Jodessa/Spellbook
Contents
Spellbook Contents
Background: Occult Library
| Library Size | Modifier |
| A few books | +1 die to Occult dice pools |
| A modest collection | +1 die to Occult dice pools, -1 to Occult difficulties |
| Many noteworthy titles | +2 dice to Occult dice pools, -1 to Occult difficulties |
| A wide variety of lore | +2 dice to Occult dice pools, -2 to Occult difficulties |
| A veritable magical encyclopedia | +3 dice to Occult dice pools, -2 to Occult difficulties |
Disciplines
Auspex
• Heightened Senses - This power doesn't normally require the use of dice, instead being defined through the Storyteller's descriptions and the player's imagination. In certain circumstances, use of this power requires a die roll: for a normal Perception roll (the Storyteller may reduce the difficulty by the character's Auspex rating), to notice a subject using Obfuscate (see p. 166), or to perceive a threat (the Storyteller privately rolls the character's unmodified Auspex rating, applying whatever difficulty he feels best suits the circumstances). For example, in the last instance, sensing that a pistol is pointed at the back of the character's head may require a 5, while the sudden realization that a rival for primogen is planning her assassination may require a 9.
This power does not let characters see in pitch darkness, as does Eyes of the Beast (p. 173), but it does reduce difficulty penalties to act in pitch darkness from +2 to +1, and the character may make ranged attacks in pitch darkness if she can hear, smell or otherwise detect her foe.
•• Aura Perception - The player rolls Perception + Empathy (difficulty 8); each success indicates how much of the subject's aura the character sees and understands (see the table below). A botch indicates a false or erroneous interpretation. The Storyteller may wish to make this roll, thus keeping the player in the dark as to just how good (or bad) the character's interpretation is.
| Successes | Distance |
| 1 | Can distinguish only the shade (pale or bright) |
| 2 | Can distinguish the main color |
| 3 | Can recognize the color patterns |
| 4 | Can detect subtle shifts |
| 5 | Can identify mixtures of color and pattern |
The character may view a particular subject's aura only once with any degree of clarity. Any subsequent attempts that result in failure should be considered botches. It is very easy for the character to imagine seeing what she wants to see when judging someone's intentions. After a full month, the character may try again at no penalty.
It is possible, though difficult, to sense the aura of a being who is otherwise invisible to normal sight.
The Aura Colors chart offers examples of some common colors and the emotions they reflect.
| Emotion + Race | Colors + Descriptors |
| Afraid | Orange |
| Aggressive | Purple |
| Angry | Red |
| Bitter | Brown |
| Calm | Light Blue |
| Compassionate | Pink |
| Conservative | Lavender |
| Depressed | Grey |
| Lustful | Deep Red |
| Diablerist | Black Veins in Aura |
| Distrustful | Light Green |
| Envious | Dark Green |
| Excited | Violet |
| Generous | Rose |
| Happy | Vermillion |
| Hateful | Black |
| Idealistic | Yellow |
| Innocent | White |
| Lovestruck | Blue |
| Obsessed | Green |
| Sad | Silver |
| Spiritual | Gold |
| Suspicious | Dark Blue |
| Anxious | Auras appear scrambled like static or white noise |
| Confused | Mottled, shifting colors |
| Daydreaming | Sharp, flickering colors |
| Frenzied | Rapidly rippling colors |
| Psychotic | Hypnotic, swirling colors |
| Vampire | Aura colors are pale |
| Ghoul | Pale blotches in the aura |
| Magic Use | Myriad sparkles in aura |
| Nephandus | Constant, black ripples across the aura |
| Werebeast | Bright, vibrant aura |
| Ghost | Weak, intermittent aura |
| Faerie | Rainbow highlights in aura |
••• The Spirit's Touch - The player rolls Perception + Empathy. The difficulty is determined by the age of the impressions and the mental and spiritual strength of the person or event that left them. Sensing information from a pistol used for murder hours ago may require a 5, while learning who owned a set of keys found days ago might be a 9.
