Thaumaturgy

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Name:	Thaumaturgy
Symbol:
Pronunciation:
Clans:	Tremere

Thaumaturgy is the closely guarded secret blood magic practiced by the vampiric Clan Tremere. Created by exhaustive research and extensive experimentation, Thaumaturgy utilises the principles of Hermetic magic used by House Tremere when it was still a cabal of mages, adapted to be fuelled by the inherent magical power of Vitae rather than the Quintessence known to mortal mages. While it is certainly powerful and versatile, it is organised very differently to the Spheres; thaumaturgy is largely unknown to mages, and universally distrusted and reviled by those who do know of it.

Thaumaturgy uses a system of paths and rituals to focus the thaumaturge's will. Paths are learned expressions of thaumaturgical principles developed into reliable, repeatable effects. Unlike the "natural" powers of Disciplines, however, thaumaturges must concentrate their will, forcing the power of their blood to unnatural ends. If their concentration is not complete, if they falter, then the magic will fail, and in extreme cases such failure can have a lasting effect on the thaumaturge, draining their mental resources. It was not always so, however; before the Final Nights, paths were less difficult to use and did not carry the possibility of harm to the thaumaturge.

Rituals, by contrast, are elaborate, sophisticated and codified instructions for producing set magical effects. Rituals vary in complexity, and require varying levels of thaumaturgical knowledge to complete successfully. They often require the trappings of Hermetic magic - circles drawn in chalk, locks of the victim's hair, meditation, chanting ancient words of power and the like. Rituals can take hours, days or even months to perform, but if successfully completed will always produce the same result. They can be incredibly powerful, particularly when senior thaumaturges join forces; it was a thaumaturgical ritual which cursed the entire Assamite clan.

Contents 1 Paths 1.1 Alchemy[1] 1.2 Biothaumaturgy[2] 1.3 Elemental Mastery[3] 1.4 The Faux Path[4] 1.5 The Focused Mind[5] 1.6 The Green Path[6] 1.7 Hands of Destruction[7] 1.8 The Hearth Path[8] 1.9 Lure of Flames[9] 1.10 Mastery of the Mortal Shell[10] 1.11 Movement of the Mind[11] 1.12 Neptune's Might[12] 1.13 Oneiromancy[13] 1.14 Path of Blood[14] 1.15 Path of the Blood's Curse[15] 1.16 Path of Conjuring[16] 1.17 Path of Corruption[17] 1.18 Path of Curses[18] 1.19 Path of the Father's Vengeance[19] 1.20 Path of the Levinbolt[20] 1.21 Path of Mars[21] 1.22 Path of Shadowcrafting[22] 1.23 Path of Technomancy[23] 1.24 Path of Transmutation[24] 1.25 Spirit Manipulation[25] 1.26 Transitus Velociter[26] 1.27 The Vine of Dionysus[27] 1.28 Weather Control[28] 1.29 Rare Paths 2 References

[edit] Paths

Thaumaturgy has a large number of paths; though it is not the oldest tradition of blood magic, the Tremere were magical scholars long before they were vampires and toil ceaselessly to push their studies ever further. Many paths were once known by names which reflected the Tremere's previous magical heritage. Though not used since the Dark Medieval period, these names are listed in brackets after the modern name where known.

[edit] Alchemy^[1]

• Simple changes to an object's form
• Complex changes to an object's form
• Complicated changes to an object's form
• Small changes in atomic number
• Major changes in atomic number

[edit] Biothaumaturgy^[2]

• Thaumaturgical Forensics: Gain information from a tissue sample
• Thaumaturgical Surgery: Convert a level of damage to a lesser form
• Lesser Animation: Animate dead plants or smalls animals that will follow instructions
• Greater Animation: As Lesser Animation, except works on large animals and humans
• Cognizant Construction: Grant an animated creature rudimentary intelligence

[edit] Elemental Mastery^[3]

• Elemental Strength: Gain greater strength and resilience from the earth
• Wooden Tongues: Speak with inanimate objects
• Animate the Unmoving: Cause an object to move and act to a limited extent
• Elemental Form: Transform into an inanimate object
• Summon Elemental: Conjure an elemental spirit

[edit] The Faux Path^[4]

• Hello, Goodbye: Temporarily cause listeners to be a true statement to be false
• Disciplinary Identification: Recognize what Disciplines are or have been used
• Thaumaturgical Nomenclature: Identify what Thaumaturgy powers and rituals are being used
• Ritual Madness: Give a target the sensation of a particular Thaumaturgical power or ritual without actually inducing the effect
• Sanguinary Affection: Produce an illusion that gives the effect of a particular Discipline power

[edit] The Focused Mind^[5]

