Difference between revisions of "Jahn's Guide to Cruac"

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=Under Construction=
 
  
 
==Contents==
 
==Contents==
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====Bah, Theban is better than Cruac!====
 
====Bah, Theban is better than Cruac!====
  
−
You bet it is! Theban is a lot more direct and straight forward than Cruac. Its combat ability is well known and unabashed. But seriously - that is not to say you should underestimate Cruac.
+
False. Theban is more direct and has more clear combat powers, but Cruac offers a superior toolbox and can be applied with greater creative thinking (More on this later).
  
−
On the contrary:
+
In Particular:
−
 
+
* Theban costs Willpower. Willpower is far more limited and harder to replace than Vitae.
−
:* Cruac practitioners can out cast you 2 to 1. Our Willpower total is limited;
+
* Theban has specific item requirements for their ritual casting. Few things are more hilarious than a Theban sorcerer casting Prisoner of Denial (Offering is to burn an image of the target) and having to frenzy away.
−
:* Many Cruac rituals favour subterfuge/misdirection over direct conflict, meaning you usually don't see it till you're bent over a barrel;
+
* Cruac can help you a myriad ways outside of game, both before it and during downtime. Theban rarely does such.
−
:* 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 [[Jahn's Guide to Cruac]], and then be burned for being Heretics.'''
 
  
 +
'''Those interested in Theban more should visit [[Corey's Guide to Theban]], and then be devoured for being Heretics.'''
  
  
 
====What's this sodding casting thing?====
 
====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:
+
Casting Cruac is an extended draw. That means you spend a point of blood to start casting. You keep casting until you:
  
 
A - Succeed (Yay!)
 
A - Succeed (Yay!)
Line 52: Line 46:
 
You need to get as many successes as the level of a ritual.
 
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.
+
For instance, to cast Drops of Destiny, a level 1 ritual, you need a total of 1 success. For Maw of the Crone, a level 5 ritual, you need a total of 5 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.
 
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.
Line 64: Line 58:
 
Examples are:
 
Examples are:
  
−
: Valeron attempts to cast Legionnaire's Blessing, a level 3 ritual.
+
: Boris attempts to cast Blood Blight, a level 5 ritual.
 +
 
 +
: On his first turn, he rolls average, and gets 3 successes. As a level 5 ritual, that's not enough.
 +
 
 +
: The next turn, he rolls again, and gets 2 success. Never the less, that adds up to 5, enough total successes for the ritual required.
 +
 
 +
: The power goes off, but is treated as having two successes for how much damage it inflicts, a lot less impressive than Boris hoped.
  
−
: On his first turn, he draws average, and gets 2 successes. As a level 3 ritual, that's not enough.
+
Because of this it is best to have a high enough pull to succeed on your first roll, though this can alleviated by selecting rituals that are not dependent on more succeses to be effective.
  
−
: 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.
+
====The Ignored Modifiers====
  
−
: 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.
+
The majority of Disciplines have a list of situational modifiers, Cruac only has two but they can both be major if used.
  
−
Note that it is best to have a high enough pull to succeed on your first draw.
+
1) A +4 if used on someone you have a blood tie. Most noteworthy with the [[Jahn's_Guide_to_Cruac#Level_Two|Cheval]] Ritual. This is huge for the Mnemosyne Bloodline in particular.
  
 +
2) A -1 to a -5 when rushed or distracted, such as by pursuit or '''combat'''.
  
 +
In general both these modifiers are ignored and rolls are neutral. If the second point is an issue, it can be offset by [[Jahn's_Guide_to_Cruac#Footnotes|Meditation rolls]].
  
−
====Theban Optimisation====
+
===Cruac 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 Cruac gives you access to all the rituals at that level, ergo you want the levels with the most effective rituals. Like Theban, there are two main "exit points" for Cruac that optimise xp expenditure, and they both affect sheet creation or where you sink your in game xp.
  
 +
The first exit point is at level two (2). I am of the view that every Crone should buy up to Cruac 2, as the cost is not exorbitant and this level has some of the best rituals.
  
−
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 second point is sadly all the way up at five (5). Three (3) and four (4) aren't a waste, but the gains are limited, particularly if you don't aspire to get to the highest level. Be warned that '''Cruac five is very expensive'''.
  
 +
Cruac rituals fall into two camps, the first only requires enough successes to pass the ritual or are cast when you are not in a hurry, the second is reliant on high successes for best effect. You can build to the former and have a modest Cruac pull, or you can go for the second which requires some stacking.
  
−
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.
+
Which of the above two camps also affects your ideal casting pull. Dice obviously add a degree of random probability alas, but simulated rolls provide the following key points:
  
 +
* The level 2 break generally implies you want that many successes most of the time. A pull of 6 should yield that about 75% of the time.
 +
* At level 5, and desiring to maximise your successes, aim for as high a pool as possible. A pool of 16 should produce five successes about 60% of the time, but that is a big number to reach, though not impossible.
  
−
Theban 5 is the penultimate level for [[Cardinal Valeron Mayne Belotto|"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.
+
====Boosting Your Cruac Draw====
  
 +
A number of factors affect your ability to use Cruac, as covered below.
  
−
'''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.
+
'''The Discipline - Cruac:''' Expensive and required. Either maximise it, or stop at the first break point, as covered above.
  
 +
'''Attribute - Manipulation:''' The second most expensive stat, but dependent on your clan can have great synergies (as expanded on below in “Clan / Bloodline Synergies with Cruac”)
  
 +
'''Skill - Occult:''' The cheapest of the three required stats. It is the cheapest to buy if you need to hit the damage cap, but that is extremely rare for Cruac rituals.
  
−
===Boosting Your Theban Draw===
+
'''Derived Stat - Willpower:''' A strength of Cruac is that willpower can be spent freely. If you have a success required Cruac build, use the hell out of it.
  
−
A number of factors affect your ability to use Theban, as covered below.
+
'''Merit - Altar:''' Altar is a cheap merit from the Crone book. It boosts Cruac draws, but you essentially have to be at your haven. It is ideal for the dabbler Cruac user or someone willing to be inconvenienced to maximise their Cruac draw.
  
−
'''Theban:''' Expensive and required. Either maximise it, or stop at the first break point, as covered above.
+
'''Merit - Necropolis - Sepulcher:''' Gain a bonus to a particular skill roll. Pick Occult. Potential to be denied by the relevant ST, in which case go for Dark Temple.
  
−
'''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”)
+
'''Merit - Necropolis - Dark Temple:''' Straight boost to Cruac. Put your Altar here as well.
  
−
'''Academics:''' The cheapest of the three required stats. The cheapest to buy if you need to hit a damage cap.
+
'''Merit - Undead Menses:''' Gangrel only, the special vitae produced gives a bonus to Cruac rolls.
  
−
'''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.
+
'''Ritual - Sacrifice of Odin:''' Level 4 Ritual, boosts your Willpower spends.
  
−
'''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.
+
'''Discipline - Taurobolium:''' The bloodline Discipline of the Galloi boosts Cruac draws, but a Galloi cannot use the discipline on themselves if there's two of you or you have a buddy, be their best buddy!
  
−
'''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.
+
====Clan / Bloodline Synergies with Cruac====
  
−
'''ALL''' rituals require an offering as a prerequisite to casting. Know what they are and ensure you have them available to you IC.
+
Several Clans, and their Bloodlines, have great synergy with Cruac. Any such affiliation utilising a power that employs either Manipulation or Occult in its draws happily doubles up.
  
 +
* Clan Nosferatu - Can benefit from the Necropolis merit mentioned above, can become Galloi (See below). Nightmare also has multiple powers that run off Manipulation.
  
 +
* Clan Daeva - Free dot of Manipulation, Majesty synergy.
  
−
====Clan / Bloodline Synergies with Theban====
+
* Clan Gangrel - Can use Undead Menses as above and their clan weakness doesn't matter to Cruac, but they lag behind the two clans above.
  
−
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.
+
* Bloodline Galloi - An odd case, in that their unique discipline is great on a Cruac user but cannot be employed on themselves.
  
−
Here, I'll be concentrating on those Clans / Bloodlines who predominantly synergise with Theban.
+
* Bloodline Mnemosyne - Can use their bloodline discipline to boost a mental skill roll. Like Occult. Also can abuse the [[Jahn's_Guide_to_Cruac#The_Ignored_Modifiers|Blood Tie angle.]]
  
−
* The Clan that really ticks a lot of boxes is unsurprisingly the Nosferatu. Not only can you elect to get a free composure dot at creation (adding to your Willpower total), not only do the Nosferatu fit into the whole "be a scary motherfucker for God" shtick, but you can also elect to take the Nosferatu flaw "swollen skull" - which adds +1 Intelligence at the cost of -1 Stamina (answer: buy Resilience 1). This bonus (and the subsequent negative) increases to 2 if you have BP5 or greater. This is huge.
+
===Feeding===
  
−
* 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. It has the benefit of not giving you a negative to stamina, such as with the Nosferatu above. 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 or Obfuscate, but die horribly quickly in combat.
+
While in general blood is more available than willpower, the exact amount you'll have will vary. Unfortunately there isn't a clear cut answer here, as it all depends on the system utilised by the relevant ST for the venue.  
  
−
* 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 the 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 book default system is a single D10 Blood draw + relevant merits. It can be painful, you want blood for Cruac but the supporting merits don't come cheap. Things to do/check:
  
−
* The second Bloodline that aligns with Theban is the Nosferatu Gethsemeni. 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!
+
* Do they allow downtime actions to produce extra blood? If they do then burn those action, two at least each month. If this option is available you can skip buying any feeding related merits.
  
−
* 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.
+
* Haven Location. Combined with allies, Haven merits can be very cheap. If you can find five Crone all willing to throw 2xp into the shared haven merit then you all get +5 to your blood pool, you can conceivably get away with that.
  
−
All Bloodlines above have great flavour that fits the Lancea Sanctum. Please remember their additional negatives/flaws however.
+
* Herd. No sharing, so more expensive, but has the joy of not disappearing with PC/players that die/stop coming to game.
  
−
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.
+
* Do they do feeding scenes at game? Storyteller reliant, and the success/worth of doing so is dependent on their views. If relatively risk free, may well replace the need for the above merits.
  
 +
==Rituals==
  
 +
Always check the [http://www.jessilaurn.com/globaladdenda Addenda] in case an update has changed a ritual or placed a limitation on it.
  
−
====Appropriate Rituals for you!====
+
To find the source for a ritual for the full write up check the source and page number at the [http://www.jessilaurn.com/genredirectories Genre Directory].
  
−
This does not cover all rituals.
+
===Fluff Disclaimer===
  
−
I've mentioned in the notes column if you should "pre-cast" rituals at game start.
+
When something is down as "Fluff" that doesn't necessarily make it worthless, but that it lends itself to roleplay opportunities rather than strict mechanical advantage.
  
 
===Level One===
 
===Level One===
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! scope="col" | Ritual Level
 
! scope="col" | Ritual Level
 
! scope="col" | Ritual Name
 
! scope="col" | Ritual Name
−
! scope="col" | Offering
+
! scope="col" | Success Dependent
 