The greater the individual's emotional connection to the object, the stronger the impression he leaves on it - and the more information the Kindred can glean from it. Also, events involving strong emotions (a gift-giving, a torture, a long family history) likewise leave stronger impressions than does short or casual contact. Assume that each success offers one piece of information. While one success tells the character only that "a man held this pocket watch last," three reveal that he was petty, middle-aged and afraid. Four successes discover his name, and five or more reveal his connection to the watch as well as some of the things he did with it in his possession.
•••• Telepathy - The player rolls Intelligence + Subterfuge (difficulty of the subject's Willpower). Projecting thoughts into the target's mind requires one success. The subject recognizes that the thoughts come from somewhere other than his own consciousness, although he cannot discern their actual origin.
To read minds, one success must be rolled for each item of information plucked or each layer of thought pierced. Deep secrets or buried memories are harder to obtain than surface emotions or unspoken comments, requiring five or more successes to access.
Telepathy does not commonly work upon the undead mind. A character may expend a Willpower point to make the effort, making the roll normally afterward. Likewise, it is equally difficult to read the thoughts of other supernatural creatures.
Storytellers are encouraged to describe thoughts as flowing streams of impressions and images, rather than as a sequence of prose. Instead of making flat statements like "He's planning on killing his former lover's new boyfriend," say "You see a fleeting series of visions: A couple kissing passionately in a doorway, then the man walking alone at night; you suddenly see your hands, knuckles white, wrapped around a steering wheel, with a figure crossing the street ahead; your heart, mortal now and hammering with panic as you hear the engine rev wildly; and above all, a blazing anger coupled with emotional agony and a panicked fear of loss."
Such descriptions not only add to the story, they also force the player to decide for herself what her character reads. After all, understanding minds - especially highly emotional or deranged minds - is a difficult and often puzzling task.
••••• Psychic Projection - Journeying in astral form requires the player to expend a point of Willpower and make a Perception + Occult roll. Difficulty varies depending on the distance and complexity of the intended trip; 7 is average, with 10 reflecting a trip far from familiar territory (a first journey from North America to the Far East; trying to shortcut through the earth). The greater the number of successes rolled, the more focused the character's astral presence is and the easier it is for her to reach her desired destination.
Failure means the character is unable to separate her consciousness from her body, while a botch can have nasty consequences - flinging her astral form to a random destination on Earth or in the spirit realm, or heading for the desired destination so forcefully that the silver cord snaps.
Changing course or continuing to another destination requires another point of Willpower and a new roll. Failure indicates that the vampire has lost her way and must retrace the path of her silver cord. A botch at this stage means the cord snaps, stranding the character's psychic form in the mysterious astral plane.
An astral form may travel at great speeds (the Storyteller can use 1000 miles per hour as a general guide) and carries no clothing or material objects of any kind. Some artifacts are said to exist in the spirit world, and the character can try to use one of these tools if she finds one. The character cannot bring such relics to the physical world when she returns to her body, however.
Interaction with the physical world is impossible while using Psychic Projection. At best, the character may spend a Willpower point to manifest as a ghostlike shape. This apparition lasts one turn before fading away; while she can't affect anything physically during this time, the character can speak. Despite lacking physical substance, an astral character can use Auspex normally. At the Storyteller's discretion, such a character may employ any Animalism, Dementation, Dominate, Necromancy, Obtenebration, Presence and/or Thaumaturgy powers she has, though this typically requires a minimum of three successes on the initial Psychic Projection roll.
If two astral shapes encounter one another, they interact as if they were solid. They may talk, touch and even fight as if both were in the material world. Since they have no physical bodies, astral characters seeking to interact "physically" substitute Mental and Social Traits for Physical ones (Wits replaces Dexterity, Manipulation supplants Strength, and Intelligence replaces Stamina). Due to the lack of a material form, the only real way to damage another psychic entity is to cut its silver cord. When fighting this way, consider Willpower points to be health levels; when a combatant loses all of her Willpower, the cord is severed.
Although an astrally projected character remains in the reflection of the mortal world (referred to as the Penumbra in other World of Darkness games), she may venture further into the spirit realms, especially if she becomes lost. Other beings, such as ghosts, werewolves and even rare magi, travel the astral plane as well, and can interact with a vampire's psychic presence normally. Storytellers are encouraged to make trips into the spirit world as bizarre, mysterious and dreamlike as possible. The world beyond is a vivid and fantastic place, where the true nature of things is stronger and often strikingly different from their earthly appearances.
