Corey's Guide to Theban

Cruac practitioners can out cast you 2 to 1. Our Willpower total is limited;
Many Cruac rituals favour subterfuge/misdirection over direct conflict, meaning you usually don't see it till you're bent over a barrel;
Theban has more than its fair share of FLUFF rituals; and
Cruac continually gets buffed with more rituals per almost any expansion book release (as opposed to poor old Theban which is left relatively alone, unloved and unexpanded).

Does this mean if push comes to shove, that you should hit Cruac users hard, fast and ruthlessly? Why, yes - it does. Otherwise, they'll go feed and come back when you're on 0 Willpower... most likely the next evening and tear you to shreds.

Those interested in Cruac more should visit Archived-Jahn's Guide to Cruac, and then be burned for being Heretics.

What's this sodding casting thing?

Casting Theban is an extended draw. That means you spend a single Willpower point to start casting. You keep casting until you:

A - Succeed (Yay!)

B - Stop casting (Um... ok...)

C - You get interrupted (Noooo!)

You need to get as many successes as the level of a ritual.

For instance, to cast Vitae Reliquary, a level 1 ritual, you need a total of 1 success. For Spear of Faith, a level 4 ritual, you need a total of 4 successes.

If you don't have enough successes on your first action, then next turn you can choose to continue casting and have another draw, until the above A, B or C occurs.

So... how many successes did I get?

Some rituals, not all, give a better bonus the more successes you get. The amount of successes is counted from your final draw, not the total of your extended action!!!

Examples are:

Valeron attempts to cast Legionnaire's Blessing, a level 3 ritual.

On his first turn, he draws average, and gets 2 successes. As a level 3 ritual, that's not enough.

The next turn, he draws again, and gets 1 success. Never the less, that adds up to 3, enough total successes for the ritual required.

However, Legionnaire's Blessing can only be used the number of rounds equal to the ritual draw. Sadly for Valeron, that is only one, as only the final draw counts, even though he had a total of 3 successes on the action.

Note that it is best to have a high enough pull to succeed on your first draw.

Theban Optimisation

Theban is not a "survival" power nor an outright attack power. It will not, in and of itself, save you or make you the harbinger of doomy doom doom. What it does - and does very well - is enhance your characters capabilities and survivability, whether that be offence, defence, or the party's ranged "Mage" stand in.

Each dot of Theban gives you access to all the rituals at that level, ergo you want the levels with the most effective rituals. Like Cruac, there are two main "exit points" for Theban that optimise xp expenditure, and they both affect sheet creation or where you sink your ingame xp.

The First "exit point" is either Theban Sorcery level 2 OR level 3. You can stop at level 2 or 3 and be quite happy for the rest of chronicle. Whether you stay at 2, or push a little bit extra to 3 depends on your characters focus. Level 2 can be for the light support character, whilst level 3 can be for the offence/defence character who buffs themselves. These levels give a variety of useful powers that will enhance a character but ultimately not be something to base a build around.

Theban 5 is the penultimate level for "Mayne" eventers. The true value in Theban 5 is that many Theban spells also apply bonuses based off the level of Theban you possess AND/OR can be precast before game.

Most Theban is success dependent. That is, the more successes on your draw the better the power is. This category also includes powers that are contested by other characters, as you want to maximise your pull so that resistance is not successful.

Boosting Your Theban Draw

A number of factors affect your ability to use Theban, as covered below.

Theban: Expensive and required. Either maximise it, or stop at the first break point, as covered above.

Intelligence: The second most expensive stat, but dependent on your clan can have great synergies (as expanded on below in “Clan / Bloodline Synergies with Theban”)

Academics: The cheapest of the three required stats. The cheapest to buy if you need to hit a damage cap.

Theban Rituals: There are some Theban rituals who's sole purpose is to buff your other Theban draws. It is recommended you at least get the "Sanguine Exaltation" ritual for a handy +2 to your Theban draws.

Willpower: Can't be used on in the first round of casting, but can be used in successive rounds. I recommend against this unless you Theban draw is particularly weak. Willpower is the bullets to the Theban gun, if you spend for buffing your draw that's less bullets for other rituals later on.

