Gloria Mundi Backgrounds

Obteneration Revised

What is Obteneration?

According to White Wolf canon, this power relates to evoking the spiritual nature of darkness itself. Certainly, in the ancient world, darkness is a thing to be feared - and in an age that still remembers the animism of early religions, the idea of an animate darkness is not an unreasonable one.

However, the paradigm of commanding the darkness itself is just a little bit, well, silly. Not that the image of a Lasombra dragging a victim away in chains of shadow isn't frightening! But there's something visceral that's missing - commanding "shadow" is at once too abstract and too mystical. One would expect the Tremere to command something so un-literal, not the Lasombra.

Additionally, centering the Lasombra clan concept so strongly around their unique discipline makes what could be a vibrant clan into a one-trick pony. Our solution to this, as to many things, is to eliminate Obteneration as a unique discipline. Once Obteneration is shared - in this case with the Setites - the clan can no longer be completely defined by it.

The nature of the power is different as well. It is not darkness that the Kindred using Obteneration summons - it is the shades of the restless and relentless dead. This fits into the contemporary mindset extremely well. Spirits and shades were supposed to be vicious, dark, frightening things unless appeased regularly with blood, sacrifices and honor. (See Odysseus's descent into the underworld, for example.) These shades have no memories of their lives and are cloaked in the eternal dark of Hades. They are powerful but can be controlled by those who know how.

The implications of this for PCs (Lasombra or Setites) with Obteneration are several.

Mechanics.

All Obteneration powers require blood to activate. A number of blood points equal to the level of the power must be spent. This blood need not be the caster's. It may be human, animal or Kindred, but it must flow onto the ground or floor to summon up the spirits from Hades. This blood cost must be paid before any rolls are made; the blood is spent simply to call the spirits of the dead, whether or not the caster successfully controls them. When the power ends, the blood spilled dissipates, not even leaving a stain - sinking into the earth or draining into patches of shadow.

Arms of the Abyss is a special case: the blood cost (three blood points) must be paid for each arm. The number of arms the caster may summon is limited both by the amount of blood spilled and by the caster's success on their activation roll. For example, a caster who has killed a slave, spilling ten blood points, can summon a maximum of three arms, even if they get more than three successes on their roll.

Additionally, these shades may prove a great hindrance to the caster's foes, but they do not make those foes more susceptible to damage. Any penalties to Soak or Stamina dice pools as described in the cannon rules for Obteneration powers are, in fact, dice pool penalties for all their physical actions, most relevantly To-Hit and Dodge pools. The powers affected by this change are Shadow Play, Shroud of Night, and Black Metamorphosis.

Flavor.

PCs and STs should recall that these are the screaming, hungry, furious spirits of the dead. Describing faces - possibly even recognizable faces - or the faint moans of hunger and pain reaching through the black gate are well within the tone of this power. Shroud of Darkness might include a sensation as of thousands of cold hands plucking ineffectively at one's clothing. Shadow Play might cause apparitions and faces to appear and mock the target(s) of the power. Arms of the Abyss might giggle insanely and taunt their targets in the voices of their victims. Be creative with it!

A further implication is that if the Kindred botches their activation roll, the spirits have still been summoned by the blood; these spirits will then turn on their caster, or worse. STs are encouraged to be very creative, and maybe a little evil, when describing the terror these shades inflict upon the living world.

Weakness.

Shadows, mirrors, and pools of water were thought to be the natural haunts of the dead - and sunlight their anathema. Both clan weaknesses relate to their possession of this unnatural ability. Both take extra damage from sunlight, and the Setites cannot even tolerate bright light of any kind.

However, the Lasombra weakness is not simply that they have no reflection. In fact, their reflection serves as a portal into the shadow world, where the dead can watch and jest and gape at the world of mortals and immortals. While at times the Lasombra's reflection may be relatively normal, though always nearly translucent, at other times it will appear as a terrifying shadowy mass of the damned. (Rumor has it that once or twice a Lasombra's reflection has served as the conduit for a terrifying onslaught of shadow creatures.) This effect is especially striking when the Lasombra is reflected in a pool of water or, most forcefully, blood.

Similarly, at times their shadow will leave their direct control and begin to stretch, gibber, or hide. More often than not, their shadow will reveal some aspect of how they are secretly feeling to any who are watching. A Lasombra who has lost their shadow entirely is treated as already dead, as clan legend has it that their shadow will gain strength until it can find and destroy its former master.

