> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://wiki.capetownvtm.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://wiki.capetownvtm.com/material-availability/powers/oblivion-ceremonies.md).
# Oblivion Ceremonies
Unless otherwise noted, performing a Ceremony requires a Rouse Check, five minutes per level to cast, and a winning Resolve + Oblivion test (Difficulty = Ceremony level +1). Ceremonies usually require additional ingredients or sacrifices to mingle the caster’s vitae with. Unless otherwise stated the caster can only perform beneficial Ceremonies on themselves. Ghouls of Oblivion practitioners, or thin-bloods, can gain temporary access to Oblivion powers, but not to Ceremonies.
Ceremonies each have a prerequisite Oblivion power. At character creation a player can choose one Level 1 Ceremony if they have at least one Oblivion power noted as a prerequisite for that Ceremony. Characters can buy new Ceremonies at the cost of the Ceremony’s level x 3 experience points, providing they meet the power prerequisite as well. Learning new Ceremonies during play requires both experience and time, as well as a teacher who knows the Ceremony already. Expect a Ceremony to take at least the square of its rating in weeks to learn.
## Level 1
Summon Spirit (Players Guide pp.92-93)
**Prerequisite Power:** [The Binding Fetter](#the-binding-fetter-oblivion-1-players-guide-p.85)
**Ingredients:** One of the targeted wraith’s fetters ([The Binding Fetter](#the-binding-fetter-oblivion-1-players-guide-p.85)), a photo or other visual depiction of the wraith or their signed name, and the caster’s vitae.
**Process:** The necromancer pours their vitae over a wraith’s fetter, and studying the picture or signature, calls out the wraith’s name. The wraith feels their fetter’s call, and begins a journey from their location in the Underworld to that of the caster. Though geography has differing scales in the Underworld, a journey may still take several nights if the spirit is on the other side of the world. If the veil is thin enough in the summoning location, the wraith is pulled through the veil between worlds by the fetter’s strength. The summoned wraith is under no obligation to serve the vampire upon being called and may act with hostility if they feel the vampire is threatening their fetter. Alternatively, the wraith may be grateful for the summoning and the possibility of companionship.
**System:** The caster daubs the fetter with their vitae and makes an Oblivion Ceremony roll. The wraith cannot pass through the veil if it’s impenetrable in the Ceremony location (Players Guide, p.88). Moving the fetter after the Ceremony doesn’t help, as the wraith’s ability to pass through the veil disappears if the fetter leaves the Ceremony site. The wraith disappears at the end of the scene unless a separate Ceremony is used to compel or bind them.
Wraiths summoned in this way do not manifest physically, but as shadows on the walls, quavering silhouettes of their living selves, from which voices might emerge. Wraiths speak the same languages they did in life, unless they’ve gone to the trouble of learning new ones in the Underworld.
The Gift of False Life (Players Guide p.92)
**Prerequisite Power:** [Ashes to Ashes](#ashes-to-ashes-oblivion-1-players-guide-p.85)
**Ingredients:** A human body (or multiple bodies), a small concoction of blood, phlegm, and bile.
**Process:** After applying the concoction to the corpse or corpses and performing the Ceremony, the affected bodies animate into a form of false life. They follow a single simple command from the vampire, providing the corpse is physically capable of performing it, such as “sweep the floor,” “hold this door shut,” or “walk around the house perimeter.” They have no ability to think or calculate, so conditional or complicated commands such as “attack the next person to walk through this archway,” “drive this car,” or “build a shack” do not work. They may be directed towards a specific target for attack or other action if the user points at the target.
**System:** The vampire makes their Ceremony roll and upon a win they raise a number of corpses equal to their Oblivion rating, or the number of bodies they have prepared (whichever is lower). A critical win doubles their Oblivion rating for the purpose of determining corpses raised. The mindless corpse’s animation ends when it is destroyed or it concludes its task. These corpses do not defend themselves from attacks, and decay as normal; the Ceremony does not grant them any form of immunity to the elements or time.3
#### **Mindless Corpse Stat Block**
```
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 2, Social 0, Mental 0
Secondary Attributes: Health 4, Willpower 0
Exceptional Dice Pools: Intimidation 4
Special: Mindless corpses take Superficial and Aggravated damage in the same way as
vampires, except they are immune to sunlight. They cannot heal or mend damage, and
rot at least one Superficial Health damage each day. They cannot be mentally
dominated or influenced as they are bound to their master. They do not react to
motion, words, or interference from anyone but their reanimator. Mindless corpses
may always contribute to Teamwork (Core, p.122) for menial
labor such as digging, lifting, or pushing even if they lack Skills.
