Imprecation of Sin
Level-Five Theban Sorcery Ritual
This ritual desecrates and destroys, spreads ruin and woe, and turns beauty to ash. By standing in the place he wishes to desecrate and making his offering, the sorcerer erodes and decays the environment around him, while simultaneously infusing it with an aura of sin.
A building desecrated with this ritual is ruined: Paint is blackened and blasted away, floorboards collapse, windows yellow and crack, ceilings split, and furniture rots away as though the building had been abandoned, abused, and exposed to the elements for two years per success scored on the ritual’s activation roll. The Equipment in a desecrated room is most likely ruined, as well, negating any bonuses typically granted by the space or the things kept within (the Equipment in a ruined doctor’s office is no longer a benefit to Medicineactions, for example).
The space also resonates with a Vice, as though the building were a character of its own. The sorcerer’s player may choose any Vice to distill into the subject space. As long as a creature (mundane or supernatural) occupies the space, it is treated as if it had two defining Vices: its own and the space’s. Thus a drug addict (whose Vice is Gluttony) who uses a space cursed with the Vice of Lust as a den of prostitution may regain a point of Willpower for her actions, even though she is not normally a lustful person. If she were driven to prostitution to pay for her drug Addiction she could regain two Willpower, one for each Vice.
The Vice of the cursed site is insidious. It seeps into the minds and hearts of susceptible creatures who dwell too long within the place’s resonance of sin. How long constitutes “too long” is up to the Storyteller, but may be defined as a period equal to the character’s Morality or Humanity multiplied by ten minutes for first-time visitors. (Over time, the necessary exposure may expand into multiples of hours for frequent visitors.) For every such period a character inhabits the cursed space she must make a reflexive roll to resist undertaking actions that would earn her Willpower based on the place’s Vice. This roll is a contested action, pitting the visitor’s Resolve + Composure against a dice pool equal to the successes on the ritual’s activation roll. If the character succeeds, she feels an impulse (to drink, to fight, etc.) but isn’t carried away by it. If she fails, she attempts some sinful action appropriate to her own Morality or Humanity — perhaps, “feeling spontaneous,” she decides to trash the space or pick a fight.
The power of the place doesn’t instantly make her into a monster, but it does lower her normal boundaries so that, for example, a prideful argument might lead to violence or a night of drinking might lead to infidelity. As a guideline, assume that the character undertakes an action that she’ll regret and will probably, but not necessarily, provoke a degeneration roll (let individual circumstances guide such decisions). If the character cannot indulge in the place’s Vice when she falls victim to it, she goes where she can (to a bar, to her home, etc.) as soon as she is reasonably able (possibly skipping appointments or missing work). Think of it as the character taking some of the Vice with her when she leaves — she might not rush out in search of drugs, but the Vice hangs over her until she acts on it.
A character influenced by a cursed space retains the extra Vice until she has regained one Willpower point by acting in a manner consistent with that Vice. Once a character has won Willpower from the extra Vice, she is free of it unless she returns to a space affected by this ritual.
The roll to activate this power is penalized by every dot the place would have in the Haven Size merit, were it a Haven (see Vampire: The Requiem, p. 100). The effects of this ritual are permanent until the space is affected by some other, more potent magic or is otherwise spiritually cleansed. A complete renovation can hide the appearance of sin, but the place’s Vice may remain: Roll a dice pool equal to the successes earned on the ritual’s activation roll; if a success is produced, the Vice remains. Only the complete destruction of the afflicted building ends the power of this ritual.
A building desecrated with this ritual is ruined: Paint is blackened and blasted away, floorboards collapse, windows yellow and crack, ceilings split, and furniture rots away as though the building had been abandoned, abused, and exposed to the elements for two years per success scored on the ritual’s activation roll. The Equipment in a desecrated room is most likely ruined, as well, negating any bonuses typically granted by the space or the things kept within (the Equipment in a ruined doctor’s office is no longer a benefit to Medicineactions, for example).
The space also resonates with a Vice, as though the building were a character of its own. The sorcerer’s player may choose any Vice to distill into the subject space. As long as a creature (mundane or supernatural) occupies the space, it is treated as if it had two defining Vices: its own and the space’s. Thus a drug addict (whose Vice is Gluttony) who uses a space cursed with the Vice of Lust as a den of prostitution may regain a point of Willpower for her actions, even though she is not normally a lustful person. If she were driven to prostitution to pay for her drug Addiction she could regain two Willpower, one for each Vice.