Rituals

This section details the Obteneration rituals available to the Lasombra and to the Setites. The Setites, as a far older and more powerful clan, have more and more powerful rituals available to them than the Lasombra do. However, this section is Lasombra-centric as we have a Lasombra PC and no Setite PCs. Further Setite rituals will be forthcoming. In general, no Lasombra ritual should be of level 5 and few of level 4, while Setites may have rituals of all power levels available to them.

Because this discipline is understood somewhat differently by the two clans, the flavor of the rituals is different, and they often do slightly different things even when the tone is the same. The Setite rituals are heavily based in Egyptian magic. Key things to know are that the spirit is judged after death, and that spirits improperly prepared for the afterlife are the hideous, miserable things the power draws upon. The Lasombra rituals are based on Celtic and Greco-Roman myths of death. They focus especially on the notion of the Ferryman, the dread guardian of the gate of death, who holds bitter enmity for those Lasombra who tricked him into taking only their reflections.

Both of these paradigms have serious limitations. Properly buried individuals cannot be summoned or controlled in the Egyptian paradigm. Additionally, neither paradigm provides the ability to summon or control individual souls unless someone who knew the individual in question is present, or the individual's body is present; these are the only way to bring such souls out of the teeming mass.

Finally, a note: a number of rituals refer to the "coins" of the Lasombra. These are almost always part of the Embrace rites; the Lasombra-to-be is given an elaborate funeral before they are Embraced, and the coins placed on their eyes at this first death have powerful mystical significance.

Lasombra Rituals

Level One

Circle of Cerberus (ref. Blood Magic 105)
In this ritual, the caster must bathe himself in bitterroot and wear clothing made entirely of untanned leather. He draws a circle in blood on the floor, and may then use his powers to contact the underworld safely.

Each success on the roll may be added to any Obteneration-related roll the caster makes. This can be done even after the Obteneration roll has been made. Once that success is used, it is considered spent and cannot be used again. Breaking or leaving the circle immediately cancels this power.

If the caster is in possession of his coins, this ritual also reduces the difficulty of all Obteneration rolls made while in the circle by one.

Insight (ref. Vampire: the Masquerade 161)
The Lasombra must gouge out the eyes of any corpse and fill the hollows with his own blood. He may then see in the bloody pools the last thing the dead man witnessed. The vision appears only to the Lasombra using this power, and lasts until the blood drains away into the skull cavity. (Artificially augmenting this time will cause the power to immediately fail.)

The number of successes on the activation roll determines the clarity and length of the vision; on a botch, the newly dead spirit rises from the blood to wreak vengeance on the one who disturbed it. The power may not be used on corpses in which advanced decomposition has set in, as the blood will drain away as quickly as it is spilled.

Mercury's Messenger
The use of this ritual requires a blood point from another Lasombra in posession of their coins, or a Settite. If performed with the blood of another Kindred the ritual will succeed, but the ritual also automatically botches, with detrimental effects for the caster or the recipient.

After pricking his finger, the caster must write the message out in the recipient's blood (one sentence or so) on bare earth and then summon the spirits of the dead to drink of the blood - provided that they also bear the message. The message will appear as per Shadow Play in front of the recipient the next turn, and will last for a number of turns equal to the sucesses on the ritual roll. The recipient may or may not notice the message, depending on his or her situation. Others around the recipient may or may not notice the message as well.

Waters of the Styx
The caster can use this ritual to preserve vampiric blood indefinately. To enact the ritual the caster must summon a shade using Shadowplay and let them drink their fill of blood from a specially prepared jar. As the shade drinks the lid of the jar is sealed, trapping the spirit inside. If a Lasombra in possesion of their coins opens the jar they may force the shade to give up the blood that they have drunk. A Lasombra without their coins, or a non-Lasombra is not so lucky should they open the jar.

The ritual takes one hour to complete, and one blood point may be stored for each success gained. When consuming the blood the Lasombra must force the shade to give up the blood by making a Willpower roll with a difficulty of 4..

Level Two

Coins for the Ferryman (ref. Blood Magic 111)
When this ritual is performed on a mortal, the mortal is subjected to the funeral rites and laid out as if he were dead. Coins are placed on the "corpse's" eyes. So long as the coins remain on his eyes, he may have visions of the underworld. Specifically, he can know whether or not any given individual of his acquaintance is dead or is still alive. This will not give him any information about ghosts he did not know, nor may he speak to the dead, though the dead may choose to speak to him at the ST's discretion. The ritual is interrupted if the coins are removed or the subject moves at all during the ritual.