• Readiness: Gain a dice pool to add to Wits-related rolls or initiative
• Centering: Cause a subject to ignore any effect that reduces dice pools; grant bonus to resist frenzy
• One-Tracked Mind: Make a subject unable to split perform multiple actions
• Dual Thought: Take an extra mental action per round, including another Discipline use
• Perfect Clarity: Reduce the difficulty of all actions, become immune to frenzy, and become resistant to mental influence

[edit] The Green Path^[6]

• Herbal Wisdom : Commune with a plant
• Speed the Seed's Passing: Cause a plant to quickly grow or decay
• Dance of Vines: Animate vegetation
• Verdant Haven: Create a shelter of branches and vegetation
• Awaken the Forest Giants: Animate trees

[edit] Hands of Destruction^[7]

• Decay : Cause an inanimate object to age years in seconds
• Gnarl Wood: Ruin an object of wood with a look
• Acidic Touch: Your hand dispenses a powerful acid
• Atrophy: Cause a victim's limb to wither
• Turn to Dust: Make a person age years in seconds

[edit] The Hearth Path^[8]

• Guest's Herald: Create a small effect that goes off whenever someone passes through a entryway
• Master's Order: Know where all things that belong to you in your haven are located
• Rhyme of Discord: Anyone else who comes into your haven becomes disoriented and cannot remember what they find there
• Temportal: Teleport from one of your haven's doorways to another
• The Cauldron's Rede: Speak to items in your haven about events that have occurred there

[edit] Lure of Flames^[9]

This path does not have individual powers at each level. Instead, each level creates greater flames that are more dangerous.

[edit] Mastery of the Mortal Shell^[10]

• Vertigo: Cause a target to be disoriented and dizy
• Contortion: Make a victim's limb constrict and become useless
• Seizure: Cause a victim's body writhe and tighten uncontrollably
• Body Failure: As Seizure, but more powerful
• Marionette: Force a target's body to move and act as you desire

[edit] Movement of the Mind^[11]

• Force Bolt: Cause a target to fall down losing his next action or can shunt a object of 100lb or less toward or away.
• 'Manipulate: Allows you to life and handle a object that you would with one hand. TV remote, Hand Gun, a Lever ect.
• Flight: Allows the caster the ability to hoist a person or the caster into the air and can move them at walking speed.
• Repulse: As as with force bolt but objects with much more weight and more then one.
• Control: Force a target's body to move as you desire or you can heft up to a single ton.

pg 180-182 Vampire the Masquerade Revised

[edit] Neptune's Might^[12]

• Eyes of the Sea : See what has transpired around a still body of water
• Prison of Water: Use a large body of water to bind a target
• 
  • Blood to Water (Revised): Turn a subject's blood into water, some other liquids as well
  • Dehydrate (Prerevised): Remotely drain water from a victim
• Flowing Wall: Create a strong barrier of water
• 
  • Blood to Water (Prerevised): Turn a subject's blood into water, some other liquids as well
  • Dehydrate (Revised): Remotely drain water from a victim

[edit] Oneiromancy^[13]

• Portents: Receive visions after waking that allegorically refer to future events of one's life
• Foresee: As Portents, but works on another individual
• Dreamspeak: Send messages to someone through their dreams
• Augury: Gain answers to questions from another person's dreams
• Reveal the Heart's Dreams: Learn what someone most desires and fears from their dreams

[edit] Path of Blood^[14]

• A Taste For Blood : Gather a variety of information from a blood sample
• Blood Rage: Force a target to expend their vitae to raise
• Blood of Potency: Temporarily lower your generation
• Theft of Vitae: Steal blood from a target from a distance
• Cauldron of Blood: Cause a victim's blood to burn them from within

[edit] Path of the Blood's Curse^[15]

• Ravages of the Beast : Cause a target to frenzy
• Weight of the Sun: Make a vampire feel the effects of being awake during the day
• Abated Tooth: Prevent a vampire's fangs from extending
• Treacherous Bonds: Temporarily corrupt a blood bond, turning love to hate
• The Withering of Ages: Cause a vampire to decay to their true age

[edit] Path of Conjuring^[16]

• Summon the Simplest Form : Conjure a very simple object
• Permanency: It becomes easier to permanently conjure an object
• Magic of the Smith: Conjure a complex object
• Reverse Conjuration: Banish objects conjured with this path
• Power Over Life: Conjure living (though mindless) beings for a temporary duration

[edit] Path of Corruption^[17]

• Contradict : Make someone change their mind on a course of action
• 
  • Disfigurement (Prerevised): Change the appearance of someone, making more or less attractive
  • Subvert (Revised): Cause a victim to act on their dark impulses
• 
  • Change Mind (Prerevised): Give someone a new Demeanor
  • Dissociate (Revised): Make someone become distant from others for a time
•