! scope="col" | Rough Synopsis
 
! scope="col" | Rough Synopsis
 
! scope="col" | Notes
 
! scope="col" | Notes
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1
 
| 1
−
| Blood Scourge
+
| Abduction to the Underworld/The Appeasement of Demeter
−
| 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.
+
| Shortens the length of torpor, and makes it easier to recall slumber visions.  
−
| Below average ritual - only handy if you are a weaponry build and happen to be without a weapon. Skippable due to limited time duration.
+
| Fluff
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1
 
| 1
−
| Celibacy
+
| Balancing the Four Humors
−
| Subjects sweat
+
| No
−
| Makes a human immune, or more resistant, to the "kiss".
+
| Caster doesn't suffer environmental penalties.
−
| FLUFF
+
| Situational, hilarious for countering the penalty inflicted by Rain (Below) or Rain of Blood (Theban). Note that it lasts until sunrise, if you have the vitae this can be cast at the beginning of the night.
 +
|-
 +
| 1
 +
| Blood Witness
 +
| No
 +
| Smear an area with Vitae. May remotely observe the area from the spilled blood
 +
| Situational, Auspex and Cheval are superior.
 +
|-
 +
| 1
 +
| Confidence in Adversity
 +
| No
 +
| Caster loses 10-Again on all rolls, but regains one Willpower at the end of the scene.
 +
| Awesome. Take it. Burn willpower as much as you want, cast this before social/travel scenes.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1
 
| 1
−
| Crown of Thorns
+
| Drop's of Destiny
−
| Thorny twig, swallowed
+
| No
−
| 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.
+
| Generates a cryptic prophecy
−
| Good ritual - due mainly to the negative it imposes. It has been suggested this drops Cruac, Majesty and Nightmare pools. Consult your VST.
+
| ST dependent, practical limitations of not actually knowing the future.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1
 
| 1
−
| Hauberk of Blood
+
| Fires of Inspiration
−
| Vitae used in the ritual
+
| No
−
| For each activation success, can cover yourself (or another) in points of Vitae that auto-heal damage.
+
| For one night, add Cruac to all Craft or Expression rolls to create art, but penalizes rolls to create anything else.
−
| '''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'''
+
| Fluff (Exception: See A Child From The Stone expanded write up below)
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1
 
| 1
−
| Messenger's Mark
+
| Pangs of Prosperina
−
| Shaft of Rowan wood
+
| No
−
| Creates a spear-shaped mark on someone's chest
+
| The target is overcome with hunger and must feed, be they kindred, mortal, or other.
−
| FLUFF
+
| Fluff
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1
 
| 1
−
| Paladin's Absolution
+
| Pythian Renewal
−
| Image of an affected person
+
| No
−
| Activation successes grant a bonus on a Humanity roll to avoid a derangement
+
| The subject appears to grow twenty years younger for a number of hours.
−
| Below average at best - specifically because its for a derangement roll AFTER the humanity has been lost.
+
| Fluff
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1
 
| 1
−
| Sinner Song
+
| Rigor Mortis
−
| Object of the Subject, associated with vice
+
| Yes
−
| Compels a subject to reveal her most recent sin
+
| Target Vampire suffers a penalty equal to the successes on their next physical action.
−
| Good ritual - worth considering, and works well with Majesty or Liars Plague.
+
| Limited use. Specifically if you'd otherwise be standing in the background of a combat doing nothing, then this is preferable.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1
 
| 1
−
| The Angel's Touch
+
| Spring Sanctification
−
| ...
+
| No
−
| Causes a section of a human's flesh to become immune to the sealing power of the Kiss
+
| A rite of the vernal equinox, allowing for a cow's blood to be nourishing to any Kindred.
−
| FLUFF - much like the Celibacy ritual
+
| Extreme fluff.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1
 
| 1
−
| Theban Inscription
+
| Taste of Knowledge
−
| The materials used for the mark
+
| No
−
| Can leave a mark - be it words or a symbol - in virtually any surface
+
| Used during feeding, this ritual allows the caster to learn one secret of immediate importance to the victim.
−
| FLUFF - Niche ritual
+
| Fluff
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 1
 
| 1
−
| Vitae Reliquary
+
| Visage of the Crone
−
| The vessel of infusion
+
| No
−
| Stores an amount of Vitae in an ordinary object that can be carried in one hand.
+
| The subject appears to age ten years for a number of hours.
−
| '''Mandatory!''' Carry additional blood and surprisingly versatile (if you think laterally). '''PRECAST''' during downtime
+
| Fluff
 
|}
 
|}
  
Line 217: Line 242:
 
! scope="col" | Ritual Level
 
! scope="col" | Ritual Level
 
! scope="col" | Ritual Name
 
! scope="col" | Ritual Name
−
! scope="col" | Offering
+
! scope="col" | Success Dependent
 
! scope="col" | Rough Synopsis
 
! scope="col" | Rough Synopsis
 
! scope="col" | Notes
 
! scope="col" | Notes
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2
 
| 2
−
| Bird of Sin
+
| Barrier of Blood
−
| A feather
+
| Yes
−
| 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.
+
| Blood must be applied to doors and other portals, vampires with less blood potency than the caster cannot cross the barrier without suffering damage.
−
| Average ritual - fine against low humanity enemies (such as crone), but the chance to dispel the ritual makes it skippable
+
| Good, but dependent on BP 4+, not liable to work on developed combat characters. Can be used to create a [[Jahn's_Guide_to_Cruac#Footnotes|kill box]] on vulnerable characters, or breaking Obfuscate.
 +
|-
 +
| 2
 +
| Cernunno's Horn
 +
| No
 +
| You can breed a horrible monster with a mortal.
 +
| Not Sanctioned
 +
|-
 +
| 2
 +
| Cheval
 +
| Yes
 +
| The victim's senses may be shared by the caster at will for one night per success.
 +
| GOLD, use it on friends, enemies, minions, use it everywhere!
 +
|-
 +
| 2
 +
| Heliolater's Warning, The
 +
| No
 +
| Helps the Caster wake up and react in the day.
 +
| FLUFF, unless your VST is down for Downtime attacks, even then still situational.
 +
|-
 +
| 2
 +
| Hydra's Vitae
 +
| No
 +
| Transform's the caster's vitae into a poison, which inflicts lethal damage on mortals and vampires who attempt to consume it.
 +
| Situational. Hilarious against Husk using Carthian's.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2
 
| 2
−
| Curse of Babel
+
| Maiden Skin
−
| A tongue
+
| Yes
−
| Leaves a victim speaking in tongues, unable to communicate. Even with written word.
+
| Grants temporary armor against attacks that would break the skin
−
| 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.
+
| Situational. Difficulty is short duration and requiring a maximised casting pool.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2
 
| 2
−
| Damned Radiance
+
| Painted Fears
−
| A Mask
+
| No
−
| Adds dots in Theban Sorcery to all dice pools involving overt use of Presence
+
| Creates a piece of artwork that makes viewers fear the subject matter.
−
| Good ritual - if you're a Daeva. '''Fantastic''' for stacking with Majesty
+
| Situational, potential gold. [[Jahn's_Guide_to_Cruac#Painted_Fears|Expanded below.]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2
 
| 2
−
| Liar's Plague
+
| Path of Thorns
−
| An insects carapace
+
| Yes
−
| If the target lies over the course of the scene, beetles swarm from their mouth
+
| Creates a field surrounding the caster, any entering it suffer damage from spiritual thorns, which lasts for several turns.
−
| Good ritual - an iconic Lancea Sanctum ability and the go to ability for spotting lies. Decidedly '''NOT''' foolproof.
+
| Gold, group combats
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2
 
| 2
−
| Lightning Rod
+
| Prey's Blood
−
| ...
+
| Yes
−
| Produces an object that captures the sleeping dreams and regrets of Kindred, regaining extra Willpower from daysleep.
+
| Gain significant bonuses to track a mortal, or penalized ones to track Kindred.
−
| Above average ritual - but '''only''' if your going to be Theban heavy. More Willpower is always good!
+
| Gangrel Only, GOLD
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2
 
| 2
−
| Prison of Denial
+
| Rex Sanguis Sacrorum
−
| Image or possession of the Exile
+
| No
−
| Target of this curse is forbidden to communicate with, look at or speak of another particular person (called the exile)
+
| Uses a sacrifice to temporarily allow the ritualist to see the entirety of her past.
−
| '''Mandatory!''' Obfuscate that can't be pierced by Auspex? Yes please! Uses of this ritual are wide and varied.
+
| Fluff
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2
 
| 2
−
| Resistance of Discipline
+
| Rite of the Bloody Crossroads
−
| Judeo-Christian or Muslim Holy symbol
+
| No
−
| Gives yourself, or someone who can hear your voice, a retest on any power resisted with a contested action
+
| Allows the ritualist to predict when people with murderous intent are coming to the targeted location.
−
| '''Mandatory!''' Retests for you and your friends? Hells yes!
+
| Potential, as can be used to set up the Haven Defence powers in time, or detect people intending to kill you at the game location. Mid Approval, City Specific.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2
 
| 2
−
| Sanctity
+
| Rite of the Circle Path
−
| Decorative object, such as a tapestry
+
| No
−
| Infuses a single room with a bonus equal to dots in Theban. Skills affected: Academics, Empathy, Intimidation, Occult and Persuasion
+
| Reveals a fateful meeting between two people or objects.
−
| '''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
+
| Fluff, City Specific
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2
 
| 2
−
| Sanguine Exaltation
+
| Soul's Work
−
| A pearl and 2 Vitae
+
| No
−
| Focuses occult power into a vessel that gives +2 to one Theban roll. The object can be used by any Sanctified ritualist.
+
| Invest Willpower points into a work of art, which may later be used to perform an action that corresponds to the art form.
−
| '''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
+
| If your Willpower pool is low, worthwhile. Otherwise just take Confidence in Adversity.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2
 
| 2
−
| Trap of Slumber
+
| Succulent Buboes
−
| Crumb of sleep
+
| Yes
−
| The first mortal to approach the subject while the ritual is active may fall asleep, and cannot be awakened.
+
| Transfer Vitae from within the body into lymph nodes, potentially storing Vitae well above what Blood Potency would allow.
−
| Below average ritual - only handy if you fear immediate daylight ambush by very few and under-prepared assailants
+
| Gold or Rubbish, read the "feeding" system section. If blood is freely available, this is worth it.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 2
 
| 2
−
| Wings of the Seraph
+
| Wisdom of the Soul
−
| 2 Raven feathers
+
| No
−
| This ritual adds a number to the sorcerer’s Speed equal to his Theban Sorcery dots, for each success rolled
+
| Enter a trance and create a prophetic work of art; may later re-roll any one roll that night.
−
| Average ritual - can (and should) be pre-cast. Good for those that don't have celerity. '''PRECAST'''
+
| UTTER GOLD. Every Crone should have it. [[Jahn's_Guide_to_Cruac#Wisdom_of_the_Soul|See below.]]
 
|}
 
|}
  
Line 293: Line 342:
 
! scope="col" | Ritual Level
 
! scope="col" | Ritual Level
 
! scope="col" | Ritual Name
 
! scope="col" | Ritual Name
−
! scope="col" | Offering
+
! scope="col" | Success Dependent
 
! scope="col" | Rough Synopsis
 
! scope="col" | Rough Synopsis
 
! scope="col" | Notes
 
! scope="col" | Notes
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 3
 
| 3
−
| Blandishment of Sin
+
| Beloved Deodand
−
| Subjects name on aged paper
+
|
−
| The target has his next wound upgraded in damage scale (ie. bashing to lethal, or lethal to aggravated)
+
| Cast on a murder weapon, when it is used again steal blood from the victim.
−
| Good ritual - another iconic ability, mainly for support characters, but worth picking up for most practitioners.
+
| Meh. With some painful set up can work, but generally not worth the effort.
 +
|-
 +
| 3
 +
| Blood Portrait
 +
|
 +
| Uses a person's blood to create a living portrait of themselves.
 +
| Reserved by the MST office.
 +
|-
 +
| 3
 +
| Deflection of Wooden Doom
 +
| No
 +
| Caster becomes immune to staking for one night
 +
| Utter rubbish at present rules, when it is relatively simple to knock someone into torpor compared to trying to stake them.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 3
 
| 3
−
| Blessing of Judas Thomas
+
| Doorways of Eyes and Mind
−
| ...
+
| No
−
| Allows whoever it is cast on to quickly become acquainted with new surroundings, even if they are very different.
+
| Keeps the mind of a torpid vampire awake and active throughout the duration of torpor.
−
| FLUFF - but potentially handy if your a diplomatic type
+
| Fluff
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 3
 
| 3
−
| Blood Fire
+
| Final Service of the Slave
−
| A burning object
+
| No
−
| 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.
+
| Sacrifice a Retainer, gain temporary increase in skill or re-spend the lost experience on a skill the Retainer had.
−
| '''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'''
+
| Fluff. Funny if you want to sacrifice Retainers in front of people.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 3
 
| 3
−
| Lash Beyond Death
+
| Fire the Cauldron
−
| Flesh from the Subject
+
| No
−
| Allows the subject to take a single action immediately after entering torpor or being dealt Final Death
+
| Permits a female Kindred to carry a Dhampir child.
−
| 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'''
+
| Not Sanctioned.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 3
 
| 3
−
| Legionnaire's Blessing
+
| Flower of Demeter
−
| The weapon blessed
+
| No
−
| 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.
+
| Grow a flower fed by mortal blood; grants a bonus to Craft and Expression. Swallowing the flower grants 24 hours of the blush of life.
−
| '''Mandatory!''' Huge potential damage increase to weapons, for you and your friends. Reason why Blood Scourge is mainly redundant. '''PRECAST'''
+
| Fluff. Can be great role playing wise.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 3
 
| 3
−
| Malediction of Despair
+
| Hag Mask
−
| Lock of hair from the subject
+
|  
−
| Curses the targets next action, that your specify, to be a chance draw
+
| Allows the user to increase her Defence or Intimidation, at the cost of severe ugliness.
−
| Average ritual - great potential, but the logistics of obtaining the offering make it difficult to use with regularity
+
| Situational, combat uses if you have an applicable build or if you have a power that functions off Intimidate. Can only improve Intimidation or Defence (Addenda)
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 3
 
| 3
−
| Micah's Hope
+
| Metamorphosis
−
| ...
+
| No
−
| When faced with one's demise as a result of one's faith, become empowered with additional Presence and ignore wound penalties
+
| Prepares a temple using the ritualist's blood, giving the user a number of benefits while in the temple.
−
| FLUFF - get the merit iron stamina if you want to ignore wound penalties
+
| Situational. If a hit is coming or that games at the temple, go nuts. Sacrifice dependent.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 3
 