This ritual may also be performed on a Lasombra, but only using the coins of her Embrace. As with a mortal, she may know whether any given individual of her acquaintance is alive or dead. Additionally, the Lasombra may speak with her reflection, who likely bears her grave enmity but also may possess additional secrets about the underworld. However, she must roll Willpower (difficulty 4) to return from the underworld, as the Ferryman is hungry for her soul. Failing this roll puts the Kindred in torpor. On a botch, the Lasombra dies.

This ritual has no effect on Kindred of other clans.

Reading the Currents
To perform this ritual, the Lasombra must cast the coins of their Embrace on the ground within a circle of blood. As they fall, the coins will subtly respond to currents within the river of death, and after studying the throws made over the course of a ten-minute period, the caster may tell whether another Kindred has been dipping into the dark waters.

When the ritual is complete, the Lasombra will know whether another Kindred has used Obteneration (rituals or discipline powers) within five miles and the last 24 hours. The number of successes on the activation roll determines the amount of information the Kindred receives about both the caster and her actions. One success might inform the Lasombra that a Kindred has or has not used Obteneration; three successes might tell the caster what Obteneration power was used and approximately where; five might give a location, a time, an identification of the power and information about the caster (such as a partial physical description or how successful they were).

This ritual cannot be performed if the Lasombra was Embraced without the coins, or if they have somehow lost possession of them.

Whispers of the Damned
The caster creates a shroud with the second level of Obtenebration and smears his entire face with the blood of the target vampire, one blood point. Once prepared, the caster steps into the shroud, and must make another Obtenebration roll to create a second shroud. If successful,
this creates a shroud around the target. The subject of this ritual may make a Willpower roll to resist this effect, with a difficulty of 4 + the number of successes gained when casting the ritual.

As long as both vampires stay within the shrouds, they can communicate verbally. Their words are carried from shade to shade across the distance. Such communication can be slow, with a minute or more passing as one person's words are
transmitted to the other. This ritual ends at sunrise. Any Kindred may be the target of this ritual, so long as the caster has enough of their blood. But some Kindred may have to make Courage checks to stay in the shroud for the duration of the conversation.

Level Three

Crossing the Darkened Waters
The Lasombra must obtain coins that were used to seal a dead man's eyes during his funeral, and ritually prepare them by washing them in blood. These coins then provide a dangerous link to the world of the dead, as they are mystically attuned to the Ferryman. The possessor of these coins is at a disadvantage in any necromantic battle, and remains so until the coins leave their possession. However, if the coins are separated from each other (for example, one is spent), they immediately lose their efficacy.

This ritual gives Obteneration rolls directed against the holder of the coins a -2 in difficulty, as the target is already connected to the underworld. The victim must have the coins in their possession, not simply own them. However, the coins may also be thrown at a victim with a Dexterity + Athletics roll. If the coins hit the victim, the power will affect the target for the duration of a single scene only.

Glare of Cerberus
The caster must soak an unlit torch in a pool of his own blood. Every hour the torch remains submerged is an hour of potential effect, with a minimum of one hour spent in this preparation. Both preperation and use must occur within the space of a single night.

Once the blood has dried, the torch can be lit, but it glows with the pale blue flame of hades. Obtenebration effects are repelled by this light. Each Obtenebration effect, a single shroud or arm for instance, must make a Courage roll every turn to remain within 10 feet of the torch. The dificulty for this roll is 4 + the number of successes the caster gains on this ritual. A Obtenebration effect's Courage is equal to the Obtenebration raiting of its controler. The wielder of this torch may not use Obtenebration at all.

Shadow Servant
The corpse of a deceased mortal, less than a week old, must be prepared in a three hour long ritual in a sealed amphora. The caster then writes an instruction on a piece of lamb skin, burns it, then sprinkles the ashes over the corspe. Once the preparations have been completed a human-shaped shade rises from the corpse. This shade will then perform a single instruction, expressed as a single sentence. Instructions may include delivering a letter, carrying a torch tonite, serving drinks at a party. It must be possible to carry out the instructions with negligable free will or need for decision making If the instruction is "deliver a letter to my ally," and then the ally is not at home and there is no one present and brave enough to tell the shade where he is,
then it will give up. The shade will last until sunrise if unmolested. Any damage done to the shade, bashing, lethal or aggravated, will disapate it instantly.