Merit - Inspiring: Whilst not technically a buff to your Theban Draw, it is worth considering having someone in the Parish with this Merit, as it restores a Willpower point. The more Willpower you have, the more Theban you can cast.

ALL rituals require an offering as a prerequisite to casting. Know what they are and ensure you have them available to you IC.

Clan / Bloodline Synergies with Theban

Several Clans, and their Bloodlines, have great synergy with Theban. There's many Bloodline disciplines that are boosted by Sanctity or Damned Radiance - far too many to mention.

Here, I'll be concentrating on those Clans / Bloodlines who predominantly synergise with Theban.

The Clan that really ticks a few boxes is unsurprisingly the Nosferatu. Not only can you elect to get a free composure dot at creation (adding to your Willpower total) but fluff wise the Nosferatu fit into the whole "be a scary motherfucker for God" thing. They used to have the Nosferatu flaw "swollen skull" for bonus to intelligence, but this is currently not sanctioned.

The Clan that gives a direct synergy is the Mekhet. Their choice of a free Intelligence dot is highly regarded, and can put you at Intelligence 4 or 5 quite easily. The added synergy of Intelligence to Theban and core powers of Obfuscate and Auspex is, lets be honest, rather alluring. You'll find that a lot of "glass canon" Theban builds will be Mekhet, in that they have great Theban and Auspex and/or Obfuscate pulls, but die horribly quickly in combat.

The Bloodline with arguably the biggest synergies to Theban is the Ventrue Icarians. Sure, you get to elect for a free dot of Resolve at creation (giving you a bigger Willpower pool). Sure, you get the indirect synergy of Intelligence through Theban and Dominate. BUT, the big draw here is the Icarian Bloodline Discipline, Constance. Constance is to Resolve, what Resilience is to Stamina. Basically, Constance provides Resolve dots equal to your dots in the power - meaning Icarians can easily outcast via volume any other PC in game, with any Icarian below BP6 feasibly having a total 15 WP to spend on rituals.

The second Bloodline that aligns with Theban is the Nosferatu Gethsemeni WHO ARE NOW NO LONGER SANTIONED (Boooooo). All the boxes as mentioned in the Nosferatu above are ticked, with the bonus of having GREAT flavour. Not only is their flavour just plain awesome, their Bloodline Discipline of Stigmatica is hot too. Stigmatica can take your PC to max Composure or Resolve (but not beyond your BP limits), thereby increasing your Willpower total. This means more Willpower to spend on Theban. Yay!

The final Bloodline is a Lancea Sanctum only one, but available to any clan - the Mortifiers of the Flesh. This means you can apply any of the Clan synergies above, and have the bonus of the Bloodline Discipline, Scourge. Scourge has indirect synergies with Theban, in that some Theban rituals buff certain Scourge draws, and Scourge effects in return debuff resistance to Theban.

All Bloodlines above have great flavour that fits the Lancea Sanctum. Please remember their additional negatives/flaws however.

You'll note no Mekhet (or Daeva / Gangrel) bloodlines mentioned. Basically, Bloodlines in those clans do not really provide major synergies with Theban outside of what is afforded to the Clan already. Theban may synergise with Bloodline or Clan disciplines, but not vice versa.

Appropriate Rituals for you!

This does not cover all rituals.

I've mentioned in the notes column if you should "pre-cast" rituals at game start.