| 3
−
| Pharaoh's Paces
+
| Rain
−
| Gold, jade or sapphire
+
| No
−
| 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.
+
| Cause it to rain, inflicting penalties to relevant rolls.
−
| Above average ritual - great for allowing an escape, or for prep time in an ambush combat
+
| Fluff unless paired with Balancing the Four Humours.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 3
 
| 3
−
| Sanguine Clarity
+
| Song of the Blood
−
| ...
+
| No
−
| A suffusion of Vitae in a vampire entering torpor allows it to retain a slightly higher amount of memories from before the sleep
+
| Strengthens blood ties for one night, such that relatives can sense through them at any distance.
−
| FLUFF
+
| Fluff.
 +
|-
 +
| 3
 +
| Taste of Destiny
 +
| No
 +
| Gain insight into a future event; when the prophesied event comes to pass, regain the first three Willpower spent on rolls that do not succeed
 +
| ST dependent.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 3
 
| 3
−
| Scrivener's Eye
+
| Tiamat Offspring
−
| Scrap of aged paper
+
| N/a
−
| Allows the eiditic memory merit for months per intelligence dot
+
| Creates a homunculus servant.
−
| FLUFF - buy the eiditic memory merit... its permanent.
+
| Gold, see [[Jahn's_Guide_to_Cruac#Tiamat_Offspring.2FA_Child_From_The_Stones  |expanded points]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 3
 
| 3
−
| Vision of the Will
+
| Tickblood
−
| The vessel of infusion
+
| No
−
| 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.
+
| Cause a mortal to generate an increased quantity of Vitae over the next few days.
−
| Average ritual - handy ritual, and useful for messages, subterfuge or misdirection
+
| Fluff, Gangrel Only
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 3
 
| 3
−
| Whispers through Time
+
| Touch of the Morrigan
−
| ...
+
| Yes
−
| Places a memory along with Vitae into a reliquary, allowing both to be retrieved at a later time.
+
| Charges the casters hands with a lethal damage attack, discharges on a touch attack.
−
| FLUFF - but potentially useful in conjunction with Forgetful Mind
+
| Waste, you should have better methods of attack. Reason being you have to cast one turn, then use it a turn later.
 
|}
 
|}
  
Line 375: Line 442:
 
! scope="col" | Ritual Level
 
! scope="col" | Ritual Level
 
! scope="col" | Ritual Name
 
! scope="col" | Ritual Name
−
! scope="col" | Offering
+
! scope="col" | Success Dependent
 
! scope="col" | Rough Synopsis
 
! scope="col" | Rough Synopsis
 
! scope="col" | Notes
 
! scope="col" | Notes
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 4
 
| 4
−
| Call of Amoniel
+
| Bleeding the Tarantula
−
| A white bird
+
| Yes
−
| Allows the sorcerer to successfully awaken any time during the following day, may remain awake all day without an extended action.
+
| Creates a mystical spider which watches over and protects the caster while they sleep.  
−
| Average ritual - '''great''' if you are expecting daytime ambush, just highly situational
+
| FLUFF, unless your VST is down for Downtime attacks, even then still situational.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 4
 
| 4
−
| Display of the Beast
+
| Blood Price
−
| A human skull
+
| Yes
−
| 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.
+
| For the rest of the night a third of all vitae consumed by the Victim goes to the Caster.
−
| Above average ritual - great for ambushes, especially ghoul hit-squads. The negative to non-reflexive actions is lovely.
+
| Fluff, or get a Husk using Carthian buddy
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 4
 
| 4
−
| Gift of Lazarus
+
| Eye of the Norn
−
| ...
+
| No
−
| Reanimates the dead, giving you a zombie for a week or two
+
| Reveal who the caster most needs to confront at this time, gain bonus against revealed person.
−
| Average ritual - fine if you want some temporary zombie henchmen, and your not a Sangiovanni
+
| ST dependent, practical limitations of not always knowing who is gunning for your character.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 4
 
| 4
−
| Mark of the Damned
+
| Fount of Wisdom
−
| Vitae used in the ritual
+
| No
−
| 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.
+
| Acquire temporary skills from a feed target.
−
| 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
+
| Fluff for the most part. Skills limited by User's Blood Potency
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 4
 
| 4
−
| Purifying Light
+
| Mask of Blood
−
| ...
+
| No
−
| Mystically empowers a light source to allow it to expel possessing spirits. This ritual specifically also affect the Strix.
+
| The caster may steal the form of a feeding victim, which last until sunrise.
−
| Above average ritual - though situational. Especially good to deal with Spirit Cruac crones or any Stryx plots that come your way
+
| Good, some ST variance. [[Jahn's_Guide_to_Cruac#Mask_of_Blood|See below.]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 4
 
| 4
−
| Sacred Haven
+
| Sacrifice of Odin
−
| Crushed obsidian
+
| N/a
−
| Mystically prevents sunlight from entering a room area for a single day
+
| Cut off a part of the body, inflicting an aggravated damage; until the caster regenerates this damage, they gain significantly increased benefits from using Willpower.
−
| Above average ritual - great ritual to have for emergency daytime havens
+
| Gold. Spend that Willpower. [[Jahn's_Guide_to_Cruac#Sacrifice_of_Odin|See below.]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 4
 
| 4
−
| Song of the Prey
+
| Thinning the Skin
−
| A living, thorn bearing tree
+
| No
−
| Causes subjects to approach the tree, sit down and enter a meditative trance. The vampire may then feed without disturbing the subject.
+
| Opens a gateway to the Spirit world.
−
| Above average ritual - great for those Kindred who want lots of easy Vitae. Saleable service to other covenants.
+
| So fluffy it only lasts 30 seconds per year.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 4
 
| 4
−
| Spear of Faith
+
| Willful Vitae
−
| Metal spear pendant
+
| No
−
| 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
+
| Caster becomes immune to increased Viniculum or blood addiction for one night.
−
|
+
| Situational on how often your drinking Vampire blood, which usually is a bad idea.
−
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!
 
 
|}
 
|}
  
Line 440: Line 500:
 
! scope="col" | Ritual Level
 
! scope="col" | Ritual Level
 
! scope="col" | Ritual Name
 
! scope="col" | Ritual Name
−
! scope="col" | Offering
+
! scope="col" | Success Dependent
 
! scope="col" | Rough Synopsis
 
! scope="col" | Rough Synopsis
 
! scope="col" | Notes
 
! scope="col" | Notes
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 5
 
| 5
−
| Damned's Day
+
| A Child from the Stones
−
| Casters own flesh
+
| N/a
−
| 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.
+
| Create a gargoyle, or deactivates another caster's creation.
−
| Below average ritual - thematically cool, but hardly ever going to be used… especially considering the effects are NOT immediate
+
| Gold, but requires a little to a massive amount of investment. [[Jahn's_Guide_to_Cruac#Tiamat Offspring/A Child From The Stones|See below.]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 5
 
| 5
−
| Fires of Vengeance
+
| As One
−
| Casters Humanity (yes, it costs a humanity)
+
| No
−
| 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.
+
| Sacrifice creatures to outline an area, gain bonuses in said area.
−
| Average ritual - Expensive to use, but in a 8/3 system and a good base draw, this ritual is passable... though still skippable.
+
| Good, but is actually about ten rituals disguised as one, not all are equal. [[Jahn's_Guide_to_Cruac#As_One|See below.]]
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 5
 
| 5
−
| Imprecation of Sin
+
| Blood Blight
−
| A Cross or Spear
+
| Yes
−
| 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.
+
| Mortal takes lethal damage, vampire targets lose blood.
−
| 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.
+
| Good, but not always ideal. If you've maximised your pool can rock the house. Note that as it does not inflict damage but instead burns blood, it is not affected by the damage cap rules.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 5
 
| 5
−
| Night of Hell
+
| Crone's Revival
−
| Victims blood/hair
+
| No
−
| 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.
+
| Embrace a childe, they start with Blood Potency two, Caster loses a Blood Potency.
−
| 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.
+
| [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SI6rhotAkE SO FLUFFY YOU'RE GONNA DIE]
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 5
 
| 5
−
| Piece of Mind
+
| Curse of Ahasverus
−
| ...
+
| Yes
−
| 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.
+
| Target has Predator's taint to '''everyone''' for the '''rest''' of the '''night'''.
−
| '''CAPITAL FLUFF'''
+
| GOLD or USELESS. [[Jahn's_Guide_to_Cruac#Curse_of_Ahasverus|See below]]. Serious OOC complications possible.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 5
 
| 5
−
| Rain of Blood
+
| Feeding the Crone
−
| Vitae used in the ritual
+
| '''YES'''
−
| 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.
+
| The caster's teeth inflict aggravated damage, grappling is no longer necessary to bite, and activation successes are added to bite rolls. Feeding is impossible.
−
| '''Mandatory!''' A lethal per round to all your enemies in range? Sounds good. Be aware that the -5 likely affects everyone in range.
+
| GOLD, but must be right build (Have Strength and Brawl Backup).
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 5
 
| 5
−
| The Martyr's Miracle
+
| Ianus' Blessing
−
| Casters life
+
| Yes
−
| Sacrifices one's life in order to provide temporary protection from fire and sunlight.
+
| Temporarily changes the user's Blood Potency, either up or down
−
| '''SUPER-DOOPER CAPITAL FLUFF-EXTRORDINAIRE'''
+
| Not Sanctioned.
 +
|-
 +
| 5
 +
| Roving Hut
 +
| No
 +
| May add Cruac dots to the Haven merit for one scene, warping the location in supernatural ways.
 +
| Situational. With feeding issues +5 Haven Location is good.
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
===Miscellaneous===
 +
 
 +
{| border="1" cellpadding="5"
 +
! scope="col" | Ritual Level
 +
! scope="col" | Ritual Name
 +
! scope="col" | Rough Synopsis
 +
! scope="col" | Notes
 +
|-
 +
| Miscellaneous
 +
| Love-Lies-Bleeding
 +
| Reduces the visibility of Diablerie marks in the caster's aura.
 +
| Not Sanctioned. That's a good thing.
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
==Restricted Rituals==
 +
 
 +
The Rituals detailed below require a particular group membership in order to learn them.
 +
 
 +
===Spirit Cruac===
 +
 
 +
Sufficiently unique it merits its own addenda/setting page, found over [http://jessilaurn.com/Global-Settings/Spirit_Cruac.pdf here].
 +
 
 +
{| border="1" cellpadding="5"
 +
! scope="col" | Ritual Level
 +
! scope="col" | Ritual Name
 +
! scope="col" | Rough Synopsis
 +
! scope="col" | Notes
 +
|-
 +
| 2
 +
| Imperious Call
 +
| Summon and manifest a particular spirit.
 +
| Fluff
 +
|-
 +
| 3
 +
| Servant From the Hidden Realms
 +
| Creates Essence, for the purpose of compelling a spirit to comply with commands.
 +
| Gold but ST dependent
 +
|-
 +
| 3
 +
| Veiled Curse
 +
| Curses a mortal, they get screwed around by Spirits.
 +
| Fluff
 +
|-
 +
| 4
 +
| Eternal Guardian of the Dark Moon
 +
| Links the caster and a spirit, with the latter protecting the former.
 +
| Gold but ST dependent
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
===Crone Factions===
 +
 
 +
These rituals can only be bought by Crone aligned with a specific group.
 +
 
 +
Regarding the Cheval versions: They are rubbish because they work exactly the same as Cheval, but add requirements or weaknesses that if you really want, you can just make up and still have the superior, normal version.
 +
 
 +
{| border="1" cellpadding="5"
 +
! scope="col" | Ritual Level
 +
! scope="col" | Faction Name
 +
! scope="col" | Ritual Name
 +
! scope="col" | Rough Synopsis
 +
! scope="col" | Notes
 +
|-
 +
| 2
 +
|Sipan
 +
| Dreaming the Other
 +
| Worse version of Cheval.
 +
| Rubbish.
 +
|-
 +
| 2
 +
| Amanotsukai
 +
| Harai
 +
| Blesses a mortal subject whom the caster has recently drunk from, healing them or potentially reversing a morality loss
 +
| FLUFF
 +
|-
 +
| 2
 +
|Disciples of Silence
 +
| Maya
 +
| Worse version of Cheval.
 +
| Rubbish.
 +
|-
 +
| 2
 +
| Amanotsukai
 +
| Mononoke
 +
| Worse version of Cheval.
 +
| Rubbish.
 +
|-
 +
| 3
 +
| People of the Land
 +
| Mother's Mark, The
 +
| Burns a mark into Kindred that, if desired, can be permanent and irremovable.
 +
| Fluff.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 5
 
| 5
−
| Transubstantiation
+
| Sipan
−
| Liquid gold
+
| Heart's Curse
−
| 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.
+
| Inflict a lethal damage roll on a target, no matter where they are.
−
| 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
+
| Only once per night (addenda), lots of attached fluff.
 