The Vice of the cursed site is insidious. It seeps into the minds and hearts of susceptible creatures who dwell too long within the place’s resonance of sin. How long constitutes “too long” is up to the Storyteller, but may be defined as a period equal to the character’s Morality or Humanity multiplied by ten minutes for first-time visitors. (Over time, the necessary exposure may expand into multiples of hours for frequent visitors.) For every such period a character inhabits the cursed space she must make a reflexive roll to resist undertaking actions that would earn her Willpower based on the place’s Vice. This roll is a contested action, pitting the visitor’s Resolve + Composure against a dice pool equal to the successes on the ritual’s activation roll. If the character succeeds, she feels an impulse (to drink, to fight, etc.) but isn’t carried away by it. If she fails, she attempts some sinful action appropriate to her own Morality or Humanity — perhaps, “feeling spontaneous,” she decides to trash the space or pick a fight.
The power of the place doesn’t instantly make her into a monster, but it does lower her normal boundaries so that, for example, a prideful argument might lead to violence or a night of drinking might lead to infidelity. As a guideline, assume that the character undertakes an action that she’ll regret and will probably, but not necessarily, provoke a degeneration roll (let individual circumstances guide such decisions). If the character cannot indulge in the place’s Vice when she falls victim to it, she goes where she can (to a bar, to her home, etc.) as soon as she is reasonably able (possibly skipping appointments or missing work). Think of it as the character taking some of the Vice with her when she leaves — she might not rush out in search of drugs, but the Vice hangs over her until she acts on it.
A character influenced by a cursed space retains the extra Vice until she has regained one Willpower point by acting in a manner consistent with that Vice. Once a character has won Willpower from the extra Vice, she is free of it unless she returns to a space affected by this ritual.
The roll to activate this power is penalized by every dot the place would have in the Haven Size merit, were it a Haven (see Vampire: The Requiem, p. 100). The effects of this ritual are permanent until the space is affected by some other, more potent magic or is otherwise spiritually cleansed. A complete renovation can hide the appearance of sin, but the place’s Vice may remain: Roll a dice pool equal to the successes earned on the ritual’s activation roll; if a success is produced, the Vice remains. Only the complete destruction of the afflicted building ends the power of this ritual.
Manifestation
Example: A Sanctified sorcerer, intending to test the goodness of God’s beloved mortals, breaks into an abandoned church (which the Storyteller decides would have a Haven Size of 3 dots) and performs an Imprecation of Sin using a man-sized wooden cross he finds in a storage room and scores seven successes on the activation roll. As the offering crumbles to ash the building rots as though fourteen years of rainstorms, rats and ransacking had taken their toll. The sorcerer infuses the building with the Vice of Gluttony.
Over the next several months, neighborhood kids venture into the church on weekends to explore and wreak havoc. Before long, it is a popular site for drinking and drugs. Secretly, local Sanctified use it for brutal feeding frenzies in which human victims are utterly consumed by new converts (who feel stronger and more confident with the satisfaction of recovered Willpower).
Eventually, realtors come out to the church to see if it can be converted into luxury condos. They poke around the place for an hour or so, taking measurements and photographs. One realtor, failing his Resolve + Composure roll (against the building’s dice pool of 7), says “You know, we Haven’t really gone partying for a while. What do you say we go out tonight and get fucked up?” By midnight, he’s convinced his colleagues to go with him out to an underground club and by three in the morning he’s passed out from drugs and beer and under the fangs of a hungry vampire.
Over the next several months, neighborhood kids venture into the church on weekends to explore and wreak havoc. Before long, it is a popular site for drinking and drugs. Secretly, local Sanctified use it for brutal feeding frenzies in which human victims are utterly consumed by new converts (who feel stronger and more confident with the satisfaction of recovered Willpower).
Eventually, realtors come out to the church to see if it can be converted into luxury condos. They poke around the place for an hour or so, taking measurements and photographs. One realtor, failing his Resolve + Composure roll (against the building’s dice pool of 7), says “You know, we Haven’t really gone partying for a while. What do you say we go out tonight and get fucked up?” By midnight, he’s convinced his colleagues to go with him out to an underground club and by three in the morning he’s passed out from drugs and beer and under the fangs of a hungry vampire.
Material Components
Related Discipline
Level
5
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