Level One

Ritual Level	Ritual Name	Offering	Rough Synopsis	Notes
1	Blood Scourge	Vitae used in the ritual	Creates a whip of vitae which has a weapon bonus equal to your Theban dots, inflicts lethal, and lasts for activation successes in turns.	Below average ritual - only handy if you are a weaponry build and happen to be without a weapon. Skippable due to limited time duration.
1	Celibacy	Subjects sweat	Makes a human immune, or more resistant, to the "kiss".	FLUFF
1	Crown of Thorns	Thorny twig, swallowed	Bony thorns grow from a targets skull, giving 2 bashing and –5 penalty on Social actions. –2 penalty on Social actions if the damage is healed.	Good ritual - due mainly to the negative it imposes. It has been suggested this drops Cruac, Majesty and Nightmare pools. Consult your VST.
1	Hauberk of Blood	Vitae used in the ritual	For each activation success, can cover yourself (or another) in points of Vitae that auto-heal damage.	Mandatory! A nice buffer for those first lots of damage, meaning you can spend blood for stats or powers, instead of healing, to gain the upper hand. PRECAST
1	Messenger's Mark	Shaft of Rowan wood	Creates a spear-shaped mark on someone's chest	FLUFF
1	Paladin's Absolution	Image of an affected person	Activation successes grant a bonus on a Humanity roll to avoid a derangement	Below average at best - specifically because its for a derangement roll AFTER the humanity has been lost.
1	Sinner Song	Object of the Subject, associated with vice	Compels a subject to reveal her most recent sin	Good ritual - worth considering, and works well with Majesty or Liars Plague.
1	The Angel's Touch	...	Causes a section of a human's flesh to become immune to the sealing power of the Kiss	FLUFF - much like the Celibacy ritual
1	Theban Inscription	The materials used for the mark	Can leave a mark - be it words or a symbol - in virtually any surface	FLUFF - Niche ritual
1	Vitae Reliquary	The vessel of infusion	Stores an amount of Vitae in an ordinary object that can be carried in one hand.	Mandatory! Carry additional blood and surprisingly versatile (if you think laterally). PRECAST during downtime

Level Two

Ritual Level	Ritual Name	Offering	Rough Synopsis	Notes
2	Bird of Sin	A feather	Attacks a target for bashing with a phantasmal bird, one turn per activation success. The birds attack pool is 10 - targets Humanity and ignores Defence.	Average ritual - fine against low humanity enemies (such as crone), but the chance to dispel the ritual makes it skippable
2	Curse of Babel	A tongue	Leaves a victim speaking in tongues, unable to communicate. Even with written word.	Average ritual - Does what it does well, but situational. Ideal for whacking Dominate heavy (but non-possessing) Ventrue. A widely known Lancea Sanctum ability, so your unlikley to get away with just using it willy-nilly at court to counter someones Dominate.
2	Damned Radiance	A Mask	Adds dots in Theban Sorcery to all dice pools involving overt use of Presence	Good ritual - if you're a Daeva. Fantastic for stacking with Majesty
2	Liar's Plague	An insects carapace	If the target lies over the course of the scene, beetles swarm from their mouth	Good ritual - an iconic Lancea Sanctum ability and the go to ability for spotting lies. Decidedly NOT foolproof.
2	Lightning Rod	...	Produces an object that captures the sleeping dreams and regrets of Kindred, regaining extra Willpower from daysleep.	Above average ritual - but only if your going to be Theban heavy. More Willpower is always good!
2	Prison of Denial	Image or possession of the Exile	Target of this curse is forbidden to communicate with, look at or speak of another particular person (called the exile)	Mandatory! Obfuscate that can't be pierced by Auspex? Yes please! Uses of this ritual are wide and varied.
2	Resistance of Discipline	Judeo-Christian or Muslim Holy symbol	Gives yourself, or someone who can hear your voice, a retest on any power resisted with a contested action	Mandatory! Retests for you and your friends? Hells yes!
2	Sanctity	Decorative object, such as a tapestry	Infuses a single room with a bonus equal to dots in Theban. Skills affected: Academics, Empathy, Intimidation, Occult and Persuasion	Mandatory! Note the academics buff - meaning you can affectively buff any pre-cast Theban ritual along with the "Sanguine Exaltation" ritual. Empathy/Intimidation/Persuasion buffs for those Daeva, Nosferatu and Ventrue out there. PRECAST for precasting rituals
2	Sanguine Exaltation	A pearl and 2 Vitae	Focuses occult power into a vessel that gives +2 to one Theban roll. The object can be used by any Sanctified ritualist.	Mandatory! A simple and cheap +2 to Theban draws, which you can give to other Theban casters. Great buff in concert with the "Sanctity" ritual. PRECAST during downtime
2	Trap of Slumber	Crumb of sleep	The first mortal to approach the subject while the ritual is active may fall asleep, and cannot be awakened.	Below average ritual - only handy if you fear immediate daylight ambush by very few and under-prepared assailants
2	Wings of the Seraph	2 Raven feathers	This ritual adds a number to the sorcerer’s Speed equal to his Theban Sorcery dots, for each success rolled	Average ritual - can (and should) be pre-cast. Good for those that don't have celerity. PRECAST