Stealing the Shade
This ritual allows the Lasombra to give another Kindred the Lasombra clan flaw. The Lasombra must prepare a silver dagger by coating it with fresh honey and washing it clean in goat's milk. They must then pierce the ground where the target Kindred's shadow lies with this dagger, which must penetrate into the ground up to the hilt. As long as the dagger remains in the ground, the target's shadow will be pinned to its place, giving them both the Lasombra flaw of strange reflection, and the additional flaw of casting no shadow. The ritual dissipates when the dagger is withdrawn or when the sun rises.

Summon Soul (ref. Vampire: the Masquerade, 161)
This ritual allows the caster to summon a particular spirit back from the dark lands, and to restore its intelligence and memories to it sufficiently for conversation. A person (mortal or Kindred) who knew the spirit in question in life must be present for the ritual. The caster sacrifices a black ram and spills the blood onto bare earth. The individual who knew the spirit must stand barefoot in the center of the bloody pool, holding a naked blade, and implore the spirit to return and feast on the offering presented to it. If the ritual succeeds, the spirit will return and drink the blood offered to it, after which it will be able to converse with anyone present.

The number of successes on the ritual determines both how sentient the spirit is after consuming the blood and how long it is compelled to remain. With only one success, the spirit remains for but a few moments and knows nothing except their name. With three successes, the spirit remembers the most important moments of their life and will remain for a short conversation. With five successes, the spirit retains all their memories and will remain until the residue of the blood on the ground dries.

The attitude of the spirit will likely be reflected by how they died and by their relationship to their summoner in life. A botch releases a mass of hungry spirits eager for blood of any kind.

If at any point the spirit can convince the Lasombra to look over his own shoulder, the ritual immediately ends and the spirit returns to the underworld, never to be summonable again by that particular Kindred.

Level Four

Bastone Diabolico (ref. Clanbook Giovanni 76)
This ritual requires the Lasombra to remove the leg-bone of a pregnant woman, who must survive the ritual and bear a living child. The bone is sheathed in metal and quenched in a pool of the caster's blood, at which point it becomes a potent weapon against the wild dead.

By spending a point of Willpower, any Kindred holding this weapon may activate it for a scene. Blows from this weapon deal aggravated damage to all Obteneration-related effects. (For example, it can be used to fend off Arms of the Abyss or to dissipate a Shroud.) Additionally, it confers two extra dice to resist Obteneration-related effects upon the wielder. However, because of the terrifying nature of this weapon, the caster is at a +1 difficulty for creating any Obteneration effects of her own.

Level Five

Dragon's Teeth
The Capadocians are not the only ones with a claim over battlefields in ancient times. This ritual allows the Lasombra to animate hundreds, possibly thousands of the shades of fallen warriors, using the dragon's teeth of the legend of Cadmus. The most important and difficult to obtain item used in this ritual is, of course, dragon's teeth. These are often found burried in rock. Some traders in exotic goods sell them, stolen from their lairs in Scythia. By a modern understanding they are, of course, the teeth of dinosaurs and marine reptiles. No mater how hard it may be to obtain these teeth, they are vital as the ritual may not summon more shades than dragon's teeth used in it.

Once the caster is ready to begin he must plant the seeds in the ground at the battlefield. A small incantation must be said over each seed, so no more than 100 seeds may be planted in a single night. The caster must keep planting seeds for as long as he is able, and so takes two points of aggrevated damage at the end of every evening from the sun which may be soaked with Fortitude, difficulty 6. At the begining of each evening the caster may choose to stop planting and finish the ritual, or to continue planting.

Once the caster chooses to complete the ritual he or she spills some amount of blood on the ground and makes the standard ritual roll. The number of shades summoned is equal to the number of successes gained on the roll times the number of blood points spilled on the ground times the number of nights spent on the ritual. On a battlefield more than 100 years old divide this number by 2. On a battlefield more than 500 years old divide this number by 4. The final number of shades may not be more than the number of dragon's teeth sown, nor may it be more than the number of soldiers who actually died on that battlefield.

These shades, once animated, will pick up whatever weapons are still lying on the ground and organize themselves as they did in life. They then follow the orders of the caster with precision and efficiency. Each shade disipates after it takes damage, soaking only with its armor. But mortals will find it extremly difficult to stand before the army and fight. If you need a system, make a Courage roll for each combatant when the first see the army of shades and when they first try to attack one of the shades. Both rolls have a difficulty of 8. As well, the shades are immune to all mind effecting powers, such as Dominate or Presense. The shades disipate at the instant the sunrises.

