Rituals

Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Level 5
Level 6
Level 7

Rituals are thaumaturgical formulas,meticulously researched and prepared, that create powerful magical effects. Rituals are less versatile than paths, as their effects are singular and straight forward, but they are better suited toward specific ends.

All thaumaturges have the ability to use rituals, though each individual ritual must be learned separately. By acquainting herself with the arcane practice of blood magic, the thaumaturge gains the capacity to manipulate these focused effects.

Thaumaturgical rituals are rated from I to 5, each level corresponding to both the level of mastery of Thaumaturgy the would-be caster must possess and the relative power of the ritual itself. Unless stated otherwise, a ritual requires five minutes per level to cast. For example, Andreas the Tremere wishes to cast Ward Versus Ghouls, a Level Two Ritual. Invoking this ritual requires 10 minutes, and Andreas must know Thaumaturgy at 2 or greater.

Casting rituals requires a successful Intelligence + Occult roll, for which the difficulty equal 3 + the level of the ritual (maximum 9). Only one success is required for a ritual to work, though certain spells may require smore successes or have variable effects based on how well the caster's roll goes.

This uncertainty of effect is a recent development; Tremere rituals formerly worked infallibly, so long as the caster executed them successfully. Many thaumaturges fear that the movements of awakening Antediluvians have caused imbalance in the flow of magic, making the success of rituals more precarious than in previous nights.

Should a roll to activate a ritual fail, the Storyteller is encouraged to create strange occurrences or side effects, or even make it appear that the ritual was successful, only to reveal its failure at a later time. A botched ritual roll may even indicate a catastrophic failure or summon an ill-tempered demon....

Rituals sometimes require special ingredients or reagents to work - these are noted in each ritual's description.Common components include herbs, animal bones, ceremonial items, feathers, eye of newt, tongue of toad, etc. Acquiring components for a powerful ritual may form the basis for an entire story.

At the first level of Thaumaturgy, the vampire automatically gains a single Level One ritual in addition to the one already on the character sheet "Rite of Introduction".
To learn further rituals, the thaumaturge must find someone to teach him, or learn the ritual from a scroll, tome or other archive.