Dark Thaumaturgy has levels and paths, just like Thaumaturgy. However,
Dark Thaumaturgy comes with a price. Traffic with the Devil's minions
permanently scars the soul, and the taint of infernalism manifests in
the Dark Thaumaturge's aura. Before long, the unmistakable marks of the
Devil's favor may even appear physically, as a wart on the nose, a "witch's
claw" behind the ear or even (among the most Damned of the Damned) withered
limbs, freakish scars, horns or cloven hoofs.
Dark Thaum rituals
Bind the Interloper (Variable Levels)(GS)
Call forth the Host (variable levels) (GS)
Level 1
Curse of Oedipus (GS)
Spectral Mask (SH)
Level Two
Sign of the Moon (SH)
Summon Grantel (SH)
Video Nefas (GS)
Level 3
Sign of the Wraith (SH)
Summon Tivilio (SH)
Turn to Toad (SH)
Level 4
Plague's Secret Domain (GS)
Summon Lucricia (SH)
Level 4
Dismiss Tivilio (SH)
The Inner Furnace (SH)
Into the Abyss (GS)
Soul Leech (SH)
Level Six
Transfer Essence (SH)
GS-Guide to the Sabbat
(Level One)
Bind the Familiar
(Level Two)
Warding Circle
(Level Three)
Bloody Bones
The Leaden Heart
(Level Four)
Lethean Chains
(Level Five)
Ward Versus Demon
Will bind a demon summoned by someone else into service, letting the
Thaumaturge command the demon as if he summoned it. Requires 10
minutes per level to perform. The thamaturge must know the demon's
name.
Will call a demon or spirit to the Thaumaturge for servitude, the
number of hours will be 10 minus the level of the ritual. Remember
most demons will resent being summoned and ordered around and possibly
return to torment the Thaumaturge. The Thaumaturge must know the name
of the demon. Requires one hour per level to perform.
*Imp
***Shade
*****Pit Lord
*******Lesser Noble Demon
*********Great Demon (Very crazy to do)
Aport Object (SH)
Enchants an object that will appear whenever the Thaumaturge speaks a
magic word.
Blinds a victim completely. Requires a lit stick of heavy incense. The
victim need not be seen, but her name must be known or what she looks
like. Lasts for several hours.
A mist covering the Thaumaturge's face will take on the aspect of a
hideous demon making all those who see it run in fear.
Haunting Memories (SH)
The caster creats then transmits any painful images to next person
touched. The victim will suffer for weeks from images and will feel
sad and guilty but not know why.
The Thaumaturge will not take damage from werewolves for one night but
will take aggravated damage from silver.
The Thaumaturge can summon Grantel the Mandragora. There are no dismissal
or binding rituals for him.
Calls upon demons to answer questions of the Thaumaturge. Only one question
may be asked and the caster must break a dried bone in two. Answers may
vary from simple yes/no to entire catalogue of history.
Felis Negrum(GS)
The thaumaturge can change either himself of another into a black cat.
The whisker of a black cat or the skin of a white cat must be burned.
Then the subject's name written on a piece of glass in her own blood.
If used on self, he can change at will. If used on ghoul, lasts 24
hours, another vampire will last 12 hours.
Grants the Thaumaturge immunity from Wraith attacts for 13 minutes. If
the caster stays immobile the time can be increased to 39 minutes. Any
move after 13 minutes breaks the ritual.
Summons Tivilio, the Injurer of Cats. A cat must be sacrified.
The Thaumaturge can turn himself or someone else into a toad. The caster
can change back at anytime. The victim remains a toad for 12 days.
Bind Tivilio (SH)
This will force Tivilio to obey Thaumaturge's commands. Once the service
to the Thaumaturge is completed, it may do as it pleases.
The Thaumaturge can make a victim lose interest in everything. The
victim will fall into torpor or suicide. This ritual must
be performed in front of a smoking censer which is put out with fresh
blood from another at the end of the ritual.
This will summon Lucricia to serve for the Thaumaturge.
Close the Ways (GS)
This curse will call down terrible misfortune to a victim. Not necessarily
killing but will bring untold bad luck. The caster must sacrifice 2
permanent bloodpoints to enact by extinguishing 14 candle flames with
his bare fingers and intoning his victim's name each time. To break
this curse, the Thaumaturge must cut off their own left hand and spend
2 more permanent bloodpoints. Lasts from 1 night to 10 years.
This ritual returns Tivilio to Hell. This will anger him and possibly
lead to retribution should he return.
This will cause one mortal victim to subtaneously combust and burn to
death. The victim must be in eyesight.
The caster can enter Hell by painting the blood of children on a entire
wall. The wall then becomes a portal. Requires 24 hours to cast during
which time the caster must stay awake. The portal will stay open for
several hours. The inhabitants of Hell cannot escape through this portal.
But they can try to deny exit to anyone who enters.
The Thaumaturge can call souls out from the newly dead, gain 5
bloodpoints and heal one wound. This wil destroy the soul and give the
Thaumaturge a rush stronger than feeding. Souls will be in agony and
appear like swirling mist around the Thaumaturge making horrible sounds
of pain. The faces of the dead will also appear in the mist.
Summon Barliagus (SH)
This will summon Barliagus the Cataboligne who is not fond of appearing
in person. Thus will be angry unless offered a good bribe.
