for greater truths and understanding of time, can become an all-consuming obsession. Like master, like servant, after all.

Additionally, as casters find themselves more and more experienced in the path, they will find their bodies intrinsically changed. Eyes have long been windows to the soul, but also are powerful symbols when it comes to the search for knowledge. Traditionally, members of the Maleficia bloodline will begin to find their eye-like brands opening as additional, physical, eyes while casting. Members of the bloodline often gain additional brands, either from elders in the path or directly from their patron, as they grow in power. For extremely practiced or obsessed members of the path, the eyes may never close, and often can be strangely disfiguring and off-putting. A physical reminder of the infernalist’s meddlings.

#### Dot 1: Bane

Glimpse and twist the closest strings of fate to cause a minor mishap in the target’s next action or in the next few moments.

System:

Spend 1 bp and roll Intelligence+Occult difficulty 6. Each success cancels out one success from the victim’s next roll. However, additional or non-combat events may occur instead, at ST discretion (i.e. tripping or spilling coffee on their shoes if the target isn’t actively rolling for anything.)

#### Dot 2: String of Folly

Open your mind to the larger strand of a target’s fate and future, allowing you to twist and set a string of future mishaps or boons.

System:

Spend 1bp and roll Int + Occult diff 7. Each success adds one hour of duration to the curse. Mechanically, this means that the highest die on the target’s rolls will be ignored for the duration of the curse. Thematically, the Storyteller will dictate the series of (usually related) mishaps and any additional fallout that occurs, at their discretion.

#### Dot 3: Psalm of the Damned

Begin chanting the ancient verses to rip open your opponent's mind and expose it to the floods of time and fate. The torment of whispers and flashes will continue to haunt your target even if they flee, so long as you continue your chant.

When this ability is used in chorus with other Malficians, the target’s visions and flashes become clearer as the penalties stack. This practice is sometimes used to expose a malifician to greater truths by flooding their mind with a high volume of knowledge. This commonly results in derangements or even the death of the target, though, it can also result in the target’s exposure to a hidden or highly coveted greater truth…

System:

Roll Manipulation + Performance difficulty 9. Each success reduces the victim’s dice pools by 1. The victim must be within earshot of the infernalist when the power is activated, but as long as the infernalist chants, the victim remains penalized. This power may also be used on a group, in which case the infernalist’s successes indicate how many individuals lose one die from their Dice Pools.

When sung in chorus, the success from each caster’s chant stacks with those of their comrades. If the power is targeted at a group, the pooled success from the chanters still determines how many in the target group are affected by a -1 penalty to their pools.

STs should roll 1 diff 10 for those affected by the power, subtracting 1 from the difficulty for each additional singer in the chorus. The number of successes on this roll will determine how many “greater truths” the target is exposed to. Greater truths can be anything from the nuclear codes to the last digit of pi, to a demon’s true name. Greater truths are not often to come across, rarely have anything to do with the target’s life, and can be from anywhere and any when in time. What was once a great truth to a young roman likely isn’t to the modern kindred.  It is up to the ST to deliver suitably cryptic greater truths and to determine what (if any) rolls or research might need to be undertaken to determine what they communicate.

Derangements or lingering fallout on the targets of this discipline are up to ST discretion and often coincide with what greater knowledge is found or how severe the power’s penalties were.

#### Dot 4: Greater Curse

The caster studies the target’s lines of fate and thread of future before skillfully weaving a curse into those strands. Unlike previous abilities, where the caster is merely viewing and reacting strategically to the target’s future or nudging a thread, this time the caster is actively meddling with the threads of the victim’s future. Other Malificians can see the curse woven into the target’s future, like a pulsating parasite clinging to an otherwise pristine silvery thread. Unlike String of Folly, the curse is more focused on an aspect of the target’s life.

System:

Spend a temporary WP and roll Wits + Occult difficulty equal to the target’s permanent WP. Each success adds 1 day to the duration of the curse. The player may spend an additional 1 temporary willpower to increase the duration to one week per success. Furthermore, the player may spend 1 permanent willpower to increase the duration to one year per success. The exact parameters and mechanics of the curse must be worked out with an ST. However, it generally affects an element or aspect of someone’s life and It cannot be totally catastrophic or all consuming. The curse can be ended through roleplay in some cases, but this is also up to ST discretion on the specifics.

#### Dot 5: Sense the Ripples

Through study and practice manipulating and observing time and fate, the caster is now able to gain a measure of intuition on their future without delving into the time consuming (and dangerous) task of examining millions of branching future realities. Understanding the silent nudges at the time is rare, as the ability only allows the caster to feel vague ripples and pushes in the strands of time instead of examining them closely. Such nudges aren’t enough to glean intelligible warnings, but a caster at this level is intelligent enough to let them inform preparations, no matter how nonsensical at the time. The caster themselves rarely know the precise set of events for which they’re preparing, but to outsiders, it looks like they knew exactly what was coming.

System:

At the beginning of the scene (and/or IC night), the character spends 1 wp and 4bp and rolls Perception + Occult difficulty 8, noting their number of successes. Subsequently, at any time during the IC night in which the power was rolled, the character may spend one or more of these successesses to describe (usually to the ST) an action the caster previously took to prepare for the current scene’s events. The action must be something the character plausibly could have accomplished “Off Screen” and its complexity and specificity determine the number of successes the player must expend to establish it:

One Success: Advantageous in a minor way (“I happen to have a flashlight, so at least we can see! But we’re still hopelessly lost in the warrens.”)

Two Success: Helps resolve a generalized, non-violent plot obstacle (“Ah, I see my press pass paperwork is already on your desk sir. Surely it’s within your purview to grant us access to the event?”)

Three Successes: Useful in combat, or specific to a given threat or complication (“I paid a fortune for this bullet-proof fluffy pink robe. I’m just glad I now know it works as advertised!”)

Four Successes: Fits the scene's details, providing a major advantage (“I’m glad I called my bodyguard before the start of this meeting to ensure my safety when meeting with you, Todd.)

Five Successes: Exactingly specific and relevant to a major plot twist (“I suspected you might betray us, Todd. So I took the liberty of crafting a bomb into your chest cavity while you slept.”)

At the end of the IC night, unused successes do not carry over to the next evening. The caster must re-cast Sense the Ripples each new night they wish to use it. Sense the Ripples cannot be cast multiple times an evening to “stack” successes.