Creating Thaumaturgy Paths and Rituals

## Creating new paths

The following two thaumaturgic paths are available only at the Storyteller’s discretion. Rego Magica is especially rare and appears here mostly to give Storytellers a glimpse at the process of magical conversion underway. Perdo Magica is somewhat more widely known.

### Rego Magica (New Path)

Tremere, Goratrix and Etrius devised this path to allow them to convert Hermetic techniques to blood magic. Tremere has ordered that knowledge of this path be tightly controlled. He doesn’t want his juniors devising paths he doesn’t himself know. That could be disastrous in the event of a rebellion. The path also offers a formidable array of techniques to use against enemy magi. Therimna and Curaferrum have been trained in the path: the former to better ply them; the latter to more efficiently slay them. The Inner Circle knows of its existence, though not all of them can use the path.

#### Creating New Paths

After a suitable period of research into equivalent Hermetic magics, the thaumaturge can create a new path which he, and thaumaturges after him, may use. The path must revolve around the creation (Creo), control (Rego), perception (Intéllego), transformation (Muto) or destruction (Perdo) of a single category of force or object. Common categories include animals, each of the four classical elements, the mind or plants. The Latin term for the force or object appears as the second word of the path’s name. For example, a path permitting the thaumaturge to create illnesses would be called Creo Malum.

The process of research involves years of effort poring over dusty tomes, making calculations and performing alchemical tests. The key is uncovering the various ways in which to mimic hermetic effects through the powers of Cainite blood. The thaumaturge begins by creating the first power in the path, and then creates successively more mighty magics, until he has created at least five powers. Thaumaturges who gain a rating of 6 in the created path may improvise additionally powerful effects. The vampire may make extensive notes allowing others to learn the path or commit the secrets to memory so he can keep them to himself. If he fails to take notes during the process of creation, however, he’ll find it very difficult to teach it to another thaumaturge later.

**System:** The player creates a power by writing it up in the format given here, with descriptive information on its capabilities listed in a paragraph or two followed by specific information on game mechanics in a paragraph labeled “System.” The Storyteller has final say over the path and the individual power; it should meet the following criteria:

• It must match the desired dot rating. If the character is creating his first power in the path, it must be a one-dot power. After that, he must create a two-dot power, and so on.

• The vampire’s rating in Rego Magica must exceed the power’s desired dot rating by at least 2.

• It must be roughly as effective as powers from other Tremere paths which share its dot rating. Level 1 powers have no greater effect on a story than the movement of an object weighing a pound, the summoning of fog or a candle-sized flame, viewing past events in a specific location or the increase of Attributes by spending Willpower. Level 2 powers are about as effective as forcing another vampire to involuntarily spend blood points, the movement of 20 pounds, the summoning of rain or the chance to converse with an inanimate object. Level 3 powers do things like allow the vampire to temporarily decrease his effective generation, create a campfire-sized flame, move 200 pounds, remove 1 health level per success scored over the victim’s opposing roll or cause a chair to grab its occupant. Level 4 powers are of sufficient magnitude to steal blood points from a distance, summon a bonfire or storm, move 500 pounds or create a watery wall through which supernatural beings can’t pass. Level 5 should be no less powerful than those which remove both health levels and blood points per success, call down lightning, move 1000 pounds or summon a mighty entity from another realm of being.

The Storyteller may modify the system paragraph to bring it more in line with other comparable powers. She may permit the power’s victim a roll to resist, making it less effective for each success scored, scale the effect to the number of successes scored, increase or decrease the effect’s size or impose requirements on the user, such as his physical proximity to the effect or an expenditure of extra blood points in addition to the usual 1 per power use.

• It must fit the overall theme of the path. For example, if the player is creating the Creo Malum path, the power must create a disease.

• It may not duplicate the effect of another path or Discipline power. (It may, however, offer a broader version of an effect conferred by an existing ritual.) Storytellers needn’t worry about powers listed in books to which they don’t have access. Extremely common effects — such as the dealing of damage — may be accepted if they propose a unique twist on the basic formula or simply seem too entertaining to reject.

Once player and Storyteller have arrived at a final write-up for the power, the character embarks on a period of extensive research, looking for ways to turn theory into practice. He must spend one year for each of the power’s dots, assuming that the thaumaturge can devote at least thirty hours per week to his efforts. Having spent that time, the vampire rolls Intelligence + Occult (difficulty 6); he must score a number of successes equal to or greater than the power’s dot rating. Failure requires a return to the library and laboratory, spending at least six months for each of the power’s dots before a new attempt can be made.

If a power proves unsatisfactory in play, Storytellers should reserve the right to revise its system details. They should introduce additional limitations to scale back powers too useful for their dot-ratings, while being just as quick to boost the effectiveness of powers that turn out to be lackluster.

#### Creating New Rituals

Rego Magica also allows the creation of new blood rituals. The thaumaturge wishing to do so must first conduct extensive research into existing hermetic rituals. She endeavors to find those which most closely duplicate the desired effect and must then select and purify ritual items which correspond to the forces she wishes to control. The ritual actions she performs with these items serves as a visual metaphor for the magic she wishes to create. For example, if she wishes to create a ritual which binds an unsuspecting victim to her will, she might select a king’s scepter (representing command) and a marionette (to stand for the target). In the course of the ritual, she might attach the marionette’s strings to the control stick and then wave the scepter over the completed puppet. The act of stringing the marionette represents her desired dominance over the subject, as does the waving of the scepter.

