Oblivion
Oblivion Powers
Umbrous Clutch
The Oblivion practitioner can create a temporary gate out of a victim's shadow and force them through it, teleporting them to the caster's feet. The journey through the Abyss, however fleeting, is traumatizing.
System:
Make a Rouse Check and spend your Standard Action to target a character within 12 steps of you that is casting a shadow. If you are successful in a contested challenge against your target, they appear to fall into their own shadow. A split second later, your target falls upward through your shadow, landing next to you. They lose one Willpower from the horror of being torn through the Abyss in this way.
Withering Spirit
By channeling raw entropy, you can destroy a creature's very spirit. Victims destroyed by this power are so utterly consumed that they have no chance of returning as a wraith.
System:
Make one Rouse Check and spend your Standard Action while gesturing towards a target character within three steps of you. If you succeed in a contested challenge, a portion of your target's spirit is ripped from them, visibly dissolving in the air like dissipating smoke. Your target immediately loses three Willpower. This power gains no additional benefit from a critical win. Mortals who become Impaired by Withering Spirit immediately die of fright and cannot return as a Wraith.
Oblivion Ceremonies
Level 1
Minestra di Morte
This ceremony allows the Necromancer to determine if a corpse has left behind a wraith.
Process:
The caster must simmer a portion of the corpse in boiling blood, mixing in the herbs. When the liquid has cooled, the caster must drink the liquid.
System:
Once the caster has finished drinking the concoction, they immediately know if the spirit of the target corpse resides within the Underworld. If the corpse has left a wraith behind, the caster has a general idea on what prevents the spirit from passing on. This usually gives a clue about where the target wraith haunts or what kind of fetters she has left behind.
Traveler's Call
Linked by a common bond with Apolleon the Traveler, the Shalamite casting this ritual can encourage another member of the cult to travel to her location.
Process:
The ritualist must be in possession of her black book and concentrate on the name of another Shalimite.
System:
After concentrating for 5 minutes, the target Shalamite will receive a psychic impression of both the ritualist's true appearance and her surroundings. While not as overt and compelling as the Presence power Summon, the target feels a desire to find the ritualist. For the next 30 minutes, the target Shalamite gains the Distracted Condition as she continues to see a repetitive flashing vision of the ritualist. This Condition is immediately resolved as soon as she makes an effort to contact or travel to the ritualist. After 30 minutes have passed, the visions will stop regardless of the target's actions. To learn this Ceremony, a character requires one dot in the Cult of Shalim Loresheet or the instruction of someone who possesses the Ceremony. They must also have a black book from the Cult of Shalim.
Level 2
Befoul Vessel
This ceremony taints a human's blood for any vampire hoping to slake their Hunger from them.
Process:
The caster must either feed from a target mortal victim or smear their saliva on a target victim through physical contact. Smearing saliva on them may require a physical challenge.
System:
This power turns a mortal vessel into a trap. There is no immediate effect when using this power. The target mortal is unaware of any harm done or any danger they pose. Once the caster has successfully used this ritual on a mortal, any other vampire who feeds from them gains Hunger instead of Slaking it. The Storyteller asks the unwitting vampire's player how much Hunger they intend to Slake from the vessel. The vampire gains that amount of Hunger immediately instead of Slaking that amount. If this pushes the unwitting vampire above Hunger 5, she immediately succumbs to Hunger Frenzy. Regardless of whether the mortal is fed on or not, the next morning, the mortal dies in a puddle of acrid sweat. A vampire can only target 1 mortal per night with this power.
Level 3
Harrowhaunt
There are haunted houses, and there are Harrow haunted houses. A building haunted by this ceremony drives humans from it in fear. Even vampires struggle to stay within it.
Process:
At least 3 mortals must be inflicted with terror and torture over at least 1 hour within a building that is no larger than two stories. At the conclusion of this period, all 3 mortals must be killed and their bones must be buried on the property. If any of the mortals escape, the Ceremony fails. The use of this Ceremony is particularly revolting and causes the caster to gain 1 Stain. Once the remains of the human ingredients are buried beneath the building, the Ceremony is complete. Afterward, the broken remains of their souls linger in the building.
System:
Non-supernatural mortals entering within 12 steps of the building are beset by irrational fear and must succeed in a Composure + Resolve test vs. a difficulty of 8 for each turn they wish to remain within 12 steps of the building. A failure on this test causes the mortals to run away in fear. They are unwilling to return for the remainder of the scene. Supernatural creatures have a diminished response to the location. They can enter freely, but every 30 minutes spent within the building causes them to test for Terror Frenzy vs. a difficulty of 6. The caster of this ritual is immune to its effects and may, during the casting, designate a number of characters equal to their dots in Occult to also be immune to the ritual.
Name of the Father
The Priest of Shalim can extol their victims with an ancient hex to be overcome with despair and emptiness as if separated from the world.
Process:
The ritualist must steep 5 charcoal sticks in their blood while reciting an incantation in ancient Greek for 15 minutes. For 1 month, the charcoal sticks are empowered by the ritual. During that month, the ritualist may use a Standard Action to break the charcoal sticks while she has the Gaze and Focus of a target character. Upon crushing the charcoal sticks, the eyes of both the victim and the ritualist turn jet black, and the victim begins to feel a crushing sense of despair.