Thaumaturgy
Movement of the Mind
• The number of successes indicates the duration of the thaumaturge's control over the object (or subject). Each success allows one turn of manipulation, though the Kindred may attempt to maintain control after this time by making a new roll (she need not spend additional blood to maintain control). If the roll is successful, control is maintained. If a thaumaturge loses or relaxes control over an object and later manipulates it again, her player must spend another blood point, as a new attempt is being made.
If this power is used to manipulate a living being, the subject may attempt to resist. In this case, the thaumaturge and the subject make opposed Willpower rolls each turn the control is exercised.
Like The Lure of Flames, individual power levels are not provided for this path – consult the chart below to see how much weight a thaumaturge may control. Once a Kindred reaches Level Three, she may levitate herself and "fly" at approximately running speed, no matter how much she weighs, though the weight restrictions apply if she manipulates other objects or subjects. Once a Kindred achieves Level Four, she may "throw" objects at a Strength equal to her level of mastery.
| Path Level | Weight |
| 1 | One pound |
| 2 | 20 pounds |
| 3 | 200 pounds |
| 4 | 500 pounds |
| 5 | 1000 pounds |
Path of Blood
• A Taste for Blood - The number of successes achieved on the roll determines how much information the thaumaturge gleans and how accurate it is.
•• Blood Rage - Each success forces the subject to spend one blood point immediately in the way the thaumaturge desires. Note that blood points forcibly spent in this manner may exceed the normal "per turn" maximum indicated by the victim's generation. Each success gained also increases the subject's difficulty to resist frenzy by one.
••• Blood of Potency - Successes earned on the Willpower roll must be spent both to decrease the vampire's generation and to maintain the change. One success allows the character to lower his generation by one step for one hour. Each success grants the Kindred either one step down in generation or one hour of effect. If the vampire is diablerized while this power is in effect, it wears off immediately and the diablerist gains power appropriate to the thaumaturge's actual generation. Furthermore, any mortals Embraced by the thaumaturge are born to the generation appropriate to their sire's original generation.
Once the effect wears off, any blood over the character's blood pool maximum dilutes, leaving the character at his regular blood pool maximum.
•••• Theft of Vitae - The number of successes determines how many blood points the Tremere transfers from the subject. The subject must be visible to the thaumaturge and within 50 feet. Using this power is like drinking from the subject - used three times on the same Kindred, it creates a blood bond on the part of the thaumaturge! This power is obviously quite spectacular, and Camarilla princes justifiably consider its public use a breach of the Masquerade.
••••• Cauldron of Blood - The number of successes gained determines how many blood points are brought to boil. The subject suffers one health level of aggravated damage for each point boiled (individuals with Fortitude may soak this damage using only their Fortitude dice). A single success kills any mortal, though some ghouls are said to have survived.
Path of Praapti
Failure: No teleportation | Botch: 1 aggravated damage per 1 rolled, can be soaked with fortitude. | Success: 4-5 is exactly as desired, 1 success is off by a margin of 10% per distanced traveled.
| Path Level | Distance |
| 1 | Teleport up to 10 yards |
| 2 | Teleport up to 50 yards |
| 3 | Teleport up to 500 yards |
| 4 | Teleport up to 5 miles |
| 5 | Teleport up to 500 miles |
| Familiarity | Difficultly Modifier |
| Intimately Familiar (Own Haven) | -1 |
| Moderately Familiar (Visit Regularly) | +0 |
| Unseen, but understood spatial relationship (On the other side of this wall) | +0 |
| Not very familiar (Visited a few times, hazy on spatial relationship) | +1 |
| Unfamiliar (A point on the map) | +2 |
Thaumaturgical Countermagic
• Thaumaturgical Countermagic can only be used against Tremere Thaumaturgy at full effectiveness. It works with halved dice pools against against non-Tremere blood magic and mortal "hedge wizardry", and is completely ineffective against non-vampiric magics and powers.