She must go to her laboratory and formulate salts, humors or salves. These might fortify the caster during the ritual, effect necessary transformations in the ritual items (including their destruction) or work directly upon the target item or individual. She must devise the chants and incantations used to unleash the ritual’s innate power. For this purpose, she must employ a manual of calculations, established by Goratrix, which adjust hermetic formulae for the use of blood magi. This manual is still very much a work in progress and provides only rough equivalencies useful for experimentation; the thaumaturge must still make adjustments in her lab.

Once she’s devised her ritual, she rehearses it extensively, practicing its movements and incantations and repeatedly testing any required alchemical reactions. She inserts harmless mock chants and movements at pivotal moments, so as not to draw down powerful magic before she is sure of the means to harness it. During this time she must remain wary of lurking impish spirits or other forces drawn by the potential for malign mischief. They may attempt to confuse her mind, so that she practices movements and invocations bound to rain disaster down on her.

Finally she attempts the ritual, knowing that she may get one of three results. She may succeed in establishing it as a permanent, reasonably reliable method of evoking the desired effect. She may fail in such a way as to allow her to retrace her steps and re-attempt the ritual later. Or she may suffer a catastrophe which carries various immediate consequences, but also prevents her from ever successfully establishing the ritual or passing along her notes to another for completion.

Assuming the first result, the final step in finalizing a successful new ritual is to give it a suitably poetic name. The brief phrase is written on a piece of parchment and burned, so that all of creation’s elementals and demons may know and fear it.

System: The player creates a ritual write-up following the format seen here or other products. The first section describes, without rules mechanics, the effect of the ritual and provides a brief description of the means required to evoke it.

Storytellers first check to see if the effect is similar to that of another Discipline or ritual. They need only worry about those listed in books to which they have access. If the effect is already known, the caster discovers this during the early stages of research and can’t go forward. If the effect is not known, the Storyteller then asks himself if it conforms to the themes associated with Tremere magic. The details of the ritual should evoke the rationalistic, callous and semi-scientific Tremere ethos. The effects to which Tremere rituals are best suited are as follows:

• The effect interferes with the natural composition of living or unliving beings, such as the Gargoyle and hybrid creature rituals listed later in this chapter.

• It offers protection from the Tremere’s many enemies

• It alters the laws of vampirism to assist in their survival.

If the Storyteller accepts the effect, she must then assign a ritual level to it by comparing the new ritual to existing ones in terms of its usefulness to the caster and the degree of change it exerts on its target. Effects that will have only a small impact on the course of a story merit low ritual levels. Ones with the potential to abruptly change the direction of a storyline demand high levels. Similarly, effects that bring about widespread or obvious change require high ritual levels.

Although the level determines the standard difficulty of a ritual, the Storyteller can always add additional requirements to limit the use of a mighty effect. The most reliable of these is a blood point cost. Start with a cost of 1 Blood point per ritual level and adjust as needed. A Storyteller may also require the expenditure of rare or valuable items in the execution of a ritual, stipulate that it requires the help of assistants or other thaumaturges, extend the time required to cast the ritual or limit the duration of its effect. Never use the exact results of a botch as a limiting factor, even if they’re especially nasty. Botches should never be predictable so that Storytellers can enjoy free rein in deviously fitting them to the circumstances at hand.

(Players can always build limitations into their description in advance, hoping to sway a Storyteller to their cause. Some Storytellers may wish to evoke the rigors of the research process by refusing to suggest limitations themselves. Instead, they’ll simply reject the ritual as written and send the player back to the drawing board without specific guidance as to how to improve it.)

Once player and Storyteller have by whatever means arrived at an acceptable ritual, the character may attempt to make the ritual part of the Tremere canon, and to learn it herself. The amount of time she must expend in researching and rehearsing the ritual is as follows:

The times listed here assume that the thaumaturge spends the vast bulk of her research time on this single ritual and that her other obligations do not prevent her from devoting at least 30 hours a week to research. At the end of this time, she makes two rolls. Normally the vampire may proceed with these rolls only if her dots in Rego Magica exceed the level of the ritual by at least 2. The first is an Intelligence + Occult (difficulty 5) roll; this measures her success in researching the ritual. She must then actually perform the ritual successfully; the second roll is therefore that of the ritual she wishes to create. Results vary depending on the successes scored in each roll, as per the following chart.

 2
 3
 4
 5

 +1
 +2
 0
 0
 +1

After successfully creating a ritual, the thaumaturge is the only one who knows it. If she wishes to share it with others, she can teach them directly, or write down detailed instructions in a book or on a scroll. Writing the ritual down makes it easier for far-distant colleagues to learn, but also creates an opportunity for rivals to pilfer a copy and wield the effect without permission. Ceoris’s researchers are highly jealous of one another and never casually share the fruits of their research. They loosen their grips on their magical secrets when they wish to cement alliances, settle grievances or provide compensation for services rendered.

#### Combining Efforts

Thaumaturges can overcome limitations on the creation of paths or rituals by working in concert. To find the single effective Rego Magica rating of a group of researchers, subtract 1 from the Rego Magica score of each participating individual, and then add them together. Only one of the researchers may make the rolls necessary for success.

The ability to combine research efforts exerts a great influence over Ceoris politics. The research assistance of other blood magicians is a highly coveted commodity. The offer of assistance is a powerful inducement, and is often used to settle feuds or bartered for other potent favors. For example, Mendacamina once persuaded Epistatia to bring a mage she hunted back to Ceoris as a prisoner instead of killing him on the spot. She did this by promising to aid her with her latest soul migration ritual. (Mendacamina wanted to slay the fellow herself — slowly.)

A chantry lord has the right to order one practitioner of Rego Magica to assist another. Thaumaturges bitterly resent being forced to abandon their own projects to serve a colleague’s interests, so a wise lord uses this rule sparingly