|-
 
|-
 
| 5
 
| 5
−
| Wrathful Judgement
+
| Disciples of Silence
−
| Casters eye or hand, and lots of Willpower
+
| Regression
−
| 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.
+
| Blood Blight with unlimited range.
−
| '''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.
+
| Flavour text limits it a lot.
 
|}
 
|}
  
−
<br />
+
===Sethite Only===
  
−
===[/wiki/index.php?title=Cardinal_Valeron_Mayne_Belotto Valeron's Draw]===
+
The following rituals can be purchased by members of the Seth Shadow Cult. Note that members of the Cult who are not Crone are limited to these Rituals:
  
−
This was the draw for Valeron at BP6:
+
* '''Level One:''' Pangs of Proserpina
 +
* '''Level Two:''' Cheval, Hydra's Vitae
 +
* '''Level Three:''' Touch of the Morrigan
 +
* '''Level Four:''' None.
 +
* '''Level Five:''' Blood Blight
  
−
: :* Intelligence 4 + Academics 6 + Theban 5 + Sanguine Exaltation 2 + Sanctity 5 = 22 base draw
+
As well as the following Rites Unique to the Cult:
  
−
People exiting at the first "exit point" of level 2 or 3 should, at minimum consider having a draw of:
+
{| border="1" cellpadding="5"
 +
! scope="col" | Ritual Level
 +
! scope="col" | Ritual Name
 +
! scope="col" | Rough Synopsis
 +
! scope="col" | Notes
 +
|-
 +
| 1
 +
| Genius Loci
 +
| Curse an area, penalizing all social rolls except Intimidate.
 +
| Sethite Only, Fluff
 +
|-
 +
| 2
 +
| Amemet's Pursuit
 +
| The next time the victim attempts to flee from the caster they instead approach.
 +
| Sethite Only, GOLD. Every Setite should take it.
 +
|-
 +
| 3
 +
| Hand of Seth, The
 +
| Drives a possessing spirit out of a body.
 +
| Sethites Only, Fluff
 +
|-
 +
| 4
 +
| Blade of Tu'at
 +
| Imbues a blade to really mess up Ghosts and Spirits
 +
| Sethite Only, Reserved by the MST office
 +
|-
 +
| 4
 +
| Thrashing of Apep's Coils, The
 +
| Conjures sudden extreme weather.
 +
| Sethite Only, Fluff? Problematic in that it's mechanics are poorly defined. Possible to argue for being a superior version of "Rain"
 +
|-
 +
| 5
 +
| Rite of Going Forth by Day
 +
| After eating the heart of a mortal, caster may project themselves in broad daylight, walking as a spirit.
 +
| Sethite Only, Stroke that fluffy wall
 +
|}
  
−
: :* Intelligence 3 + Academics 3 + Theban 2 (or 3) + Sanguine Exaltation 2 = 10 (or 11)
+
===Bloodline Restricted===
  
−
People heading towards Theban 5 should highly consider a draw similar to Valeron's.
+
These Rituals are limited to specific Bloodlines, in general they are flufftastic.
  
 +
{| border="1" cellpadding="5"
 +
! scope="col" | Ritual Level
 +
! scope="col" | Bloodline
 +
! scope="col" | Ritual Name
 +
! scope="col" | Rough Synopsis
 +
! scope="col" | Notes
 +
|-
 +
| 1
 +
| Mara
 +
| Mother's Touch, The
 +
| The ritual cuts her own eye and heals it in water, giving supernatural vision.
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1
 +
|
 +
| Boyar's Caul
 +
| Grants an image of a subject of interest, which helps with locating or identifying them in the future.
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 1
 +
|
 +
| Tapas, Rituals of Penance
 +
| Rituals of Penance, multiple versions for different skills.
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 2
 +
|
 +
| Gora Mukhi
 +
| Turns the caster into a terrifying monster that is exceptionally intimidating.
 +
| Not Sanctioned
 +
|-
 +
| 2
 +
|
 +
| Hawthorn Barrier
 +
| Creates an invisible barrier through which no vampire with lower blood potency may pass, lasting for several minutes.
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 2
 +
|Mara
 +
| Mother's Eye, The
 +
| The ritual cuts her own eye and heals it in the water, giving supernatural vision.
 +
|
 +
|-
 +
| 3
 +
| Yagnatia
 +
| Mother's Blessing, The
 +
| A special ritual of the Yagnatia bloodline, this ritual is the only method through which they may Embrace another.
 +
| Worse than fluff, as you need to take it for normal character tie options. Lame.
 +
|}
  
 +
==Rituals Requiring More Detail==
  
−
==Ultimate Theban Monkey's==
+
Some rituals aren't so simple as cause/effect and bear further examination.
  
−
If you want to be the Theban monkey with the Ultimate draw and damage cap, you will need:
+
===Painted Fears===
  
−
* BP6;
+
Make a work of art, it can cause a Phobia in anyone that looks at it, the difficulty of the roll can be increased by investing more blood into it. You are not immune to the art's effects unless it depicts yourself.
−
* Nosferatu;
 
−
* Flaw - Swollen Skull;
 
−
* 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.
+
Derangement's are awful for vampires in particular, because there default behaviour for such things usually becomes a fear frenzy. It's hard to fight effectively when fending off a Frenzy test.
  
 +
'''<u>Best Uses</u>'''
  
−
If you pursue this path, your Theban Pool will be a disgusting:
+
* To create a statue of your God and sit it in front of the Lance Cathedral, or similar iterations
 +
* Your picture painted on a shield with a covering. Unveil covering before the combat. Laugh at any foes that mess it up.
 +
* A picture of your Haven....in your Haven. An addition to the other Haven Defence rituals.
  
 +
'''<u>Other Power Synergies</u>'''
  
−
:* Intelligence 6 + Academics 6 + Swollen Skull 2 + Theban 5 + Sanguine Exaltation 2 + Sanctity 5 = 26, with a damage cap of 6
+
* Ritual - Tiamat Offspring/A Child From The Stones. Can create an artwork of your Creations and they can use it similar to the Shield fashion above. Or they can be smaller forms of your strategically placed Statue from earlier, so they in fact have a phobia of your Retainers.
 +
* Nightmare Four - When used on someone denies them a turn, and can upgrade a derangement on the target, stepping up the Phobia to a Paranoia, which is harder to deal with.
  
  
−
Even if you enter play on BP5, Intelligence 5 and Academics 5 - your draw will still be 24.
+
===Wisdom of the Soul===
  
 +
Re-roll. Any. Roll.
  
−
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.
+
There is one Caveat here: You need to know when to use it and when to save it. If you make it through games without needing to use, it's still gold.
  
 +
The things to hold it for:
  
−
As an example of the power - this build can do 6 agg to anyone, and 7 agg to a Mekhet. I confess that i do not know if the +2 from Swollen Skull counts towards damage cap. If so, this figure increases to 7 agg to anyone, and 8 agg to Mekhet.
+
1) Your escape power. You die, that's your story over. Live and wreak vengeance instead. Best clan powers to use it for in order: Majesty 5, Obfuscate 3/5, Dominate 2 (Used on most powerful attacker, either "Save me" or "Kill your allies")
  
 +
2) Initiative roll to escape or get the first blow in a hit squad. If you have an escape power that is not draw reliant (Gangrel Mist form, Celerity speed) then you need to go first before you are attacked/Grappled. Case for desperation though. In a Hit Squad the target needs to be put down/grappled as quickly as possible before they activate their escape powers.
  
−
If you want the Theban monkey with the greatest output, you will need:
+
3) A buff power with successes dependent. If your build is reliant on getting numerous successes on a single roll and you botch it, then you may consider doing so. Keep the above points in mind as a higher priority, but sometimes you need those successes. Particularly applicable with Maw of the Crone.
  
 +
===Mask of Blood===
  
−
* Ventrue;
+
Note that this ritual explicitly allows animal transformations. Whether or not you can use the animal particular unique abilities (i.e. flight) is up to the relevant ST.
−
* Bloodline - Icarian;
 
−
* Composure 5;
 
−
* Resolve 5;
 
−
* Bloodline Discipline - Constance 5;
 
−
* Theban 3, at minimum; and
 
−
* Rituals Sanctity and Sanguine Exaltation.
 
  
 +
If the above is worked out as a yes, then get a menagerie of animals and laugh at the limited forms of all the Gangrel (You have to burn 3xp for ''each form?'' You poor thing).
  
−
Not as hefty outlay as the previous example, not as disgusting in offensive potential, but still nothing to be sneezed at.
+
The key document for this Ritual is the [http://jessilaurn.com/Global-Addenda/Global_Bestiary.pdf Bestiary], which is the approved listing of all animals. Note that your attributes don't change, so alas you can't become a dog and have instant reasonable combat on hand.  
  
 +
Below are some of the better forms to pick after glancing at said Bestiary, it is by no means exhaustive.
  
−
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.
+
Be wary of the [[Jahn's_Guide_to_Cruac#Footnotes|Temporary Health]] rules.
  
 +
'''<u>Animal Abilities to Gain</u>'''
  
 +
If your ST is down for your bird form being able to fly and such, then the following forms are good:
  
−
==Sample Builds==
+
* Bull - Gets Knockdown, Size 7 for some extra health.
 +
* Condor - Flight with size 5, so you don't lose any health levels
 +
* Shark - Swim and Bite capability with size 6
  
 +
Additional Caveat if using the animal as your warrior mode: The biggest weapon bonus available to animals caps at 3L (i.e. Crocodile/Bear bite), if your after straight high numbers then a big sword (4L) is marginally better, though definitely less cool looking.
  
−
Best ritual at each level in italics.
+
'''<u>Animal Sizes That Rule</u>'''
  
 +
If your ST rules against you gaining the animal abilities, which probably isn't per the rules but is conceivably more balanced, you have the following:
  
−
===Basic===
+
* Elephant. Know you're going into your last fight? Elephant it up, go to Size 15, gain those TEN health levels, cast Maw of the Crone for further hilarity, then unleash yourself on the unsuspecting.
 +
* Killer Whale. Water version of the Elephant.
 +
* Anything small to slither/scrabble away with, such as a Snake or lizard
  
 +
'''<u>Other Power Synergies</u>'''
  
−
This is essentially for those that want a little bit of useful Theban.
+
* Willful Vitae -  Use a Gangrel buddy to drink a blood while they are an animal, assume their form and ignore the blood addiction rules (Which are bad).
 +
* A Child From the Stones - Construct your Gargoyles with a length of PVC or similar pipe in them. Keep a pet snake in your sleeve at all times. When things go bad, turn into a snake, slither into the pipe, they have to go through a ten health level Retainer that fights back to get to you.
 +
* Obfuscate - Similar to above, have a dozen snakes on you. Assume snake form when danger happens. Let all the snakes slither away, while you Obfuscate, hidden in your clothes, or slither away with them. Can be done at Ob 2 at lowest, as you need to hide your beast from other Vampires.
  
 +
===Sacrifice of Odin===
  
−
'''The Basic Support Class - can easily stop at Level 2'''
+
Definitely the best level four Ritual, Sacrifice comes with a few teething problems.
  
−
: :* '''Level One'''<nowiki>: </nowiki>''Hauberk of Blood'', Crown of Thorns
+
Specifically, you have to hack off an otherwise completely fine and useful bit of yourself.
−
:* '''Level Two'''<nowiki>: </nowiki>''Prison of Denial'', Sanguine Exaltation, Resistance of Discipline, Liars Plague, Bird of Sin, Sanctity
 
−
:* '''Level Three'''<nowiki>: </nowiki>''Legionnaires Blessing'', ''Blood Fire'', Blandishment of Sin, Lash beyond Death
 
−
:* Plus the Veridical Tongue devotion
 
  
 +
This inflicts an Aggravated damage and a penalty on tasks related to the body part.
  
−
'''The Basic ranged sniper - can stop at Level 2'''
+
A key point of this unfortunate disadvantage is that as ''long as you don't heal the injury you keep the benefit of the Ritual.'' That means you could buy this ritual, cast it once and leave it at that.
  
 +
First issue to deal with: An aggravated Damage level. Particularly for a combat build this is a bad thing. You can adjust for it either by building an exceptionally survivable build, or there is a cheesier option, though your ST may very well say no and throw a book at you. If you cast the ritual and have a single level of Resilience active, then it only does a Lethal damage, which is a lot less problematic. By the rules it works, don't be surprised if the ST says no.
  
−
: :* '''Level One'''<nowiki>: </nowiki>''Crown of Thorns''
+
Second issue is what your lopping off. The options are limited, and very much depend on what your character is good at. Note that the Ritual write up specifically puts a -3 penalty on related actions, arguably you could buy some manner of prosthetic to counter this somewhat as an equipment bonus, once more that is up to your ST. Your options of body-part-to-lose are:
−
:* '''Level Two'''<nowiki>: </nowiki>''Prison of Denial'', Bird of Sin, Sanguine Exaltation, Sanctity
 
−
:* '''Level Three'''<nowiki>: </nowiki>''Blood Fire'', Blandishment of Sin
 
  
 +
# An eye - A possible prospect for the combat characters or those whose investigation/notice rolls suck anyway. You are one potential hit from being blinded, which sucks, so be wary of it.
 +
# A foot - Probably the best one to take away, it affects your running speed and such
 +
# A hand - Not that bad for a number of builds, particularly if you've elected for a ranged or Maw of the Crone focused combat capability.
  
