Most Useful Blood Sorcery Rituals

[11twiggins]

- Bans are great and underrated. And they are a great plot device! A nightclub that was shut down because Baali were using it to summon up an Earthbound, running a cult in the club. The Tremere put up a Ban once the infernalists were dead, for Infernal Powers like Lores. But Bans are broken when violence occurs inside the Ban...

So when the Anarch PCs in my game torch the chantry and kill most of the Cammies in the city, no one is maintaining the Ban. And when a guy kills his wife and hangs himself in one of the apartments in the building (which was converted from a club after being closed)... well now we have a powerful Earthbound in the building itself, free to do as it pleases, waking up from a long nap.

They also make a neat Elysium ritual. No one can use Disciplines inside the ban, meaning that Elysium is more of a neutral space. An interesting option.

- Kolduns have a ritual where they can use a bowl of water to restore Willpower. Just, immediately. Once a night, but still very useful.

[acwrig2]

- Bans are great and underrated. And they are a great plot device! A nightclub that was shut down because Baali were using it to summon up an Earthbound, running a cult in the club. The Tremere put up a Ban once the infernalists were dead, for Infernal Powers like Lores. But Bans are broken when violence occurs inside the Ban...

So when the Anarch PCs in my game torch the chantry and kill most of the Cammies in the city, no one is maintaining the Ban. And when a guy kills his wife and hangs himself in one of the apartments in the building (which was converted from a club after being closed)... well now we have a powerful Earthbound in the building itself, free to do as it pleases, waking up from a long nap.

They also make a neat Elysium ritual. No one can use Disciplines inside the ban, meaning that Elysium is more of a neutral space. An interesting option.

- Kolduns have a ritual where they can use a bowl of water to restore Willpower. Just, immediately. Once a night, but still very useful.

Do you have a reference for the Bans and in particular how they can negate a Lore? I find it hard to interesting that Thaumaturgy Ritual can trump an Earthbound's power and want to take a gander at the RAW and see if it's something I might use/allow in my current chronicle or not.

[11twiggins]

Do you have a reference for the Bans and in particular how they can negate a Lore? I find it hard to interesting that Thaumaturgy Ritual can trump an Earthbound's power and want to take a gander at the RAW and see if it's something I might use/allow in my current chronicle or not.

It's in the Dark Ages 20 books, Bans are listed. I think it might be the Book of Secrets or something?

So you can have a Ban that stops Fae stuff, or Demon stuff, or Shifter stuff, or Vampire stuff, or Wraith stuff. But ALL Bans break the moment there is violence inside them.

The logic here is that Bans are powerful but situational. Most Tremere don't know how to Ban demonic powers, and mostly don't need to, and when they do it costs a lot of blood and takes up time. This was a special case where the Prince called in favours to preserve the Masquerade, and the Chantry was devoted to keeping this Ban up until they were torched.

Now I wouldn't let a PC thaumaturge create a Ban which simply Stops Demon Powers up to the level of an Earthbound. This is a plot device for an NPC. However a PC could, with the Ban rituals, create a space where regular Demons were next to powerless. But they can leave, or do something violent.

[AzraelFirestorm]

Do you have a reference for the Bans and in particular how they can negate a Lore? I find it hard to interesting that Thaumaturgy Ritual can trump an Earthbound's power and want to take a gander at the RAW and see if it's something I might use/allow in my current chronicle or not.

The Bans are listed in the Tremere Apocrypha section of the V20 Dark Ages Companion, p. 116. Violence committed in a Banned space is not mentioned, from what I'm reading, save perhaps for Discipline/magic use (which in itself might violate the Ban) that may or may not be violent in nature.