Setite Rituals

Level One

Consuming the Heart (ref. Clanbook Giovanni 74)
The Setite obtains the heart (or other major organ) of a dead body and simmers it in a pot with a point of his own vitae. After adding salt and honey, the Setite must consume the stew, taking a piece of the victim into themselves.

As long as the "soup" remains in the Kindred's stomach, the Setite may affect that particular spirit with any rituals they perform, just as if they personally knew the individual in question. However, during this time they also gain one personality quirk or flaw of the victim that is somehow related to the organ they have consumed.

The soup will always be expelled from the Kindred's body during the day following this ritual.

Nut's Blessing (ref. Blood Magic 105)
In this ritual, the caster must shave her body hair entirely, dress entirely in linen, and bathe three times in fresh running water. She draws a circle in blood on the floor, and may then use her powers to contact the underworld safely.

Each success on the activation roll allows one re-roll of any Obteneration-related roll the caster makes. However, the last roll made must always be the one used; the caster may not choose which roll to use. Breaking or leaving the circle immediately cancels this power.

Call of the Hungry Dead (ref. Vampire: the Masquerade 165)
This ritual requires a hair from the target's head. The hair must be burnt in the flame of a black candle, at which point the victim becomes able to hear the cries of the hungry dead all around them. The unearthly howls and demands are terrifying and make it difficult for the victim to concentrate on other things.

For five minutes, the victim will hear voices of the unhappy dead, those who have not been properly laid to rest. These voices will drown out other noises and keep the victim's full attention, giving the victim a -5 to all Perception rolls. Additionally, the sheer terror of the experience gives the victim a -1 penalty to all actions. If the caster scored five or more successes on the activation roll, the voices will be those of people the victim has wronged, giving an additional -1 penalty to all the victim's actions while the ritual lasts.

The victim may roll Willpower, difficulty 9, to resist the ritual's effects.

Level Two

Summon Soul (Setite; ref. Vampire: the Masquerade, 161)
This ritual allows the caster to summon a particular spirit back from the dark lands, and to restore its intelligence and memories to it sufficiently for conversation. A person (mortal or Kindred) who knew the spirit during life must be present for the ritual, or the Setite must be under the influence of Consuming the Heart. The caster makes a reed boat and imprisons a living bird in it. The boat is placed in running water and then set afire. While the boat burns, the person who knew the spirit must spill blood into the water while imploring the dead one to return. If the ritual is successful, the cage burns and the bird flies free before it is consumed by flame. The spirit will appear and accept the offering, and it will then be able to converse with anyone present.

The attitude of the spirit will likely be reflected by how they died and by their relationship to their summoner in life, as well as by whether their spirit has been properly sacrificed to and remembered. A botch releases a mass of hungry spirits eager for blood of any kind.

Level Three

Blood of Osiris (ref. Blood Magic 105)
The necromancer robs a grave and steals the corpse's skull. He saws off the top of the skull which, flipped over, forms a cup-shaped piece of bone. He covers this piece with kiln-fired clay or metal, creating a bowl. If any blood descendant of the corpse eats or drinks from this bowl, any promises the subject makes to the necromancer gain otherworldly enforcement.

The subject is at -1 to all actions for each promise unkept, as terrible figures haunt his dreams. The penalty lasts until the promise is kept, and may reduce the subject to a minimum of one die for any given action.

Prepare Canopic Jars (ref. Blood Magic 118)
The Setite takes bodily tissues of a desired victim and places them in the appropriate canopic jars. (Items that symbolize the appropriate tissues may be substituted, but add a +2 to the difficulty of the ritual.) The Setite then performs the funerary rites over these jars, speeding the target's voyage to the Western Lands. This displays the Setite's mastery of the target's physical body, and brings them partly into the world of the dead.

The target is at -2 to resist all Obteneration powers used against them for a number of hours equal to the number of successes scored on the ritual roll. This does not only include the caster; anyone may take advantage of the target's weakness.

Additionally, these jars have the property of preserving the flesh stored within them. If used on the liver or other blood-rich tissues, this can be a way for the clever Setite to store blood in the long term.

Level Four

Dismemberment of Osiris (ref. Blood Magic 119)
The Setite ritually dismembers the captured leader of a group or organization, starting with the limbs and finishing with the penis. (The ritual works only on male leaders.) At the conclusion of the ritual, the Setite drops the phallus into a tank full of fish, which must devour the dismembered organ.