−
'''The Basic self sufficient combatant - level 3 is where its at for you'''
+
'''<u>Other Power Synergies</u>'''
  
 +
The point of this Rite is to boost any power or roll in a superior fashion. If you have the ritual and the four dots of Cruac, this ritual should be coming up. The thing this Rite needs is Willpower renewal, gained from:
  
−
: :* '''Level One'''<nowiki>: </nowiki>''Hauberk of Blood'', Vitae Reliquary
+
* Confidence in Adversity - See the Ritual ratings above. Don't forget to mock Thebanites when you get the WP point back
−
:* '''Level Two'''<nowiki>: </nowiki>''Prison of Denial'', Resistance of Discipline, Wings of the Seraph, Sanctity
+
* Inspiring - Requires a group action and a high Presence stat. Group actions are easy, as the Circle is a Church, and a sermon can be done as an action by a group. Simple.
−
:* '''Level Three'''<nowiki>: </nowiki>''Blood Fire'', ''Legionnaires Blessing'', Blandishment of Sin
+
* Vice/Virtue - Not so simple or easy, ST dependent.
−
:* Plus any number of weaponry based Fighting Styles
 
  
 +
===Tiamat Offspring/A Child From The Stones===
  
 +
These Rituals are unique, as there actual affect due to the addenda is the ability to buy the unique Homunculi/Gargoyle Retainers.
  
−
===The Buff-bot===
+
Important distinctions between regular retainers and these guys:
  
 +
* They ''ignore'' the stat limits for standard retainers in the Universal addenda
 +
* Their base stats are not changeable, they automatically have there stats given in the book
 +
** These stats are pretty good
 +
* They are not typically worth spending experience to increase them above one dot
 +
* You craft Gargoyles rather than finding/training/teaching people
  
−
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).
+
These distinctions create a number of topics, the first of which is...
  
 +
====Crafting====
  
−
:* '''Level One:''' ''Hauberk of Blood'', Vitae Reliquary, Paladin's Absolution
+
A bloody guide in a guide....
−
:* '''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
 
  
 +
In addition to that expensive as hell Cruac, those combat stats for your Maw of the Crone rocking on, the blood gaining mechanics you need to deal and the retainer dots you have to purchase, you may also have to contend with crafting rolls to get your Gargoyles (Note that a portion of the Homunculi ritual is birthing your new creature. As per the Addenda, not necessarily the case here, as all the ritual does is allow you to buy the dots, but bear the following in mind in case).
  
 +
The important things to deal with here:
 +
* Each crafting roll takes ONE hour. It is not one roll for a downtime action, it is multiple.
 +
* Crafting rolls are extended actions. The successes you've accumulated for it do not go away if your character has to do something else (The statue your half way through carving does not morph back into a marble block....)
 +
* There is a set amount of successes needed to create a Gargoyle (40, which is not a small amount)
  
−
===The Paranoid===
+
'''<u>Boosting Your Crafting Draw</u>'''
  
 +
'''Attribute - Dexterity:''' Given the options below, your need to craft Gargoyles should not affect your level of Dexterity, either you need it for other things or you have a low level of it.
  
−
Those that are paranoid and have Theban 5.
+
'''Skill - Craft:''' The cheaper option, a good place to throw spare creation dots after buying up Occult.
  
 +
'''Equipment - Workshop:''' Like armour is to combat, Workshops/Tools and such are the free (Experience wise) bonuses to your crafting stuff. The cost is entirely fluff. Throw a boon to the rich Invictus, it'll be worth it. Equipment bonuses to cap out at +5 however (Potential equipment: Plans, drawings, quality materials, Chisels, etc.)
  
−
:* '''Level One:''' ''Sinners Song''
+
'''Derived Stat - Willpower:''' In the TT system you get Willpower quite frequently, burn as you can.
−
:* '''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
 
  
 +
'''Ritual - Confidence of Adversity:''' For the event willpower costs are problematic, craft, burn willpower, then do an action that matters less to do so without 10 again.
  
 +
'''Ritual - Fires of Inspiration:''' Straight boost to your craft roll equal to your Cruac, which if you are crafting Gargoyles should be nice and high.
  
−
===The Ranged Coterie of Three<===
 
  
 +
'''<u>Crafting Alternate Shapes</u>'''
  
−
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.
+
One of the key points of the versatility of these retainers is there is a degree of malleability in their appearance and shape. Note that their size is a static amount, so a Gargoyle cannot be made the size of Godzilla.
  
 +
''Humonculi:'' Less versatile than the Gargoyles due to their defined parameters, their options are limited to an animal form or a same size alien shape, which carries a slight penalty to some stats for it. Good options to craft on: Hooked/rough hands/feet/tentacles for climbing, pouch/slot for knives (See Combat Uses)
  
−
:* '''Level One:''' ''Vitae Reliquary''
+
''Gargoyles:'' This is where it is at. Size 5 is human, to get to size 6 you have to be damn sight bigger. Consider how much you can stretch out a human in volumetric terms. You can also use alternate materials to create them, as they have a Stamina mechanic for their health it doesn't matter (If they gained durability it would, but that would also be monstrous).
−
:* '''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''
 
  
 +
====Using Your Minions====
  
 +
'''<u>Combat Uses</u>'''
  
−
===The Warrior of God===
+
''Humonculi:'' High Dex, small athletics and few health levels mean that these things are best crafted in an Octopus/Chimp form (Or small many armed abomination if you want), given thrown knives, told to clamber up the roof (Or hang around on you if your strong enough to do it without penalty) and throw away. Their attack pool isn't massive, but they do have to be dealt with, and retainers are there to be expended. Attacks on Retainers are attacks not done on you. Experience can be earned again, the same is not true of your character. Also look into using Glass knives in Armory, better to not hand a weapon over and have one that shatters on impact.
  
 +
''Gargoyles:'' Gargoyles don't need much changed, they are statted to stand around until they can stab something. The only thing worth doing is decking them out with the best armour and weapons you can (I recommend the Halberd and Riot Armour). Train them to surround a target and attack away, remembering that all out attack is a thing and usually worth doing, given that Gargoyle Defence is rubbish and they cost 2xp each.
  
−
Those that are the walking will of GOD!!!
+
'''<u>Non-Combat Uses</u>'''
  
 +
''Humonculi:'' Perfect Cheval targets. Tell them to climb in the ducts, or better yet craft them into being parts of the room and cast your rite before the gathering.
  
−
:* '''Level One:''' ''Hauberk of Blood'', Vitae Reliquary
+
''Gargoyles:'' Also Cheval targets, though they can also be built into a lot of fluffy/useful items. Things that have come up before:
−
:* '''Level Two:''' ''Prison of Denial'', Damned Radiance, Sanguine Exaltation, Sanctity, Resistance of Discipline, Bird of Sin
+
* Gargoyle Throne. It carries itself around!
−
:* '''Level Three:''' ''Blood Fire'', Blandishment of Sin, Lash Beyond Death, Legionnaire's Blessing
+
* As a door, crafting one eye/ear either side. Cheval it. Use it as the door to whatever meeting room is around. Spy at your leisure. Also doors that can eat people are gold.
−
:* '''Level Four:''' ''Spear of Faith'', Stigmata, Display of Beast, Purifying Light
+
* Make it primarily be arms, and hang it from a corridor. Anyone walking through has to clamber through the arms. Hilarity can ensue.
−
:* '''Level Five:''' ''Rain of Blood'', Wrathful Judgement, Night of Hell, Fires of Vengeance
 
  
 +
'''<u>Other Power Synergies</u>'''
 +
* Ritual - Cheval: Targets that will go and look where you say
 +
* Ritual - Beloved Deodand: Shipping crate of bound victims, some Garoyles with Deodands to be signalled when combat starts, let the blood flow and the humanity drop!
 +
* Ritual - Painted Fears, see the expanded write up for Painted Fears above.
  
 +
===As One===
  
−
===Handy Dandy Combo's===
+
This is not one ritual, it is eight, disguised as one. You can buy it multiple times for the different uses. All the below require at least three sacrifices to be used to mark the target area.
  
−
::* '''Frigid''' (pure FLUFF) - Make a human frigid to feeding!
+
There is always a side effect in the area, but none of them are especially bad.
−
:* Celibacy (lvl 1) + The Angel's Touch (lvl 1)
 
  
 +
{| border="1" cellpadding="5"
 +
! scope="col" | Ritual Level
 +
! scope="col" | Ritual Name
 +
! scope="col" | Rough Synopsis
 +
! scope="col" | Notes
 +
|-
 +
| 5
 +
| As One - Eyes of the Wise
 +
| When you meet someone in the area, you immediately learn something about them
 +
| Fluff
 +
|-
 +
| 5
 +
| As One - Make Straight the Royal Highway
 +
| While walking/running, ignore penalties. Can ignore one impassable barrier.
 +
| Fluff unless there is an impassable barrier
 +
|-
 +
| 5
 +
| As One - Immortal Viands
 +
| Instead of paying a blood to awaken, something is damaged/destroyed in the area
 +
| Fluff
 +
|-
 +
| 5
 +
| As One - The Very Stones Defend Me
 +
| Once per night, the land attacks someone in the area at the Casters wish
 +
| Situational, can be used for multiple damage source stacking
 +
|-
 +
| 5
 +
| As One - Cowan's Mark
 +
| Inflict someone in the area with the Nosferatu Clan Weakness
 +
| Fluff
 +
|-
 +
| 5
 +
| As One - The Trees Give Voice
 +
| Once per night interrogate a Spirit about what happened in the area
 +
| Good for Investigation
 +
|-
 +
| 5
 +
| As One - Taste the Blood of the Spirit
 +
| Caster knows when Discipline/Magic is happening in the area
 +
| Good for warning situations, can be used as a find power in certain circumstances
 +
|-
 +
| 5
 +
| As One - Sanctuary
 +
| Declare an area safe
 +
| Rubbish. Weak escape power.
 +
|}
 +
 +
===Curse of Ahasverus ===
  
 +
Predator's Taint. All night long. Every time the target interacts with someone.
  
−
::* '''Don't Stab Me''' - ablate damage, but then turn the tables once that's gone!
+
Think about that for a minute.
−
:* Hauberk of Blood (lvl 1) + Blood Fire (lvl 3)
 
−
:* note: can be combined with '''Reciprocation''' (below)
 
  
 +
Realise how devastating that is in the context of a social game, where each occasion is a group of twenty plus mobile characters.
  
 +
Consider that Predators Taint causes Frenzy rolls, and sooner or later you will fail a roll if made enough times. The Victim will be making a '''lot''' of rolls.
  
−
::* '''Confess BITCH''' - Spills the beans, and truthfully!
+
Finally, work out that this ritual is too devastating to be used on a PC.
−
:* Sinner Song (lvl 1) + Liars Plague (lvl 2) + Revelate (Majesty 2) + Veridical Tongue (Devotion: Majesty/Dominate)
 
  
 +
There may be circumstances where it is okay to use this power, but they should be rare. If the ST is happy for you to have it then put it in the arsenal, but consider this before every casting:
  
 +
''Would you still think it was worth going to game if it happened to you.''
  
−
::* '''Weight of Sin''' - Have Sin be a heavy burden, in the form of Lethal!
+
==Sample Builds==
−
:* Blandishment of Sin (lvl 3) + Bird of Sin (lvl 2)
 
  
 +
The Rituals in ''italics'' are the best of that level for what you want to do.
  
  
−
::* '''Reciprocation''' - Give ''more'' back than someone bargained for!
+
===The Default Package===
−
:* Blandishment of Sin (lvl 3) + Blood Fire (lvl 3)
 
  
 +
This is what I consider each Crone should have:
  
 +
*Level One: ''Confidence in Adversity''
 +
*Level Two: Cheval, Prey's Blood (Gangrel only), Succulent Buboes (Feeding dependent), ''Wisdom of the Soul''
  
−
::* '''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
 
  
 +
===The Prophet===
  
 +
This build can be stopped at any level, though the higher it goes the better it gets.
  
−
::* '''Just get the fuck away''' - Emphatically keep people away... at least, temporarily!
+
Note that prophecy powers are limited by a lot of realistic issues, such VST planning, inclination to give you plot info and the fact they can't ''know'' exactly what's going to happen.
−
:* Display of Beast (lvl 4) + Pharaoh's Paces (lvl 3)
 
  
 +
This build can probably be stopped at any level, but the higher the better.
  