The usage of Thaumaturgical Countermagic is treated as a free action in combat and does not require a split dice pool. To oppose a power or ritual, a character must have a Countermagic rating equal to or greater than the rating of the power or ritual. Each success cancels one of the opposing Thaumaturge's successes.
| Path Level | Distance |
| 1 | Two dice of Countermagic. The character can attempt to cancel only those powers and rituals that directly affect her and her garments. |
| 2 | Four dice of Countermagic. |
| 3 | Six dice of Countermagic. The character can attempt to cancel a Thaumaturgy that effects anyone or anything in physical contact with her. |
| 4 | Eight dice of Countermagic. |
| 5 | Ten dice of Countermagic. The character can now attempt to cancel a power or ritual that targets anything within a radius equal to her Willpower in yards, or on that is being used or performed in that same radius. |
Rituals
Rank 1
• Dedicate the Chantry - A dedication functions over a single building. So a complex of homes or an estate and grounds may require several castings. One dedicated, the chantry is open to more defenses; any site ritual cast over the chantry, from a ward to potent magic’s like Deny the Intruder (Level 2 ritual), has its casting difficulty lowered by one. (CBTR: pg. 57)
• Defense of the Sacred Haven - This ritual requires one hour to perform, during which the thaumaturge recites incantations and inscribes glyphs. One blood point is required for this ritual to work. (VTM: pg. 183)
• Encrypt Missive - The Thaumaturge writes the message in blood over the course of a night and speaks the name of the person he wishes to read it. Only the writer and the person to whom the letter is addressed can read the document, but numerous “counter-rituals” exist that can be used to confound the magic of this ritual. To any others who observe the letter, the writing simply appears as gibberish. Side note: Anarchs of the Anarch Free State seem to have learned it, and use it to encrypt graffiti messages to others of their kind. (BMSOT: pg. 87)
• Incantation of the Shepherd - The ritual gives the character the location relative to them of every member of their herd. If she does not have the herd background, Incantation of the Shepard locates the closest three mortals from whom the Thaumaturge has fed at least three times each. This ritual has a maximum range of 10 miles times the character’s herd background, or five miles if she has no points in that background. (GTTC: pg. 110)
Rank 2
• Craft Bloodstone - A thaumaturge who creates a bloodstone instinctively knows where it is at all times. This is not so much knowledge of its precise location as it is an understanding of it direction and distance from the caster.
• Deny the Intruder - There's no special cost for the paperwork involved in this ritual, though the Tremere must scrawl out the characters with charcoal. Once the paper makes it into "the system" - by the hands of the mailman, by e-mail to some server, or what have you - it vanishes without a trace. So, too, do the records of the chantry. Attempts to investigate the chantry or unearth records of it's existence increase in difficulty by one for each success scored on the ritual roll. This doesn't hinder the chantry's normal functions; the telephones still work and the electricity still runs. It's just that nobody ever sends the bills directly to the chantry or writes anything in the credit memos that reveals the buildings location. (CBTR: pg. 58)
• Trima - The caster mixes at least one point of her vitae with the desired wine and spices. Once completed, the trima must be ingested to take effect. After imbibing trima, a victim must make a successful Willpower roll (difficulty 8) to take any action, as they are overcome with artificially induced lethargy. This effect lasts a number of hours equal to the number of blood points the caster uses to create the ritual. Subjects may resist this effect by scoring at least three successes on a Stamina roll (difficulty 8). Cainites and other supernatural creatures are unaffected by Trima, as their blood is too potent to be overpowered by this concoction. (BMSOT: pg. 93)
Rank 3
• Shaft of Belated Quiescence - ... (GTTC: pg. 112)
Rank 4
• Warding Circle Versus Kindred - Ward versus Kindred behaves exactly as Ward versus Ghouls, but it effects vampires rather than ghouls. The ritual requires a blood point of the caster's own blood and does not affect the caster. As noted above, this ritual does not harm Kuei-Jin, and there is currently no "Ward versus Cathayans" in existence. (GTTC: pg. 113)
Rank 5
• Blood Contract - The ritual is best handled by the storyteller, who may bring those who sign the blood contract into compliance by whatever means necessary (it is not unknown for demons to materialize and enforce adherence to certain blood contracts). The only way to terminate the ritual is to complete the terms of the contract or to burn the document itself. One blood point is consumed in the creation of the document, and an additional blood point is consumed by those who sign it. (VTM: pg. 185)