The organization headed by the victim suffers a serious calamity. The severity depends on the size of the organization, the number of successes scored on the activation roll, and Storyteller determination. A military unit might lose a battle or a family business fail.

The ritual takes six hours to complete.

Tempt the Vital Spirit (ref. Vampire: the Masquerade 165)
This ritual allows a Setite to remove the vitality of a mortal target by luring his sekhem from his body. The Setite must wash in running water, anoint herself with oil, dress herself in white robes and stand barefoot beneath the open sky. She then sacrifices wine, oil and grain and burns incense while luring the target mortal's spirit with sweet words and promises of pleasure. The sekhem, unable to resist such temptations, will abandon the mortal's body and fly to the caster of the ritual, leaving their mortal shell without vitality or force. The sekhem is visible as a human-shaped eddy in the smoke of the incense. So long as the incense burns and the offerings remain fresh, the sekhem will remain as well. If the incense goes out or the offerings are tampered with, the ritual immediately ends.

The victim of this ritual becomes cold and clammy, his pulse weak and his skin pale. For all intents and purposes he appears as one of the walking dead. This gives a +2 difficulty to all Social rolls involving mortals. However, this ritual may also be used to allow a mortal to impersonate a Kindred. Additionally, because the living vitality has fled the mortal's body, he may not spend Willpower while under the effects of this ritual.

Exile of the Ab (ref. Vampire: the Masquerade 163)
By removing a soul from its body, the Setite may force an early judgment on the spirit in question. First the Setite must ritually purify himself by abstaining from drinking blood or sexual behavior for three nights. On the fourth night, the sorcerer must encircle the target with a cord in which seven knots have been tied. This will immobilize the target for the remainder of the ritual. The Setite must then hold a golden lamp in one hand and a feather in the other while chanting praises to Maat, goddess of truth. The spirit will come forth during the ritual and confess to the Setite as if he were Maat herself. The Setite must then judge the spirit appropriately or face the wrath of Maat.

For each success on the activation roll for the ritual, the Setite may learn one dark secret and one moment of heroism of the target. After hearing the target's story, the Setite must judge whether the target deserves reward or punishment. Rewarding the target will give them an extra die on all actions for one month per success on the ritual. Punishing them will give them a derangement for an equal period of time. If the Setite judges incorrectly (as decided by the target's Humanity score and ST fiat), they gain the derangement instead, and the target is unaffected.

This ritual may only be performed more than once on the same individual if they have gained or lost Humanity since the last performance of the ritual.

Level Five

Inhabiting the Temple (ref. Vampire: the Masquerade 163)
This ritual allows the Setite to summon a spirit to inhabit a body prepared according to the rites of mummification. It takes at least thirty days to prepare a mummified body, removing and preserving the internal organs while pumping preservatives and precious ointments into the corpse as a whole. Once the body is prepared, the Setite may summon a spirit by spilling blood and calling it by name. Either a person who knew the spirit in life must be present, or the Setite must be under the influence of Consuming the Heart, though the spirit need not be the original spirit of the body used for the ritual. The spirit animates the dead body, providing the Setite with a servant both potent and loyal.

The spirit may inhabit the body for as long as they wish. They retain the mental attributes, skills and memories of their original life, and have Strength of 3, Stamina of 5 but a Dexterity of only 1 and an Appearance of 0. They do not take wound penalties. They will serve the Setite in question to the extent that their nature and relationship with the Setite dictates, though the incentive to be a faithful servant is high - as the Setite may banish the spirit from the body at will. However, if Obteneration is used in their presence, the spirit must roll Willpower (difficulty 6) to avoid losing his grip on sentience and joining the ravening masses of spirits, abandoning the body in the process.

Only a mortal corpse may be used for this ritual; Kindred bodies (even those that have not yet decayed) may not be used.

Shroud Mastery (ref. Vampire: the Masquerade 165)
A Setite may use this ritual to bring the world of the living closer to or farther from that of the dead. She must purify herself by bathing in fresh running water, shaving her body hair entirely, and dressing in white linen robes that have never been worn before. She then sacrifices three young animals: a bird, a calf and a snake. The mingled blood is used to paint a circle on the floor, or to anoint every entrance to a single room. Within the bounds of blood, the spirit world and the mortal world are closer or farther, depending on the Setite's desires.

Each success on this ritual gives a +1 bonus or a -1 penalty to all Obteneration rolls made within the blood-bounded area, at the caster's choice. The ritual ends at the caster's discretion or when the blood boundary is broken.

back