Level Three

Ritual Level	Ritual Name	Offering	Rough Synopsis	Notes
3	Blandishment of Sin	Subjects name on aged paper	The target has his next wound upgraded in damage scale (ie. bashing to lethal, or lethal to aggravated)	Good ritual - another iconic ability, mainly for support characters, but worth picking up for most practitioners.
3	Blessing of Judas Thomas	...	Allows whoever it is cast on to quickly become acquainted with new surroundings, even if they are very different.	FLUFF - but potentially handy if your a diplomatic type
3	Blood Fire	A burning object	A foe that deals lethal/aggravated damage to the caster in close range is burned for activation successes in lethal, with a duration of hits per dots in Theban. Any armour worn subtracts from the damage.	Mandatory! A huge disincentive for people to stab Lancea Sanctum. Note that armour affects this rituals potential though, but that its successes are NOT capped by the damage cap. For example, if you get 8 successes that will allow you to exceed armour 5 and still do 3 lethal. PRECAST
3	Lash Beyond Death	Flesh from the Subject	Allows the subject to take a single action immediately after entering torpor or being dealt Final Death	Good ritual - and only not rated as mandatory since one person can apply it to others. Every Lancea Sanctum should have this ritual applied to them! PRECAST
3	Legionnaire's Blessing	The weapon blessed	Increases the damage rating of a weapon by the sorcerer’s dots in Theban. Bonus applies to a number of attacks equal to the activation successes.	Mandatory! Huge potential damage increase to weapons, for you and your friends. Reason why Blood Scourge is mainly redundant. PRECAST
3	Malediction of Despair	Lock of hair from the subject	Curses the targets next action, that your specify, to be a chance draw	Average ritual - great potential, but the logistics of obtaining the offering make it difficult to use with regularity
3	Micah's Hope	...	When faced with one's demise as a result of one's faith, become empowered with additional Presence and ignore wound penalties	FLUFF - get the merit iron stamina if you want to ignore wound penalties
3	Pharaoh's Paces	Gold, jade or sapphire	No-one can look at or touch the caster, and must stay at nine paces. Resisted by spending WIllpower and drawing extended actions, which must equal the activation successes to beat the ritual. Resisting characters CAN ONLY move their Speed.	Above average ritual - great for allowing an escape, or for prep time in an ambush combat
3	Sanguine Clarity	...	A suffusion of Vitae in a vampire entering torpor allows it to retain a slightly higher amount of memories from before the sleep	FLUFF
3	Scrivener's Eye	Scrap of aged paper	Allows the eiditic memory merit for months per intelligence dot	FLUFF - buy the eiditic memory merit... its permanent.
3	Vision of the Will	The vessel of infusion	Infuses an object with an intense psychic vision of your design. Whoever next touches the object receives this vision. Note: a person must actively touch the object, not just be touched by it.	Average ritual - handy ritual, and useful for messages, subterfuge or misdirection
3	Whispers through Time	...	Places a memory along with Vitae into a reliquary, allowing both to be retrieved at a later time.	FLUFF - but potentially useful in conjunction with Forgetful Mind

