Auctoritas Ritae Monomancy
Source: https://vamp.bynightstudios.com/vampire/library/auctoritasritaemonomancysabbat
One of the earliest ritus devised by the sect, Monomacy has been critical to the continuance of the Sabbat. Its strictures have changed from time to time, adjusted by the sect's needs. The Code of Milan states that Monomacy must be used to settle all disputes. The old definition of "dispute" comes from Old French desputer, "to contend," and has a physical connotation. A dispute must be founded on irreconcilable differences that cannot be solved in another manner. Ignoblis symbels can be used to settle minor disagreements, and Contrition can punish transgressions. Monomacy is a solemn, permanent resolution between brothers and sisters of the sect. If Monomacy is profaned, indulged in too frequently, or manipulated too obviously by a Cainite, the perpetrators may be accused of breaking Statute III of the Code of Milan:
"All Sabbat shall faithfully observe all of the Auctoritas Ritae," or breaking Statute XVI: "[using] the powers and authority the Sabbat has given them for personal gain at the expense of the Sabbat." An individual who attempts to profiteer via Monomacy may be certainly be termed "unworthy of assistance" (Statute VII) or subject to retribution by "accepted means," as determined by the Prisci (Statute XVI).
Different paths and political factions within the Sabbat see the Monomacy differently and treat the ritae with different levels of seriousness. Some refuse to accept any alterations to the default competition. Others feel that negotiating an arbitration and adding minor alterations is an important part of the Monomacy ritual; it is a mental competition, to balance the physical competition that occurs within the ritual circle. Typically, one competitor will suggest an alteration to the Monomacy format, only to be countered by a second alteration from her competitor. If both sides agree, the two changes are made. If the competitors disagree on these alterations, the arbiter is the final determiner, and the default competition is always the fallback for the execution of this ritae.
System Rules
Once the ritual has been cast, both of the primary competitors (the challenger and the challenged) receive one free Monomacy retest. This retest can be used only when losing the challenge would cause the competitor to lose the ritus. You can use this retest in addition to a normal Willpower retest; this is an exception to the rule that allows only one retest per challenge. Once expended, the Monomacy retest is gone and cannot be used again. You receive only one Monomacy retest per ritual, and this retest is automatically expended at the end of the ritual if it is not expended during the ritual. An individual who is the victor in three Monomacy challenges in a row gains the status Triumphant.
Undertaking the Monomacy
At the most recent synod, the Priests of the sect codified Monomacy more thoroughly. Their goal was to keep the ritus consistent with its past use, while ensuring that abuses and confusion were minimized. As such, the following defaults were agreed upon for the ritual's execution:
1. Challenge
A clear challenge must be delivered to the challenged party and her pack Priest. Only True Sabbat (those who have gone through the Creation Rites) can challenge or be challenged. If the challenged has no pack Priest, or is not in a pack, she is at a significant disadvantage, and has only three nights to choose appropriate counsel — or it will be chosen for her by the closest Bishop or Archbishop.
2. Choosing the Arbiter
Next, an arbiter must be chosen to preside over the dispute. The arbiter is ostensibly a neutral party (though this vampire may not actually be neutral, given Sabbat hypocrisy) who determines if the issue is weighty enough to justify the possible death of a member of the sect and determines whether all other means of resolving the dispute have failed.
3. Acceptance
If the challenge is approved as legitimate, then at this point, the challenged party may choose to decline. If accepted, the ritus must occur within one month of acceptance. The challenged individual may expend 5 status traits in order to decline the Monomacy with no disgrace. An individual who declines a Monomacy without expending 5 traits gains the negative status trait Cowardly. Once this event has occurred, the individual cannot be challenged in Monomacy on that topic (or by that individual) for a period of two games or one month.
4. Deciding Terms
Once a challenge is accepted, the competitors must decide the terms of the Monomacy. By default, Monomacy is a direct, one-on-one fight within a clearly defined, 30-foot diameter circle. It takes place at midnight on the evening of the first new moon following acceptance of the challenge. The terms of a default Monomacy are as follows:
› The challenger (aggressor) selects the location. The challenged (defender) chooses the weapons, which must be ceremonial melee weapons. The specific weapons are provided by the arbiter and must be utterly mundane. The challenged may instead choose that both participants fight unarmed. Either party may choose to fight without the weapons provided, if they wish, but cannot use any other weapons.
