Storyteller's Option: Activating an Unlearned Ritual
This optional application of Theban Sorcery is useful for Storytellers who want to insert obscure rituals into a story without requiring a character to spend experience points on a power they’ll only use once. Use it to create mysterious artifacts hidden in Sanctified reliquaries. Use it to give characters a taste of Theban Sorcery powers otherwise beyond their reach. Use it to create climactic suspense for a story in which the return of an unholy terror draws ever closer and only the successful activation of a long-forgotten Theban Sorcery ritual can save the night.
Under this rule, it’s possible for a character to activate a Theban Sorcery ritual he has not learned (that is, a ritual not purhased with experience points), provided he has access to the original, physical artifact with which the ritual was delivered to Earth, whether it’s a solid stone wall or the ceremonial shroud of an undead Saint. The sorcerer must understand a ritual before it can be used, meaning the ritual must be identified before it can be activated. The character may not have to identify the ritual himself, however, if it’s identification has been previously recorded by another sorcerer. A sorcerer could bring a text explaining the ritual with him to the site of the original artifact, for example.
To activate a ritual from its contextual artifact, the sorcerer must accrue successes equal to twice the ritual’s level using Intelligence + Academics + Theban Sorcery. A ritual artifact never grants an Equipment bonus; it merely makes the activation possible. The appropriate offering must still be made and Willpower must still be spent, as with any Theban Sorcery ritual. A ritualist working from an original artifact can activate a ritual one level higher than his dots in Theban Sorcery, but the effort costs him an additional Willpower point and imposes a –3 penalty on his activation rolls.
Under this rule, it’s possible for a character to activate a Theban Sorcery ritual he has not learned (that is, a ritual not purhased with experience points), provided he has access to the original, physical artifact with which the ritual was delivered to Earth, whether it’s a solid stone wall or the ceremonial shroud of an undead Saint. The sorcerer must understand a ritual before it can be used, meaning the ritual must be identified before it can be activated. The character may not have to identify the ritual himself, however, if it’s identification has been previously recorded by another sorcerer. A sorcerer could bring a text explaining the ritual with him to the site of the original artifact, for example.
To activate a ritual from its contextual artifact, the sorcerer must accrue successes equal to twice the ritual’s level using Intelligence + Academics + Theban Sorcery. A ritual artifact never grants an Equipment bonus; it merely makes the activation possible. The appropriate offering must still be made and Willpower must still be spent, as with any Theban Sorcery ritual. A ritualist working from an original artifact can activate a ritual one level higher than his dots in Theban Sorcery, but the effort costs him an additional Willpower point and imposes a –3 penalty on his activation rolls.