Level Four

Ritual Level	Ritual Name	Offering	Rough Synopsis	Notes
4	Call of Amoniel	A white bird	Allows the sorcerer to successfully awaken any time during the following day, may remain awake all day without an extended action.	Average ritual - great if you are expecting daytime ambush, just highly situational
4	Display of the Beast	A human skull	Turns caster or someone of his choosing into a manifestation of the beast. Kindred make an extended action to resist fear frenzy. Non-reflexive actions suffer a penalty equal to Theban dots. Must at least equal activation successes to resist frenzy. Mortals/ghouls must spend their turns fleeing.	Above average ritual - great for ambushes, especially ghoul hit-squads. The negative to non-reflexive actions is lovely.
4	Gift of Lazarus	...	Reanimates the dead, giving you a zombie for a week or two	Average ritual - fine if you want some temporary zombie henchmen, and your not a Sangiovanni
4	Mark of the Damned	Vitae used in the ritual	Can ward a haven against those who would trespass AND do harm to sleeping vampires. Trespasser intending to do harm take activation successes in lethal.	Below average ritual - A haven can only be affected by one Mark of the Damned, so a few lethal is not going to deter a daytime ambush. Further, this ritual can be circumvented by manchurian Dominate commands
4	Purifying Light	...	Mystically empowers a light source to allow it to expel possessing spirits. This ritual specifically also affect the Strix.	Above average ritual - though situational. Especially good to deal with Spirit Cruac crones or any Stryx plots that come your way
4	Sacred Haven	Crushed obsidian	Mystically prevents sunlight from entering a room area for a single day	Above average ritual - great ritual to have for emergency daytime havens
4	Song of the Prey	A living, thorn bearing tree	Causes subjects to approach the tree, sit down and enter a meditative trance. The vampire may then feed without disturbing the subject.	Above average ritual - great for those Kindred who want lots of easy Vitae. Saleable service to other covenants.
4	Spear of Faith	Metal spear pendant	Can attack a number of subjects equal to caster’s Theban dots with lethal damage, starting at equal to activation successes, and reducing by one per target. Targets can only be affected by one Spear of Faith per scene	Above average ritual - A great opener to any combat, particularly if you snipe it from range. [/wiki/index.php?title=Cardinal_Valeron_Mayne_Belotto My former Cardinal's] signature move.
4	Stigmata	A Crucifix	Cause a target to bleed from the wrists, feet and side. Kindred lose one Vitae each turn. The duration of the ritual is activation successes in rounds.	Average ritual - Relatively underpowered, UNLESS taken in concert by numerous casters. Once 3 casters hit the same person with this ritual, then it gets good!

Level Five

Ritual Level	Ritual Name	Offering	Rough Synopsis	Notes
5	Damned's Day	Casters own flesh	Draws forth thick clouds to blot out the sun. This allow vampires to only suffer a lethal every minute, rather than aggravated every turn. Takes at least an hour for the clouds to form.	Below average ritual - thematically cool, but hardly ever going to be used… especially considering the effects are NOT immediate
5	Fires of Vengeance	Casters Humanity (yes, it costs a humanity)	The sorcerer proclaims a sin (eg. Murderers!), anyone guilty within sight takes lethal from spiritual flame. Damage pool is 10 minus targets Humanity, which may be resisted.	Average ritual - Expensive to use, but in a 8/3 system and a good base draw, this ritual is passable... though still skippable.
5	Imprecation of Sin	A Cross or Spear	Infuses an area with an aura of sin. Ruins a building and any equipment in it. Its resonates with a Vice of the casters choosing. Anyone in the building is treated as having two Vices.	Above average ritual - Situational. great for Haven invasions as it ruins defence/security measures. Simply fantastic if you can do it on the sly and watch a coterie tear themselves apart.
5	Night of Hell	Victims blood/hair	Gives a sleeping or Torpored victim terrible visions of hell. Target gains a severe derangement and loses all Willpower. Torpid victims do not wake until roused. If roused, they immediately roll for frenzy.	Above average ritual - Situational. Good at really boning people when they're down, but that's the problem - it doesn't help you get them down. The effects are pretty cool though.
5	Piece of Mind	...	The mind of someone who is fully at peace is devoured, allowing for a peaceful torpor without the Fog of Eternity. Use of this ritual is a sin at Humanity 1.	CAPITAL FLUFF
5	Rain of Blood	Vitae used in the ritual	The sky or ceiling rains blood that does a Lethal per turn, with the caster choosing who is harmed. Can impose –5 penalty on actions (living victims may take an additional -4). Armour or Defence don't help.	Mandatory! A lethal per round to all your enemies in range? Sounds good. Be aware that the -5 likely affects everyone in range.
5	The Martyr's Miracle	Casters life	Sacrifices one's life in order to provide temporary protection from fire and sunlight.	SUPER-DOOPER CAPITAL FLUFF-EXTRORDINAIRE
5	Transubstantiation	Liquid gold	Transform one substance or object into another, as long as its equal or smaller Size than the caster, which must be within reach. Supernatural creatures are unaffected by Transubstantiation.	Below average ritual - Can be handy, but the severe limitations on the ritual (especially that it can't be used against supernaturals) make it eminently skippable
5	Wrathful Judgement	Casters eye or hand, and lots of Willpower	Deal aggravated and burns away Vitae from a target, per Willpower spent in the ritual. Can be done anywhere in the same domain IF you have a targets personal object. Subject to damage cap, and can only be hit once per night with it.	Mandatory! Every Theban 5 caster should have this. 5 Agg (or 6 if they're Mekhet) from range is nothing to sneeze at. The sheer dread and paranoia this power evokes makes it worth it.