This ritual is used to give the Thaumaturge a new body. The body must be
a recently killed Kine under 10 hours dead. The body of the Thaumaturge
will turn to dust. All disciplines, vampiric abilities, etc will
transfer to the new body.
SH-StoryTellers Guide to the Sabbat
The Knotted Cord
This Ritual has saved many an infernalist from trial and
execution, by silencing accusers.
System: The infernalist must knot a length of rope while
reciting the name of whomever she wishes to silence.
This Ritual calls and binds a familiar to the infernalist.
System: This hour-long ritual calls up a minor imp that
possesses an animal’s body and serves the infernalist faithfully.
Bring Forth the Hell Beast
Through the use of this Ritual, an infernalist may infuse an
animal with corruption and rage. The beast becomes twisted and
evil, seeking to wreak the Devil’s own havoc on humanity.
System: An infernalist who knows this ritual merely
needs to lay his hands on any beast and thereby infuse it with
a little of his blood (one Blood Point). The animal flies into a
rage and attempts to kill anyone and anything it encounters,
until slain. This trace of infernal taint provides increased
strength (Potence 1), and the animal becomes so frenzied that
it feels no pain (is not affected by wound penalties).
This Ritual prepares an area for infernal magics by creating
a protective circle to defend the infernalist from a demon’s anger.
System: The warding circle is a complicated diagram of
astrological symbols that has to be drawn with special chalks
while an incantation is intoned. The infernalist can either
create a temporary warding circle, which takes 30 minutes to
complete, or makes a permanent circle, which takes several
nights. Once the circle is completed, the infernalist must stand
inside it and activate the ritual magic with a prepared phrase
or prayer. So long as the infernalist remains within the enchanted space, she is protected from any attack by an infernal
creature.
Blood Imp
This strange Ritual allows the infernalist to distill an
obedient homunculus from his own blood. The homunculus
assumes the form of a small animal, often a j ackdaw or monkey,
and can be used as a spy or thief.
System: The Blood Imp is created from vitae and shaped
by the magic of the ritual. It has a Strength Attribute (for
carrying things only) equal to the Blood Points spent on its
creation. It has no combat abilities (though it may
serve as a distraction) and lasts for one night. Its method of
locomotion is based on its animal form (jackdaws can fly,
monkeys climb, etc.).
This Ritual is cast over an area. The infernalist must bury
a specially prepared bag of bones in the area of casting. Once
this is done, the place is cursed plants wither and die,
stillbirths are common, and tempers flare easily. The cause of
the curse is a spirit that is bound into the bones.
System: The spirit bound into the bloody bones has influence over an area as large as a village. The area is cursed so long
as the bones remain buried. Vampires can easily find the bag of
bones with Heightened Senses; scattering the bones frees the
spirit.
An infernalist uses this Ritual to bind a target to the spot
so that he cannot flee the fate in store for him.
System: The infernalist must not only know the name of
the target but must use some personal token (a piece of
clothing, a lock of hair) to work the magic. After a 10-minute
Ritual, the victim finds himself unable to flee the area. The Ritual’s
power ends either at cockcrow or if the victim’s name is called
out by a true love. This Ritual is not limited by any distance; as long as the infernalist has a personal token she may affect
her subject. Luckily for that subject, the token is consumed each time this Ritual is enacted.
Vile Swarm
Infernalist Nosferatu have learned many secrets in their
deep catacombs. This Ritual allows entire swarms of vermin to
be commanded and used on missions of destruction.
System: The infernalist performs the Ritual to summon a
horde of creatures (insects, bats or rats), and then feeds them
her blood. These bound creatures swarm at the infernalist’s
command, overwhelming foes and destroying crops and property. As long as the Infernalist concentrates, the swarm is
disguised as if by Cloak the Gathering (such intense concentration requires the player to spend one Willpower point each
hour). Hundreds, even thousands of creatures compose the
swarm, and only fire or some other massive form of destruction
can halt its rampage.
The infernalist may erase memories from his target by
using a special potion, thereby concealing his evil actions.
System: This Ritual allows the Infernalist to distill a
potion that causes the imbiber to forget all that happens for
the space of one night — in her amnesiac state the victim is
easily led astray and can even be blamed for the crimes of the
infernalist. The Ritual itself is simple, taking only a few
minutes of preparation time; however, the potion’s ingredients include the tears of a demon or water from an Underworld
river, so are hard to obtain. Each preparation of the potion
contains a number of doses equal to the infernalist’s successes.
The Hand of Glory
This Ritual allows the Infernalist to put all the inhabitants of a building into a deep slumber.
System: The infernalist must ritually prepare a hand cut
from the corpse of a hanged man. By lighting the fingers of the
hand and using it as a torch, the infernalist causes all the
inhabitants of any place he enters to fall asleep (if the infemalist
enters a massive building such as a castle, only those in his
immediate vicinity will sleep; those in distant parts of the
structure are unaffected and are likely to notice the disturbance). Once those within slumber, the infernalist can move
about freely.
This Ritual works in a manner similar to Ward Versus
Ghouls (Level-Two Ritual), but affects demons and other
infernal creatures.
System: The requirements of this Ritual are the same as
those of Ward Versus Ghouls, except the required component
is the blood of an innocent (non-infernalists learn a variant of
this Ritual that requires holy water).
(VDA Companion 108-109)