 +
*Level One: ''Drops of Destiny'', Taste of Knowledge
 +
*Level Two: ''Wisdom of the Soul''
 +
*Level Three: Rain, ''Taste of Destiny''
 +
*Level Four: ''Eye of Norn''
 +
* Level Five: ''As One
  
−
: :* '''Daytime warrior''' - So, your expecting a daytime ambush!
+
'''Note:''' Rain is there for weather predicting shenanigans.
−
:* Call of Amoniel (lvl 4) + Sacred Haven (lvl 4) + Display of Beast (lvl 4)
 
  
  
 +
===The Cruac Warrior===
  
−
: :* '''It's ouch time''' - A nice lead into any combat!
+
For warriors of the Crone.
−
:* Blandishment of Sin (lvl 3) + Spear of Faith (lvl 4)
 
−
:* note: certainly my favourite lead in with prep time, anyway
 
  
 +
*Level One: Balancing the Four Humours, ''Confidence in Adversity''
 +
*Level Two: Maiden Skin, ''Succulent Buboes''
 +
*Level Three: ''Hag Mask''
  
  
−
: :* '''Nighty night''' - Well and truly bone someone sleeping/torpid!
+
===The Boris Build===
−
:* Night of Hell (lvl 5) + Malediction of Despair (lvl 3)
 
−
:* note: The curse of Malediction should be on "resisting frenzy"
 
  
 +
Expensive as all hell to get going. If you can afford it though it can wreck face.
  
 +
* Level One: Balancing the Four Humours, ''Confidence in Adversity''
 +
* Level Two: Cheval, Maiden Skin, ''Succulent Buboes''
 +
* Level Three: Deodand, ''Hag Mask''
 +
* Level Four: ''Sacrifice of Odin''
 +
* Level Five: A Child From the Stone, Blood Blight, ''Maw of the Crone'',
  
−
===Wrap up===
+
Ramp up your Maw of the Crone with a +5 willpower point via Sacrifice of Odin, preferably using an Altar and Necropolis merits if you have them. Maiden and Hags mask for Defence, use Blood Blight for Celerity Defence Monkeys you can't hit, use Succulent Buboes and Gargoyles with Deodand weapons to regain Vitae.
  
 +
Bonus stuff to have: Heaviest armour possible, Celerity, Health.
  
−
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.
+
==Footnotes==
  
 +
Killbox: A situation that is inescapable by the victim.
  
−
You'll note that Sanctity, Sanguine Exaltation, Prison of Denial and Blood Fire feature heavily throughout.
+
Temporary Health: Sucks hard. When the source of your temporary health goes away, the damage sustained by those health levels don't go away, they double up on you. This means temporary health is a short delusion whose best aspect is allowing you additional time to burn blood to heal. If your into Aggravated damage with your temporary health, outside of some rare powers your a walking corpse, doomed to ash soon.
  
 +
Meditation Rolls: A mechanic utilising two attributes and best combined with the Meditative mind merit. An annoyance to deal with.
  
−
Hope you've enjoyed this, and that it helps your separate the gold from the FLUFF. Cheers.
 
  
 
[[Category:Requiem]]
 
[[Category:Requiem]]
−
[[Category:Lancea Sanctum]]
+
[[Category:Circle of the Crone]]

Latest revision as of 07:43, 11 November 2013

Contents

Disclaimer

The following guide is strictly opinion, covering what I consider to be the optimal practices around using Cruac. This is the second iteration of this guide, the first got eaten by the wiki changeover and needed an update to tabletop mechanics in any case. The original iteration of this page was pilfered by a foul fiend who has yet to provide his promised gift for doing so, though as he preserved the concept/template it is somewhat forgiven.


Note about Content

Please do not add to or delete content from this page. This is Jahn's guide to Cruac. Feel free to hit me up with ideas and feedback though, that's what the talk page is for :-)


Overview

What is Cruac?

Cruac is the Covenant advantage of the Circle of the Crone. It costs a vitae/blood to use, and requires an action or actions.


Bah, Theban is better than Cruac!

False. Theban is more direct and has more clear combat powers, but Cruac offers a superior toolbox and can be applied with greater creative thinking (More on this later).

In Particular:

  • Theban costs Willpower. Willpower is far more limited and harder to replace than Vitae.
  • Theban has specific item requirements for their ritual casting. Few things are more hilarious than a Theban sorcerer casting Prisoner of Denial (Offering is to burn an image of the target) and having to frenzy away.
  • Cruac can help you a myriad ways outside of game, both before it and during downtime. Theban rarely does such.

Those interested in Theban more should visit Corey's Guide to Theban, and then be devoured for being Heretics.


What's this sodding casting thing?

Casting Cruac is an extended draw. That means you spend a point of blood 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 Drops of Destiny, a level 1 ritual, you need a total of 1 success. For Maw of the Crone, a level 5 ritual, you need a total of 5 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:

Boris attempts to cast Blood Blight, a level 5 ritual.
On his first turn, he rolls average, and gets 3 successes. As a level 5 ritual, that's not enough.
The next turn, he rolls again, and gets 2 success. Never the less, that adds up to 5, enough total successes for the ritual required.
The power goes off, but is treated as having two successes for how much damage it inflicts, a lot less impressive than Boris hoped.

Because of this it is best to have a high enough pull to succeed on your first roll, though this can alleviated by selecting rituals that are not dependent on more succeses to be effective.

The Ignored Modifiers

The majority of Disciplines have a list of situational modifiers, Cruac only has two but they can both be major if used.

1) A +4 if used on someone you have a blood tie. Most noteworthy with the Cheval Ritual. This is huge for the Mnemosyne Bloodline in particular.

2) A -1 to a -5 when rushed or distracted, such as by pursuit or combat.

In general both these modifiers are ignored and rolls are neutral. If the second point is an issue, it can be offset by Meditation rolls.

Cruac Optimisation

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

The first exit point is at level two (2). I am of the view that every Crone should buy up to Cruac 2, as the cost is not exorbitant and this level has some of the best rituals.

The second point is sadly all the way up at five (5). Three (3) and four (4) aren't a waste, but the gains are limited, particularly if you don't aspire to get to the highest level. Be warned that Cruac five is very expensive.

Cruac rituals fall into two camps, the first only requires enough successes to pass the ritual or are cast when you are not in a hurry, the second is reliant on high successes for best effect. You can build to the former and have a modest Cruac pull, or you can go for the second which requires some stacking.

Which of the above two camps also affects your ideal casting pull. Dice obviously add a degree of random probability alas, but simulated rolls provide the following key points:

  • The level 2 break generally implies you want that many successes most of the time. A pull of 6 should yield that about 75% of the time.
  • At level 5, and desiring to maximise your successes, aim for as high a pool as possible. A pool of 16 should produce five successes about 60% of the time, but that is a big number to reach, though not impossible.

Boosting Your Cruac Draw

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

The Discipline - Cruac: Expensive and required. Either maximise it, or stop at the first break point, as covered above.

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

Skill - Occult: The cheapest of the three required stats. It is the cheapest to buy if you need to hit the damage cap, but that is extremely rare for Cruac rituals.

Derived Stat - Willpower: A strength of Cruac is that willpower can be spent freely. If you have a success required Cruac build, use the hell out of it.

Merit - Altar: Altar is a cheap merit from the Crone book. It boosts Cruac draws, but you essentially have to be at your haven. It is ideal for the dabbler Cruac user or someone willing to be inconvenienced to maximise their Cruac draw.

Merit - Necropolis - Sepulcher: Gain a bonus to a particular skill roll. Pick Occult. Potential to be denied by the relevant ST, in which case go for Dark Temple.

Merit - Necropolis - Dark Temple: Straight boost to Cruac. Put your Altar here as well.

Merit - Undead Menses: Gangrel only, the special vitae produced gives a bonus to Cruac rolls.

Ritual - Sacrifice of Odin: Level 4 Ritual, boosts your Willpower spends.

Discipline - Taurobolium: The bloodline Discipline of the Galloi boosts Cruac draws, but a Galloi cannot use the discipline on themselves if there's two of you or you have a buddy, be their best buddy!

Clan / Bloodline Synergies with Cruac

Several Clans, and their Bloodlines, have great synergy with Cruac. Any such affiliation utilising a power that employs either Manipulation or Occult in its draws happily doubles up.

  • Clan Nosferatu - Can benefit from the Necropolis merit mentioned above, can become Galloi (See below). Nightmare also has multiple powers that run off Manipulation.
  • Clan Daeva - Free dot of Manipulation, Majesty synergy.
  • Clan Gangrel - Can use Undead Menses as above and their clan weakness doesn't matter to Cruac, but they lag behind the two clans above.
  • Bloodline Galloi - An odd case, in that their unique discipline is great on a Cruac user but cannot be employed on themselves.
  • Bloodline Mnemosyne - Can use their bloodline discipline to boost a mental skill roll. Like Occult. Also can abuse the Blood Tie angle.

Feeding

While in general blood is more available than willpower, the exact amount you'll have will vary. Unfortunately there isn't a clear cut answer here, as it all depends on the system utilised by the relevant ST for the venue.

The book default system is a single D10 Blood draw + relevant merits. It can be painful, you want blood for Cruac but the supporting merits don't come cheap. Things to do/check:

  • Do they allow downtime actions to produce extra blood? If they do then burn those action, two at least each month. If this option is available you can skip buying any feeding related merits.
  • Haven Location. Combined with allies, Haven merits can be very cheap. If you can find five Crone all willing to throw 2xp into the shared haven merit then you all get +5 to your blood pool, you can conceivably get away with that.
  • Herd. No sharing, so more expensive, but has the joy of not disappearing with PC/players that die/stop coming to game.
  • Do they do feeding scenes at game? Storyteller reliant, and the success/worth of doing so is dependent on their views. If relatively risk free, may well replace the need for the above merits.

Rituals

Always check the Addenda in case an update has changed a ritual or placed a limitation on it.

To find the source for a ritual for the full write up check the source and page number at the Genre Directory.

Fluff Disclaimer

When something is down as "Fluff" that doesn't necessarily make it worthless, but that it lends itself to roleplay opportunities rather than strict mechanical advantage.

Level One

Ritual Level Ritual Name Success Dependent Rough Synopsis Notes
1 Abduction to the Underworld/The Appeasement of Demeter Shortens the length of torpor, and makes it easier to recall slumber visions. Fluff
1 Balancing the Four Humors No Caster doesn't suffer environmental penalties. Situational, hilarious for countering the penalty inflicted by Rain (Below) or Rain of Blood (Theban). Note that it lasts until sunrise, if you have the vitae this can be cast at the beginning of the night.
1 Blood Witness No Smear an area with Vitae. May remotely observe the area from the spilled blood Situational, Auspex and Cheval are superior.
1 Confidence in Adversity No Caster loses 10-Again on all rolls, but regains one Willpower at the end of the scene. Awesome. Take it. Burn willpower as much as you want, cast this before social/travel scenes.
1 Drop's of Destiny No Generates a cryptic prophecy ST dependent, practical limitations of not actually knowing the future.
1 Fires of Inspiration No For one night, add Cruac to all Craft or Expression rolls to create art, but penalizes rolls to create anything else. Fluff (Exception: See A Child From The Stone expanded write up below)
1 Pangs of Prosperina No The target is overcome with hunger and must feed, be they kindred, mortal, or other. Fluff
1 Pythian Renewal No The subject appears to grow twenty years younger for a number of hours. Fluff
1 Rigor Mortis Yes Target Vampire suffers a penalty equal to the successes on their next physical action. Limited use. Specifically if you'd otherwise be standing in the background of a combat doing nothing, then this is preferable.
1 Spring Sanctification No A rite of the vernal equinox, allowing for a cow's blood to be nourishing to any Kindred. Extreme fluff.
1 Taste of Knowledge No Used during feeding, this ritual allows the caster to learn one secret of immediate importance to the victim. Fluff
1 Visage of the Crone No The subject appears to age ten years for a number of hours. Fluff

Level Two

Ritual Level Ritual Name Success Dependent Rough Synopsis Notes
2 Barrier of Blood Yes Blood must be applied to doors and other portals, vampires with less blood potency than the caster cannot cross the barrier without suffering damage. Good, but dependent on BP 4+, not liable to work on developed combat characters. Can be used to create a kill box on vulnerable characters, or breaking Obfuscate.
2 Cernunno's Horn No You can breed a horrible monster with a mortal. Not Sanctioned
2 Cheval Yes The victim's senses may be shared by the caster at will for one night per success. GOLD, use it on friends, enemies, minions, use it everywhere!
2 Heliolater's Warning, The No Helps the Caster wake up and react in the day. FLUFF, unless your VST is down for Downtime attacks, even then still situational.
2 Hydra's Vitae No Transform's the caster's vitae into a poison, which inflicts lethal damage on mortals and vampires who attempt to consume it. Situational. Hilarious against Husk using Carthian's.
2 Maiden Skin Yes Grants temporary armor against attacks that would break the skin Situational. Difficulty is short duration and requiring a maximised casting pool.
2 Painted Fears No Creates a piece of artwork that makes viewers fear the subject matter. Situational, potential gold. Expanded below.
2 Path of Thorns Yes Creates a field surrounding the caster, any entering it suffer damage from spiritual thorns, which lasts for several turns. Gold, group combats
2 Prey's Blood Yes Gain significant bonuses to track a mortal, or penalized ones to track Kindred. Gangrel Only, GOLD
2 Rex Sanguis Sacrorum No Uses a sacrifice to temporarily allow the ritualist to see the entirety of her past. Fluff
2 Rite of the Bloody Crossroads No Allows the ritualist to predict when people with murderous intent are coming to the targeted location. Potential, as can be used to set up the Haven Defence powers in time, or detect people intending to kill you at the game location. Mid Approval, City Specific.
2 Rite of the Circle Path No Reveals a fateful meeting between two people or objects. Fluff, City Specific
2 Soul's Work No Invest Willpower points into a work of art, which may later be used to perform an action that corresponds to the art form. If your Willpower pool is low, worthwhile. Otherwise just take Confidence in Adversity.
2 Succulent Buboes Yes Transfer Vitae from within the body into lymph nodes, potentially storing Vitae well above what Blood Potency would allow. Gold or Rubbish, read the "feeding" system section. If blood is freely available, this is worth it.
2 Wisdom of the Soul No Enter a trance and create a prophetic work of art; may later re-roll any one roll that night. UTTER GOLD. Every Crone should have it. See below.