System:
After spending your Standard Action to break the empowered charcoal sticks, engage your target in an opposed challenge while maintaining their Gaze and Focus. If you succeed, your target feels as if she has been consumed by darkness and despair. She gains the Blinded and Distracted Conditions. Any other powers or effects cannot mitigate the Blinded Condition. While under the effects of the ritual, she feels unending despair and cannot experience any form of sensory input except pain. After suffering from this Ceremony for 2 turns, she can resolve these Conditions by spending 1 Willpower for each. If the victim of this ceremony takes 3 damage of any type or resolves both Conditions, the effects of this ritual end. To learn this Ceremony, a character requires two dots in the Cult of Shalim Loresheet or the instruction of someone who possesses the Ceremony. A ritualist may only empower 1 set of 5 charcoal sticks at a time.
Level 4
Chains of Damnation
Few outside the Sabbat know how to create the Shackled, a terminally haunted ghoul that has no purpose but to unleash the angry spirits trapped inside it on the enemies of Caine.
Process:
Over the course of one hour, the ritualist scars and burns the ghoul in a horrific ceremony that causes at least 1 Stain to the caster that cannot be mitigated by any method. After the hour is complete, the caster flays the ghoul and sews the ritual ingredients inside of him. Over the remainder of the night, nearby wraiths and specters will inhabit the body.
System:
The following morning after the ceremony is performed, the target ghoul is considered to be a Shackled. The wraiths will remain dormant for up to one week before tearing themselves out of the ghoul host on their own, destroying the ghoul in the process. During that week, you may instruct the shackled to approach a specific target location or person. When within 3 steps of that target, the Shackled will attack as described below. A single character may control a number of Shackled up to their dots in the Occult Skill.
Level 5
Lazarene Blessing
This ceremony allows a Necromancer to force a wraith's soul to possess a freshly dead body, bringing it back to a facsimile of life.
Process:
Incense is burned to perfume the air before the necromancer cuts the heart from their living sacrifice. The beating heart is then replaced with the heart of another mammal. The chest cavity is stitched up, and then the silver powder must be poured over the open eyes of the sacrificed mortal. For the next hour, any nearby wraiths may possess the body. None can be forced to do so, but few would refuse such an opportunity. The first wraith to possess the body completes the ritual.
System:
Once the wraith has entered the body, the corpse will animate. Over the course of 5 minutes, the body heals itself of any wounds or damage that may have caused its death. Once fully healed, the body appears to be a living human even under medical scrutiny. The newly risen body possesses all of its same physical attributes, Disciplines (if a ghoul), and Backgrounds that it had in life. The body's Mental Attributes, Social Attributes, and Skills match those of the possessing wraith. The risen corpse cannot be Embraced or made into a ghoul. However, if the corpse was a ghoul before its death, and before the use of this ritual, it no longer requires 1 Rouse Check worth of blood to maintain its ability to use Discipline powers. The Storyteller will decide what type of wraith possesses the body, including which powers or special abilities it has, if any. The sacrifice of a living mortal and the acquisition of a mammal's heart used for this ritual may incur Stains depending on your Chronicle Tenets.
Shackled
The Shackled are ghouls subjected to a horrifying Oblivion ceremony in which their bodies are scarred and branded with arcane sigils. Sometimes, their bodies are flayed open and sewn back shut with ghostly fetters trapped inside them. The result is a ghoul that is haunted by angry and vengeful spirits. Shackled are usually covered from head to toe to disguise their disgusting appearance before they attack. They are trained to approach a specific location or target.
Shackled are created using an Oblivion Ceremony. Mechanically, they are treated both as a ghoul and a wraith, but they are combined in such a way that powers that solely affect ghouls or wraiths do not affect the Shackled. However, powers that affect all mortals affect the Shackled normally. Shackled attacks are nearly invisible but originate from the body of the ghoul as its body writhes with spiritual energy. The ghostly attacks leave a chilling breeze and smell of death in the air. The specters can manifest in the real world, appearing to be anchored into the very flesh of the Shackled, but can never entirely leave their host. Discipline powers represent the ghostly enhancements the specters provide to the Shackled. Storytellers should make this obvious when describing the Shackled actions. The stats below represent the entirety of the creature. Once the physical body of the ghoul dies, the Spectres dissipate or flee.
When the Shackled reach their intended target, the specters inside them will attack anyone and everything around them. The Shackled often attack using spectral claws or by throwing objects like a deranged poltergeist. These attacks are invisible and terrifying, unless the specters choose to manifest. When a specter manifests, it usually does so by further warping the appearance of its anchor.
Standard Test Pools
- Physical 2(6)
- Social 3(1)
- Mental 4(2)
Secondary Attributes
- Health 6
- Initiative 4
- Willpower 8
Exceptional Test Pools
- Brawl (Spectral Blow): 8
- Marksmanship (Spectral Throw): 8
- Intimidation (Spectral Manifestation): 8
Disciplines
Equivalent of Potence 3 and Fortitude 3
Dice pools in parentheses are only used once the specters have been unshackled from the ghoul. After one scene or the Shackled's death, the body decays to dust in roughly an hour, and the wraiths fade away. The Specters must always remain anchored to the ghoul's body.