Specific Ritual Notes

Hauberk of Blood

Remember, unless you have the huge size merit (or whatever the nWoD equivalent is), you can only put 5 traits of Vitae on you.

One single point of Aggravated Damage takes 'all 5 levels of your Hauberk off. Tactically, I find it best to put 4 points of vitae on you - as this still allows you to suck up 4 lethal or 8 bashing, which wont be voided by a single Agg strike. If you intend on facing Agg, consider buying Resilience 1 and 2 to deal with that.

Vitae Reliquary

Put Blood into everything!!!! Clothes, Walking sticks, Shoes, Armour, etc. If you're a weaponry build, don't put blood in your weapons though.

I found it useful to Reliquary "sweat bands". Innumerable of these can be worn on all extremities under your clothes, they stay in place, have minimal weight, and have zero impact on your movement. Win.

Reliquary can also be used in any number of lateral ways. Locked in a cell? Reliquary the bars on the window or some bricks in the wall. Not a weaponry build and someones cutting on you with a sword? Reliquary the weapon first turn they hit you, then absorb it the second hit to disarm the opponent. Got explosives that need defusing? Car engine that needs disabling? Bank vault that needs opening? Pretty much your imagination is the limit here... that, and that it'll take 2 rounds to do.

Prison of Denial

Essentailly a single target, unbreakable obfuscate. Make sure you have "personal" items of your own and your allies so that you can pop it off on yourself and them as being the "exile.

Sanguine Exaltation

Much like Vitae Reliqaury, produce these every downtime. Best used on a strng of pearls. Carry around said string of perals on your person ALL THE TIME.

Make sure you have a Willpower recovery mechanism in place during downtime.

Blandishment of Sin

Make sure you have a small diary with tabs of paper in it, each with an indiviual court members name on it. Organise alphabetically.

Blood Fire

The levels of blood fire are determined by the number of successes achieved on activation, and lasts for number of successful attacks in Theban dots (so, minimum 3 attacks).

As stated in the tables above, the successes of this ritual exceed the "damage cap", meaning that armour is subtracted from the levels of damage BEFORE the damage is applied. So, it is vitally important to precast this ritual whilst both under a Sanctity and with a Sanguine Exaltation.

Blood Fire states that is completely intangible to all persons except the attacker - meaning nobody, aside from the attacker, actually knows you have Blood Fire on. It also states that it cannot provoke frenzy from anyone it cannot harm, inplying that those it does harm DO have to frenzy check. Remember this.

Vision of the Will

I found it useful to "Vision of Will" a shirt I was wearing, which was then covered by a jacket that had "Vitae Reliquary" cast on it. Should anyone have grappled me, I absorbed the Reliquary Jacket, meaning the grappler now had hold of me via the shirt with the "vision" ritual on it. Instant grapple escape as opponent "stunned" for several turns.

If it's considered contentious that the grappler isn't intentionally touching the object, a free speech bubble of "You are touching my shirt, do you intend this" should suffice to remove the ambiguity. Watch in the future as people then try to grapple for weird body parts... and giggle.