Level Three

Ritual Level Ritual Name Success Dependent Rough Synopsis Notes
3 Beloved Deodand Cast on a murder weapon, when it is used again steal blood from the victim. Meh. With some painful set up can work, but generally not worth the effort.
3 Blood Portrait Uses a person's blood to create a living portrait of themselves. Reserved by the MST office.
3 Deflection of Wooden Doom No Caster becomes immune to staking for one night Utter rubbish at present rules, when it is relatively simple to knock someone into torpor compared to trying to stake them.
3 Doorways of Eyes and Mind No Keeps the mind of a torpid vampire awake and active throughout the duration of torpor. Fluff
3 Final Service of the Slave No Sacrifice a Retainer, gain temporary increase in skill or re-spend the lost experience on a skill the Retainer had. Fluff. Funny if you want to sacrifice Retainers in front of people.
3 Fire the Cauldron No Permits a female Kindred to carry a Dhampir child. Not Sanctioned.
3 Flower of Demeter No Grow a flower fed by mortal blood; grants a bonus to Craft and Expression. Swallowing the flower grants 24 hours of the blush of life. Fluff. Can be great role playing wise.
3 Hag Mask Allows the user to increase her Defence or Intimidation, at the cost of severe ugliness. Situational, combat uses if you have an applicable build or if you have a power that functions off Intimidate. Can only improve Intimidation or Defence (Addenda)
3 Metamorphosis No Prepares a temple using the ritualist's blood, giving the user a number of benefits while in the temple. Situational. If a hit is coming or that games at the temple, go nuts. Sacrifice dependent.
3 Rain No Cause it to rain, inflicting penalties to relevant rolls. Fluff unless paired with Balancing the Four Humours.
3 Song of the Blood No Strengthens blood ties for one night, such that relatives can sense through them at any distance. Fluff.
3 Taste of Destiny No Gain insight into a future event; when the prophesied event comes to pass, regain the first three Willpower spent on rolls that do not succeed ST dependent.
3 Tiamat Offspring N/a Creates a homunculus servant. Gold, see expanded points
3 Tickblood No Cause a mortal to generate an increased quantity of Vitae over the next few days. Fluff, Gangrel Only
3 Touch of the Morrigan Yes Charges the casters hands with a lethal damage attack, discharges on a touch attack. Waste, you should have better methods of attack. Reason being you have to cast one turn, then use it a turn later.

Level Four

Ritual Level Ritual Name Success Dependent Rough Synopsis Notes
4 Bleeding the Tarantula Yes Creates a mystical spider which watches over and protects the caster while they sleep. FLUFF, unless your VST is down for Downtime attacks, even then still situational.
4 Blood Price Yes For the rest of the night a third of all vitae consumed by the Victim goes to the Caster. Fluff, or get a Husk using Carthian buddy
4 Eye of the Norn No Reveal who the caster most needs to confront at this time, gain bonus against revealed person. ST dependent, practical limitations of not always knowing who is gunning for your character.
4 Fount of Wisdom No Acquire temporary skills from a feed target. Fluff for the most part. Skills limited by User's Blood Potency
4 Mask of Blood No The caster may steal the form of a feeding victim, which last until sunrise. Good, some ST variance. See below.
4 Sacrifice of Odin N/a Cut off a part of the body, inflicting an aggravated damage; until the caster regenerates this damage, they gain significantly increased benefits from using Willpower. Gold. Spend that Willpower. See below.
4 Thinning the Skin No Opens a gateway to the Spirit world. So fluffy it only lasts 30 seconds per year.
4 Willful Vitae No Caster becomes immune to increased Viniculum or blood addiction for one night. Situational on how often your drinking Vampire blood, which usually is a bad idea.

Level Five

Ritual Level Ritual Name Success Dependent Rough Synopsis Notes
5 A Child from the Stones N/a Create a gargoyle, or deactivates another caster's creation. Gold, but requires a little to a massive amount of investment. See below.
5 As One No Sacrifice creatures to outline an area, gain bonuses in said area. Good, but is actually about ten rituals disguised as one, not all are equal. See below.
5 Blood Blight Yes Mortal takes lethal damage, vampire targets lose blood. Good, but not always ideal. If you've maximised your pool can rock the house. Note that as it does not inflict damage but instead burns blood, it is not affected by the damage cap rules.
5 Crone's Revival No Embrace a childe, they start with Blood Potency two, Caster loses a Blood Potency. SO FLUFFY YOU'RE GONNA DIE
5 Curse of Ahasverus Yes Target has Predator's taint to everyone for the rest of the night. GOLD or USELESS. See below. Serious OOC complications possible.
5 Feeding the Crone YES The caster's teeth inflict aggravated damage, grappling is no longer necessary to bite, and activation successes are added to bite rolls. Feeding is impossible. GOLD, but must be right build (Have Strength and Brawl Backup).
5 Ianus' Blessing Yes Temporarily changes the user's Blood Potency, either up or down Not Sanctioned.
5 Roving Hut No May add Cruac dots to the Haven merit for one scene, warping the location in supernatural ways. Situational. With feeding issues +5 Haven Location is good.

Miscellaneous

Ritual Level Ritual Name Rough Synopsis Notes
Miscellaneous Love-Lies-Bleeding Reduces the visibility of Diablerie marks in the caster's aura. Not Sanctioned. That's a good thing.

Restricted Rituals

The Rituals detailed below require a particular group membership in order to learn them.

Spirit Cruac

Sufficiently unique it merits its own addenda/setting page, found over here.

Ritual Level Ritual Name Rough Synopsis Notes
2 Imperious Call Summon and manifest a particular spirit. Fluff
3 Servant From the Hidden Realms Creates Essence, for the purpose of compelling a spirit to comply with commands. Gold but ST dependent
3 Veiled Curse Curses a mortal, they get screwed around by Spirits. Fluff
4 Eternal Guardian of the Dark Moon Links the caster and a spirit, with the latter protecting the former. Gold but ST dependent

Crone Factions

These rituals can only be bought by Crone aligned with a specific group.

Regarding the Cheval versions: They are rubbish because they work exactly the same as Cheval, but add requirements or weaknesses that if you really want, you can just make up and still have the superior, normal version.

Ritual Level Faction Name Ritual Name Rough Synopsis Notes
2 Sipan Dreaming the Other Worse version of Cheval. Rubbish.
2 Amanotsukai Harai Blesses a mortal subject whom the caster has recently drunk from, healing them or potentially reversing a morality loss FLUFF
2 Disciples of Silence Maya Worse version of Cheval. Rubbish.
2 Amanotsukai Mononoke Worse version of Cheval. Rubbish.
3 People of the Land Mother's Mark, The Burns a mark into Kindred that, if desired, can be permanent and irremovable. Fluff.
5 Sipan Heart's Curse Inflict a lethal damage roll on a target, no matter where they are. Only once per night (addenda), lots of attached fluff.
5 Disciples of Silence Regression Blood Blight with unlimited range. Flavour text limits it a lot.

Sethite Only

The following rituals can be purchased by members of the Seth Shadow Cult. Note that members of the Cult who are not Crone are limited to these Rituals:

  • Level One: Pangs of Proserpina
  • Level Two: Cheval, Hydra's Vitae
  • Level Three: Touch of the Morrigan
  • Level Four: None.
  • Level Five: Blood Blight

As well as the following Rites Unique to the Cult:

Ritual Level Ritual Name Rough Synopsis Notes
1 Genius Loci Curse an area, penalizing all social rolls except Intimidate. Sethite Only, Fluff
2 Amemet's Pursuit The next time the victim attempts to flee from the caster they instead approach. Sethite Only, GOLD. Every Setite should take it.
3 Hand of Seth, The Drives a possessing spirit out of a body. Sethites Only, Fluff
4 Blade of Tu'at Imbues a blade to really mess up Ghosts and Spirits Sethite Only, Reserved by the MST office
4 Thrashing of Apep's Coils, The Conjures sudden extreme weather. Sethite Only, Fluff? Problematic in that it's mechanics are poorly defined. Possible to argue for being a superior version of "Rain"
5 Rite of Going Forth by Day After eating the heart of a mortal, caster may project themselves in broad daylight, walking as a spirit. Sethite Only, Stroke that fluffy wall

Bloodline Restricted

These Rituals are limited to specific Bloodlines, in general they are flufftastic.

Ritual Level Bloodline Ritual Name Rough Synopsis Notes
1 Mara Mother's Touch, The The ritual cuts her own eye and heals it in water, giving supernatural vision.
1 Boyar's Caul Grants an image of a subject of interest, which helps with locating or identifying them in the future.
1 Tapas, Rituals of Penance Rituals of Penance, multiple versions for different skills.
2 Gora Mukhi Turns the caster into a terrifying monster that is exceptionally intimidating. Not Sanctioned
2 Hawthorn Barrier Creates an invisible barrier through which no vampire with lower blood potency may pass, lasting for several minutes.
2 Mara Mother's Eye, The The ritual cuts her own eye and heals it in the water, giving supernatural vision.
3 Yagnatia Mother's Blessing, The A special ritual of the Yagnatia bloodline, this ritual is the only method through which they may Embrace another. Worse than fluff, as you need to take it for normal character tie options. Lame.

Rituals Requiring More Detail

Some rituals aren't so simple as cause/effect and bear further examination.

Painted Fears

Make a work of art, it can cause a Phobia in anyone that looks at it, the difficulty of the roll can be increased by investing more blood into it. You are not immune to the art's effects unless it depicts yourself.

Derangement's are awful for vampires in particular, because there default behaviour for such things usually becomes a fear frenzy. It's hard to fight effectively when fending off a Frenzy test.

Best Uses

  • To create a statue of your God and sit it in front of the Lance Cathedral, or similar iterations
  • Your picture painted on a shield with a covering. Unveil covering before the combat. Laugh at any foes that mess it up.
  • A picture of your Haven....in your Haven. An addition to the other Haven Defence rituals.

Other Power Synergies

  • Ritual - Tiamat Offspring/A Child From The Stones. Can create an artwork of your Creations and they can use it similar to the Shield fashion above. Or they can be smaller forms of your strategically placed Statue from earlier, so they in fact have a phobia of your Retainers.
  • Nightmare Four - When used on someone denies them a turn, and can upgrade a derangement on the target, stepping up the Phobia to a Paranoia, which is harder to deal with.


Wisdom of the Soul

Re-roll. Any. Roll.

There is one Caveat here: You need to know when to use it and when to save it. If you make it through games without needing to use, it's still gold.

The things to hold it for:

1) Your escape power. You die, that's your story over. Live and wreak vengeance instead. Best clan powers to use it for in order: Majesty 5, Obfuscate 3/5, Dominate 2 (Used on most powerful attacker, either "Save me" or "Kill your allies")

2) Initiative roll to escape or get the first blow in a hit squad. If you have an escape power that is not draw reliant (Gangrel Mist form, Celerity speed) then you need to go first before you are attacked/Grappled. Case for desperation though. In a Hit Squad the target needs to be put down/grappled as quickly as possible before they activate their escape powers.

3) A buff power with successes dependent. If your build is reliant on getting numerous successes on a single roll and you botch it, then you may consider doing so. Keep the above points in mind as a higher priority, but sometimes you need those successes. Particularly applicable with Maw of the Crone.

Mask of Blood

Note that this ritual explicitly allows animal transformations. Whether or not you can use the animal particular unique abilities (i.e. flight) is up to the relevant ST.