[Zanos]

Many of my favorites were already listed here, but here's some I didn't see mentioned from my Elder Tremere's character sheet:

Blood Contract(Thaumaturgy 5): In a world where people lie and deceive constantly, being able to create a contract that forces people to keep to the word is immensely valuable, both in your own dealings and as a broker of such a service.
Court of Hallowed Truth(Thaumaturgy 5): This ritual is priceless. Enchants an entire room, duration is measured in weeks, and "No falsehood may be spoken, and direct questions from the presiding judge or power are answered candidly with no omissions or deceit." That's right folks, this ritual literally prevents people from lying by omission to you, or by misleading you with things that are technically true. Pure, solid gold.
Sanctuary(Thaumaturgy 5): Requires a willpower point, but lasts a year and prevents any souls(not just people) from entering the building without the casters explicit permission. All inside are protected from Auspex, Dominate, Dementation, and other mental/emotional disciplines. Violence breaks it, but pretty much makes the structure invulnerable to any kind of subterfuge.
Stone of the True Form(Thaumaturgy 5): Precast, engage in a willpower contest to force things to assume their "natural" form. Explicitly includes Obfuscated creatures, shapeshifters, and fleshcrafting.
Bone of Lies(Thaumaturgy 4): Detects lies. It's okay.
Invisible Binding Chains(Thaumaturgy 4): Explicitly casts instantly with no weird components, creating some pretty strong bindings that has a scaling number of targets. Anyone with potence will break them easily, anyone without is going to have a rather tough time.
Scry(Thaumaturgy 4): Keep an eye on your enemies. Probably your friends, too. People shed dead skin/hair everywhere they go, so a smart Tremere with Auspex can even identify someone who's only passed through an area.
Mirror of Second Sight(Thaumaturgy 3): I love rituals that make permanent items. This ritual makes a small item that lets you see all supernatural creatures in their true forms. Easily identifies every kind of supernatural, and reveals anyone hiding with superpowers.
Ascension of the Blood(Thaumaturgy 2): Removes blood bonds from vitae. Since vampires need to ingest blood to learn disciplines, use certain abilities, or maybe can only feed on it if they have that one flaw, this is immensely useful.
Blood Walk(Thaumaturgy 2): Each success allows you see up one generation from your victim, giving you the "true name" and face of all their ancestors, as well as identifying the subjects generation and clan. Even assuming that "true name" isn't of the magically potent variant, this is amazing for a 2nd level ritual because you'll never run into a situation where you capture an enemy and can't identify their sire. Three successes also reveals all vampires the target shares a blood bond which either way, which is even more awesome.
Craft Bloodstone(Thaumaturgy 2): Lets you make up to WP rocks that you have full positional awareness of. I know GPS exists in modern nights, but this is much more secure.
Machine Blitz(Thaumaturgy 2): Depends on whether or not your ST determines "takes effect instantly" to mean this ritual does not have a casting time. If it is instant, this ritual is very good, allowing you to put a stop to car chases, computers, and guns with ease. If not, it's kinda useless. Taking 10 minutes to break machines is something you could usually do with a hammer.
Seal Egress(Thaumaturgy 2): Creates a perfect seal for a room, with a duration measured in decades. Does not physically reinforce it, but prevents any and all kinds of non-natural mystical entry. Very powerful defense for a second level ritual.
Chime of Unseen Spirits(Thaumaturgy 1): If you got problem with ghosts, this is a decent ritual. If your ST buys that you can wear the chime as an earring or necklace, it's good for not getting spooked.
Learning the Mind Enslumbered(Thaumaturgy 1): If only the victim could tell us what they saw in their last moments! No problem.
Sangenious Phial(Thaumaturgy 1): Stores blood. Not as good as principal focus, but is level 1.
Wake With Evening's Freshness(Thaumaturgy 1): Immediately awakens you from sleep at any sign of danger and lets you ignore daytime penalties for a few rounds while you massacre whoever is sneaking into your haven. I'd rather have it and not need it then need it and not have it.

[acwrig2]

The Bans are listed in the Tremere Apocrypha section of the V20 Dark Ages Companion, p. 116. Violence committed in a Banned space is not mentioned, from what I'm reading, save perhaps for Discipline/magic use (which in itself might violate the Ban) that may or may not be violent in nature.

Will have to check that out. I've never played in Dark Ages. It's always just been lore/history for the modern nights games.

[Herr Meister]

Pavis of Foul Presence is a great way to make your ST hate you.

Which in turn is a great way to have your character destroyed, lol