Stigmata

Good as an first strike on Crones to reduce their Cruac capacity, just make sure you have atleast another person casting it on the same Crone to maximise your return.

Rain of Blood

The maximum of a –5 penalty on actions is at your volition, and can be lessened as you desire. Likewise, the default 40-yard diameter of the ritual can be decreased to whatever size the ritualist wants.

This ritual also states that only those the sorcerer wishes to harm are hurt by the rain, which I consider is contentious that your allies are affected by the penalty on actions. Regardless, it'll be upto your VST.

Theban Draws

This was the draw for when I played my LS Cardinal, Valeron (at BP6):

:* Intelligence 4 + Academics 6 + Theban 5 + Sanguine Exaltation 2 + Sanctity 5 = 22 base draw

People exiting at the first "exit point" of level 2 or 3 should, at minimum consider having a draw of:

:* Intelligence 3 + Academics 3 + Theban 2 (or 3) + Sanguine Exaltation 2 = 10 (or 11)

People heading towards Theban 5 should highly consider a draw similar to Valeron's.

Ultimate Theban Monkey's

If you want to be the Theban monkey with the Ultimate draw and damage cap, you will need:

BP6;
Ventrue/Mekhet/Nosferatu;
Intelligence 6;
Academics 6;
Composure 3, at minimum;
Resolve 3, at minimum (for a minimum Willpower pool of 6);
Willpower 7 (Extra xp may be need to spent here);
Theban 5; and
Rituals Sanctity and Sanguine Exaltation.

That is a HUGE outlay though, and you'll need some friends to keep you alive when (and it will) shit goes down.

If you pursue this path, your Theban Pool will be a disgusting:

Intelligence 6 + Academics 6 + Theban 5 + Sanguine Exaltation 2 + Sanctity 5 = 24, with a damage cap of 6

Even if you enter play on BP5, Intelligence 5 and Academics 5 - your draw will still be 22.

The rationale behind the BP6 and the 6 dot stats is to increase your Damage cap. You do not have to push both Intelligence AND Academics to do this. If you wanted to push damage cap to 6, but save yourself a little xp (30xp), only buff Academics to 6 and be happy with a draw of 25.

As an example of the power - this build can do 6 agg to anyone, and 7 agg to a Mekhet.

If you want the Theban monkey with the greatest output, you will need:

Ventrue;
Bloodline - Icarian;
Composure 5;
Resolve 5;
Bloodline Discipline - Constance 5;
Theban 3, at minimum; and
Rituals Sanctity and Sanguine Exaltation.

Not as hefty outlay as the previous example, not as disgusting in offensive potential, but still nothing to be sneezed at.

That's a pool of 15 Willpower this build has access to. That's a lot of Hauberks of Blood, Legionnaire's Blessings and Blandishments of Sin that can be output.

Sample Builds

Best ritual at each level in italics.

Basic

This is essentially for those that want a little bit of useful Theban.

The Basic Support Class - can easily stop at Level 2

:* Level One: Hauberk of Blood, Crown of Thorns

Level Two: Prison of Denial, Sanguine Exaltation, Resistance of Discipline, Liars Plague, Bird of Sin, Sanctity
Level Three: Legionnaires Blessing, Blood Fire, Blandishment of Sin, Lash beyond Death
Plus the Veridical Tongue devotion

The Basic ranged sniper - can stop at Level 2

:* Level One: Crown of Thorns

Level Two: Prison of Denial, Bird of Sin, Sanguine Exaltation, Sanctity
Level Three: Blood Fire, Blandishment of Sin

The Basic self sufficient combatant - level 3 is where its at for you

:* Level One: Hauberk of Blood, Vitae Reliquary

Level Two: Prison of Denial, Resistance of Discipline, Wings of the Seraph, Sanctity
Level Three: Blood Fire, Legionnaires Blessing, Blandishment of Sin
Plus any number of weaponry based Fighting Styles

The Buff-bot

Those that want to buff their chums with Theban 5. Willpower maxxed to 10 should be highly considered. This is likely the most valuable build to a coterie (one of whom should have the merit: Inspiring).