If the above is worked out as a yes, then get a menagerie of animals and laugh at the limited forms of all the Gangrel (You have to burn 3xp for each form? You poor thing).

The key document for this Ritual is the Bestiary, which is the approved listing of all animals. Note that your attributes don't change, so alas you can't become a dog and have instant reasonable combat on hand.

Below are some of the better forms to pick after glancing at said Bestiary, it is by no means exhaustive.

Be wary of the Temporary Health rules.

Animal Abilities to Gain

If your ST is down for your bird form being able to fly and such, then the following forms are good:

  • Bull - Gets Knockdown, Size 7 for some extra health.
  • Condor - Flight with size 5, so you don't lose any health levels
  • Shark - Swim and Bite capability with size 6

Additional Caveat if using the animal as your warrior mode: The biggest weapon bonus available to animals caps at 3L (i.e. Crocodile/Bear bite), if your after straight high numbers then a big sword (4L) is marginally better, though definitely less cool looking.

Animal Sizes That Rule

If your ST rules against you gaining the animal abilities, which probably isn't per the rules but is conceivably more balanced, you have the following:

  • Elephant. Know you're going into your last fight? Elephant it up, go to Size 15, gain those TEN health levels, cast Maw of the Crone for further hilarity, then unleash yourself on the unsuspecting.
  • Killer Whale. Water version of the Elephant.
  • Anything small to slither/scrabble away with, such as a Snake or lizard

Other Power Synergies

  • Willful Vitae - Use a Gangrel buddy to drink a blood while they are an animal, assume their form and ignore the blood addiction rules (Which are bad).
  • A Child From the Stones - Construct your Gargoyles with a length of PVC or similar pipe in them. Keep a pet snake in your sleeve at all times. When things go bad, turn into a snake, slither into the pipe, they have to go through a ten health level Retainer that fights back to get to you.
  • Obfuscate - Similar to above, have a dozen snakes on you. Assume snake form when danger happens. Let all the snakes slither away, while you Obfuscate, hidden in your clothes, or slither away with them. Can be done at Ob 2 at lowest, as you need to hide your beast from other Vampires.

Sacrifice of Odin

Definitely the best level four Ritual, Sacrifice comes with a few teething problems.

Specifically, you have to hack off an otherwise completely fine and useful bit of yourself.

This inflicts an Aggravated damage and a penalty on tasks related to the body part.

A key point of this unfortunate disadvantage is that as long as you don't heal the injury you keep the benefit of the Ritual. That means you could buy this ritual, cast it once and leave it at that.

First issue to deal with: An aggravated Damage level. Particularly for a combat build this is a bad thing. You can adjust for it either by building an exceptionally survivable build, or there is a cheesier option, though your ST may very well say no and throw a book at you. If you cast the ritual and have a single level of Resilience active, then it only does a Lethal damage, which is a lot less problematic. By the rules it works, don't be surprised if the ST says no.

Second issue is what your lopping off. The options are limited, and very much depend on what your character is good at. Note that the Ritual write up specifically puts a -3 penalty on related actions, arguably you could buy some manner of prosthetic to counter this somewhat as an equipment bonus, once more that is up to your ST. Your options of body-part-to-lose are:

  1. An eye - A possible prospect for the combat characters or those whose investigation/notice rolls suck anyway. You are one potential hit from being blinded, which sucks, so be wary of it.
  2. A foot - Probably the best one to take away, it affects your running speed and such
  3. A hand - Not that bad for a number of builds, particularly if you've elected for a ranged or Maw of the Crone focused combat capability.

Other Power Synergies

The point of this Rite is to boost any power or roll in a superior fashion. If you have the ritual and the four dots of Cruac, this ritual should be coming up. The thing this Rite needs is Willpower renewal, gained from:

  • Confidence in Adversity - See the Ritual ratings above. Don't forget to mock Thebanites when you get the WP point back
  • Inspiring - Requires a group action and a high Presence stat. Group actions are easy, as the Circle is a Church, and a sermon can be done as an action by a group. Simple.
  • Vice/Virtue - Not so simple or easy, ST dependent.

Tiamat Offspring/A Child From The Stones

These Rituals are unique, as there actual affect due to the addenda is the ability to buy the unique Homunculi/Gargoyle Retainers.

Important distinctions between regular retainers and these guys:

  • They ignore the stat limits for standard retainers in the Universal addenda
  • Their base stats are not changeable, they automatically have there stats given in the book
    • These stats are pretty good
  • They are not typically worth spending experience to increase them above one dot
  • You craft Gargoyles rather than finding/training/teaching people

These distinctions create a number of topics, the first of which is...

Crafting

A bloody guide in a guide....

In addition to that expensive as hell Cruac, those combat stats for your Maw of the Crone rocking on, the blood gaining mechanics you need to deal and the retainer dots you have to purchase, you may also have to contend with crafting rolls to get your Gargoyles (Note that a portion of the Homunculi ritual is birthing your new creature. As per the Addenda, not necessarily the case here, as all the ritual does is allow you to buy the dots, but bear the following in mind in case).

The important things to deal with here:

  • Each crafting roll takes ONE hour. It is not one roll for a downtime action, it is multiple.
  • Crafting rolls are extended actions. The successes you've accumulated for it do not go away if your character has to do something else (The statue your half way through carving does not morph back into a marble block....)
  • There is a set amount of successes needed to create a Gargoyle (40, which is not a small amount)

Boosting Your Crafting Draw

Attribute - Dexterity: Given the options below, your need to craft Gargoyles should not affect your level of Dexterity, either you need it for other things or you have a low level of it.

Skill - Craft: The cheaper option, a good place to throw spare creation dots after buying up Occult.

Equipment - Workshop: Like armour is to combat, Workshops/Tools and such are the free (Experience wise) bonuses to your crafting stuff. The cost is entirely fluff. Throw a boon to the rich Invictus, it'll be worth it. Equipment bonuses to cap out at +5 however (Potential equipment: Plans, drawings, quality materials, Chisels, etc.)

Derived Stat - Willpower: In the TT system you get Willpower quite frequently, burn as you can.

Ritual - Confidence of Adversity: For the event willpower costs are problematic, craft, burn willpower, then do an action that matters less to do so without 10 again.

Ritual - Fires of Inspiration: Straight boost to your craft roll equal to your Cruac, which if you are crafting Gargoyles should be nice and high.


Crafting Alternate Shapes

One of the key points of the versatility of these retainers is there is a degree of malleability in their appearance and shape. Note that their size is a static amount, so a Gargoyle cannot be made the size of Godzilla.

Humonculi: Less versatile than the Gargoyles due to their defined parameters, their options are limited to an animal form or a same size alien shape, which carries a slight penalty to some stats for it. Good options to craft on: Hooked/rough hands/feet/tentacles for climbing, pouch/slot for knives (See Combat Uses)

Gargoyles: This is where it is at. Size 5 is human, to get to size 6 you have to be damn sight bigger. Consider how much you can stretch out a human in volumetric terms. You can also use alternate materials to create them, as they have a Stamina mechanic for their health it doesn't matter (If they gained durability it would, but that would also be monstrous).

Using Your Minions

Combat Uses

Humonculi: High Dex, small athletics and few health levels mean that these things are best crafted in an Octopus/Chimp form (Or small many armed abomination if you want), given thrown knives, told to clamber up the roof (Or hang around on you if your strong enough to do it without penalty) and throw away. Their attack pool isn't massive, but they do have to be dealt with, and retainers are there to be expended. Attacks on Retainers are attacks not done on you. Experience can be earned again, the same is not true of your character. Also look into using Glass knives in Armory, better to not hand a weapon over and have one that shatters on impact.

Gargoyles: Gargoyles don't need much changed, they are statted to stand around until they can stab something. The only thing worth doing is decking them out with the best armour and weapons you can (I recommend the Halberd and Riot Armour). Train them to surround a target and attack away, remembering that all out attack is a thing and usually worth doing, given that Gargoyle Defence is rubbish and they cost 2xp each.

Non-Combat Uses

Humonculi: Perfect Cheval targets. Tell them to climb in the ducts, or better yet craft them into being parts of the room and cast your rite before the gathering.

Gargoyles: Also Cheval targets, though they can also be built into a lot of fluffy/useful items. Things that have come up before:

  • Gargoyle Throne. It carries itself around!
  • As a door, crafting one eye/ear either side. Cheval it. Use it as the door to whatever meeting room is around. Spy at your leisure. Also doors that can eat people are gold.
  • Make it primarily be arms, and hang it from a corridor. Anyone walking through has to clamber through the arms. Hilarity can ensue.

Other Power Synergies

  • Ritual - Cheval: Targets that will go and look where you say
  • Ritual - Beloved Deodand: Shipping crate of bound victims, some Garoyles with Deodands to be signalled when combat starts, let the blood flow and the humanity drop!
  • Ritual - Painted Fears, see the expanded write up for Painted Fears above.

As One

This is not one ritual, it is eight, disguised as one. You can buy it multiple times for the different uses. All the below require at least three sacrifices to be used to mark the target area.

There is always a side effect in the area, but none of them are especially bad.

Ritual Level Ritual Name Rough Synopsis Notes
5 As One - Eyes of the Wise When you meet someone in the area, you immediately learn something about them Fluff
5 As One - Make Straight the Royal Highway While walking/running, ignore penalties. Can ignore one impassable barrier. Fluff unless there is an impassable barrier
5 As One - Immortal Viands Instead of paying a blood to awaken, something is damaged/destroyed in the area Fluff
5 As One - The Very Stones Defend Me Once per night, the land attacks someone in the area at the Casters wish Situational, can be used for multiple damage source stacking
5 As One - Cowan's Mark Inflict someone in the area with the Nosferatu Clan Weakness Fluff
5 As One - The Trees Give Voice Once per night interrogate a Spirit about what happened in the area Good for Investigation
5 As One - Taste the Blood of the Spirit Caster knows when Discipline/Magic is happening in the area Good for warning situations, can be used as a find power in certain circumstances
5 As One - Sanctuary Declare an area safe Rubbish. Weak escape power.

Curse of Ahasverus

Predator's Taint. All night long. Every time the target interacts with someone.

Think about that for a minute.

Realise how devastating that is in the context of a social game, where each occasion is a group of twenty plus mobile characters.

Consider that Predators Taint causes Frenzy rolls, and sooner or later you will fail a roll if made enough times. The Victim will be making a lot of rolls.

Finally, work out that this ritual is too devastating to be used on a PC.

There may be circumstances where it is okay to use this power, but they should be rare. If the ST is happy for you to have it then put it in the arsenal, but consider this before every casting:

Would you still think it was worth going to game if it happened to you.

Sample Builds

The Rituals in italics are the best of that level for what you want to do.


The Default Package

This is what I consider each Crone should have:

  • Level One: Confidence in Adversity
  • Level Two: Cheval, Prey's Blood (Gangrel only), Succulent Buboes (Feeding dependent), Wisdom of the Soul


The Prophet

This build can be stopped at any level, though the higher it goes the better it gets.

Note that prophecy powers are limited by a lot of realistic issues, such VST planning, inclination to give you plot info and the fact they can't know exactly what's going to happen.

This build can probably be stopped at any level, but the higher the better.

  • Level One: Drops of Destiny, Taste of Knowledge
  • Level Two: Wisdom of the Soul
  • Level Three: Rain, Taste of Destiny
  • Level Four: Eye of Norn
  • Level Five: As One

Note: Rain is there for weather predicting shenanigans.


The Cruac Warrior

For warriors of the Crone.

  • Level One: Balancing the Four Humours, Confidence in Adversity
  • Level Two: Maiden Skin, Succulent Buboes
  • Level Three: Hag Mask


The Boris Build

Expensive as all hell to get going. If you can afford it though it can wreck face.

  • Level One: Balancing the Four Humours, Confidence in Adversity
  • Level Two: Cheval, Maiden Skin, Succulent Buboes
  • Level Three: Deodand, Hag Mask
  • Level Four: Sacrifice of Odin
  • Level Five: A Child From the Stone, Blood Blight, Maw of the Crone,

Ramp up your Maw of the Crone with a +5 willpower point via Sacrifice of Odin, preferably using an Altar and Necropolis merits if you have them. Maiden and Hags mask for Defence, use Blood Blight for Celerity Defence Monkeys you can't hit, use Succulent Buboes and Gargoyles with Deodand weapons to regain Vitae.

Bonus stuff to have: Heaviest armour possible, Celerity, Health.

Footnotes

Killbox: A situation that is inescapable by the victim.

Temporary Health: Sucks hard. When the source of your temporary health goes away, the damage sustained by those health levels don't go away, they double up on you. This means temporary health is a short delusion whose best aspect is allowing you additional time to burn blood to heal. If your into Aggravated damage with your temporary health, outside of some rare powers your a walking corpse, doomed to ash soon.

Meditation Rolls: A mechanic utilising two attributes and best combined with the Meditative mind merit. An annoyance to deal with.

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