› The participants cannot have any powers active when the Monomacy begins (though passive powers that do not require activation, such as Fortitude, are acceptable). Note that both the challenger and the challenged's vinculi are fully effective during Monomacy.
› The challenged and the challenger face off within the Monomacy circle. No one, including the competitors, their packmates, other participants, or the arbiter herself may interfere, collaborate, or use any powers on the competitors (for aid or bane) before or during the Monomacy. This stricture is closely observed.
› After the Monomacy begins, the challenger and the challenged may use any powers they possess, targeting themselves or their opponent.
› A victor is determined when one vampire either torpors her opponent within the Monomacy circle, or drives her opponent fully out of the circle.
5. Altering the Terms
Once the Monomacy is accepted, the default terms of Monomacy may be altered, if the challenger, the challenged, and the arbiter agree. If any of these individuals disagree about the alteration, the Monomacy cannot be altered and the default ritae is followed.
› Small scale alterations might include: a pack-on-pack fight, rather than one-on-one; multiple weapons scattered about the arena, rather than one weapon per competitor; specific exclusions such as, "no Presence and no Obfuscate;" or individual inclusions, such as "only Thaumaturgy will be allowed."
› Large-scale alterations might include: expanding the circle to a five-mile radius, causing the Monomacy to become a test of urban tracking and survival; or fighting while falling through the air after leaping out of a helicopter, and declaring the first one who is beaten to torpor or who flees by changing form before they strike the ground is the loser. Lastly, the arbiter can add ritual trappings to the ritus. These could include: requiring a specific number of witnesses or delaying the challenge for up to a month for spiritual reasons, so long as all parties agree. In no case can the arbiter's requirements delay the Monomacy for more than a month.
6. Outcome
After a victor has been determined, she selects the outcome. There are three outcomes to a Monomacy: death (including diablerie of one participant by the other), exile from a specific territory, or loss of sect position.
› Death: Death must occur within the circle, by the victor's own hands or powers. If a competitor is ousted from the circle through the use of powers or by other means, the Monomacy ends without death, and the victor must choose that her opponent suffer either exile or loss of sect position. If the winner kills her opponent in this manner, the victor cannot choose a replacement for any sect positions the loser held. All possessions of slain losers must be given to the winner. If the loser is allowed to survive, either by condition of the outcome or through the victor's mercy, she retains her possessions.
› Exile: If the victor chooses exile, the defeated vampire must never again come within the city (or local diocese). The defeated cannot return to the area for a period of five years or until the victor relents, whichever is sooner. If the victor dies during this period, she cannot relent, and the defeated vampire must serve the full time in exile. If this exile causes the loser to resign a local sect position, the victor cannot choose a replacement for that office.
› Loss of Position: If the victor chooses loss of sect position, the loser is neither killed nor exiled. However, she must resign the office in contention, and the victor chooses a replacement for that position. The victor is allowed to choose someone other than herself, provided the replacement agrees to accept the post. This victory condition may be chosen even if the Monomacy was not caused by a dispute related to a position, but over some other point of philosophy. Additionally, only the arbiter can declare a Monomacy null and void; she may do so either during the Monomacy or after the ritae has occurred. Such a shocking pronouncement usually means someone cheated during the ritus, or that someone outside the ritus interfered.
Templars and Monomacy
Templars don't accept challenges or fight in their liege's place in a Monomacy. Leaders in the Sabbat are expected to be capable in combat as well as religious fields. Capable does not mean that every Sabbat leader must be a master of physical battle; a vampire may utilize cunning application of her disciplines to force their enemies out of the Monomacy circle and never need to raise a hand in her own defense. Combined with the protection of vinculi and a maze of bureaucracy to keep challengers away, this can keep a non-combat character in power long enough to develop the physical competence she needs to remain a leader in Caine's army. Some leaders use their Templars as offensive weapons, with such a Templar usually contriving an excuse to challenge an enemy of her liege and nominating her liege or one of her liege's pawns to any resulting vacant position.
Source Book: MET - VTM - Core Book