Level One: Hauberk of Blood, Vitae Reliquary, Paladin's Absolution
Level Two: Sanctity, Sanguine Exaltation, Resistance of Discipline, Lightning Rod
Level Three: Legionnaire's Blessing, Blandishment of Sin, Lash Beyond Death, Blood Fire (note: this is for yourself)
Level Four: Song of the Prey, Spear of Faith
Level Five: Rain of Blood, Wrathful Judgement

The Paranoid

Those that are paranoid and have Theban 5.

Level One: Sinners Song
Level Two: Prison of Denial, Resistance of Discipline, Wings of the Seraph, Lightning Rod
Level Three: Blood Fire, Pharaoh's Paces,
Level Four: Call of Amonial, Display of Beast, Sacred Haven
Level Five: Rain of Blood, Damned's Day

The Ranged Coterie of Three

This is for a coterie of 3 Theban casters. Bird of Sin and Stigmata can be hit multiple times per target, whilst Blandishment of Sin increases lethality.

Level One: Vitae Reliquary
Level Two: Prison of Denial, Sanguine Exaltation, Resistance of Discipline, Bird of Sin
Level Three: Blood Fire, Blandishment of Sin, Pharaoh's Paces
Level Four: Spear of Faith, Stigmata
Level Five: Rain of Blood

The Warrior of God

Those that are the walking will of GOD!!!

Level One: Hauberk of Blood, Vitae Reliquary
Level Two: Prison of Denial, Damned Radiance, Sanguine Exaltation, Sanctity, Resistance of Discipline, Bird of Sin
Level Three: Blood Fire, Blandishment of Sin, Lash Beyond Death, Legionnaire's Blessing
Level Four: Spear of Faith, Stigmata, Display of Beast, Purifying Light
Level Five: Rain of Blood, Wrathful Judgement, Night of Hell, Fires of Vengeance

Handy Dandy Combo's

Frigid (pure FLUFF) - Make a human frigid to feeding!

Celibacy (lvl 1) + The Angel's Touch (lvl 1)

Don't Stab Me - ablate damage, but then turn the tables once that's gone!

Hauberk of Blood (lvl 1) + Blood Fire (lvl 3)
note: can be combined with Reciprocation (below)

Confess BITCH - Spills the beans, and truthfully!

Sinner Song (lvl 1) + Liars Plague (lvl 2) + Revelate (Majesty 2) + Veridical Tongue (Devotion: Majesty/Dominate)

Weight of Sin - Have Sin be a heavy burden, in the form of Lethal!

Blandishment of Sin (lvl 3) + Bird of Sin (lvl 2)

Reciprocation - Give more back than someone bargained for!

Blandishment of Sin (lvl 3) + Blood Fire (lvl 3)

Untouchable - Make it difficult for people to get near!

Entrancement (Majesty 3) + Pharaoh's Paces (lvl 3)
note: If your higher BP, targets of Entrancement must spend a WP per turn to ignore the effect, meaning no Willpower to resist Pharaoh's Paces

Just get the fuck away - Emphatically keep people away... at least, temporarily!

Display of Beast (lvl 4) + Pharaoh's Paces (lvl 3)

:* Daytime warrior - So, your expecting a daytime ambush!

Call of Amoniel (lvl 4) + Sacred Haven (lvl 4) + Display of Beast (lvl 4)

:* It's ouch time - A nice lead into any combat!

Blandishment of Sin (lvl 3) + Spear of Faith (lvl 4)
note: certainly my favourite lead in with prep time, anyway

:* Nighty night - Well and truly bone someone sleeping/torpid!

Night of Hell (lvl 5) + Malediction of Despair (lvl 3)
note: The curse of Malediction should be on "resisting frenzy"

Wrap up

As you can see with Theban, the glut of really useful, good rituals occurs at levels 2 and 3. Levels 4 and 5 offer relatively few rituals worth their bang for their buck.

You'll note that Sanctity, Sanguine Exaltation, Prison of Denial and Blood Fire feature heavily throughout.

Hope you've enjoyed this, and that it helps your separate the gold from the FLUFF. Cheers.

Archived-Corey's Guide to Theban