General Difficulties: 2/1
```
The Knowing Stone (Fall of London p.264)
**Prerequisite Power:** [Ashes to Ashes](#ashes-to-ashes-oblivion-1-players-guide-p.85) or [The Binding Fetter](#the-binding-fetter-oblivion-1-players-guide-p.85)
**Ingredients:** A stone from a church wall (or other holy site) and a cup of the caster’s vitae.
**Process:** The caster pours vitae from their body into a vessel and then uses it to write out the true name of a deceased human on the consecrated stone. If the individual still exists as a ghost, their location becomes clear to the vampire.
**System:** The vampire makes their Ceremony roll. On a win, if their target exists as a ghost, the vampire receives a vision of the ghost’s location. The vision can be accessed for the remainder of the scene.
Traveler's Call (Cults of the Blood Gods pp.93-94)
**Prerequisite Power:** [Oblivion’s Sight](#oblivions-sight-oblivion-1-players-guide-p.85)
**Ingredients:** The black book gifted to them following their indoctrination into the cult
**Process:** By using the Traveler’s Call with their black book in hand and the name of another Shalimite in mind, a priest can send a ripple out across Oblivion, calling the target to their location. Unlike a true summoning, this power does not place a compulsion upon the victim, but does alert the Shalimite being contacted to the vampire’s current location through a repetitive, flashing vision of the scenery surrounding the calling Kindred.
**System:** The cultist must possess their black book and know the name of another Shalimite. The vampire’s player makes a Ceremony roll. The contacted vampire can choose to ignore the call, but the flashing vision gives them −2 dice to all rolls involving concentration for the remainder of the scene, at which point the call disappears. A critical win by the vampire allows them to send a single-word message to their point of contact along with the vision.
## Level 2
Ashen Relic (The Book of Nod Apocrypha p.35)
**Prerequisite Power:** [Ashes to Ashes](#ashes-to-ashes-oblivion-1-players-guide-p.85) or [Oblivion’s Sight](#oblivions-sight-oblivion-1-players-guide-p.85)
**Ingredients:** The decaying body of a vampire, plus salt and herbs associated with embalming.
**Process:** The concoction is applied to the body or body part of the destroyed vampire. Since the decay of the remains — especially supernatural features such as fangs — only takes a few minutes at most, a swift performance is essential.
**System:** The player makes their Ceremony test. A win preserves one small body part, such as a finger bone or a fang, while three successes in the margin can preserve a femur or skull.
Once created, the relic (usually in the form of a mummified hand, skull, femur, or desiccated eye) persists until destroyed or exposed to sunlight. At the Storyteller’s discretion, a particularly high roll or a critical success may grant the relic the power to persist despite sunlight.
Awaken the Homuncular Servant (Players Guide p.93)
**Prerequisite Power:** [Where the Veil Thins](#where-the-veil-thins-oblivion-2-players-guide-pp.87-88)
**Ingredients:** The required body part or animal carcass, the weapon used to sever/kill it, a small concoction of urine, fecal matter, and semen.
**Process:** The caster coats a blade (or other device suited to the task) in a gross cocktail of bodily fluids, and uses it to cut the targeted appendage off its root limb or body, or kills the small animal (which cannot be larger than a small dog and cannot fly, regardless of whether it has wings). After massaging vitae into the target, it comes to life as a homuncular servant, unfailingly loyal to its master.
**System:** The necromancer makes an Oblivion Ceremony roll and on a win gains a homuncular servant that spies, follows, or intimidates at the necromancer’s command. If it strays farther than 100 yards/meters from the vampire, it falls inert, only awakening again once the vampire enters that range. Otherwise, it remains active for a number of nights equal to the number of successes rolled. A critical win on the roll keeps the servant active forever, while a total failure destroys all components involved in the Ceremony.
Most homunculi can scale walls, hop (even if it lacks the limbs to do so), and hide effectively, though individual variation is great and depends on the tasks it was created to perform. While it cannot speak or perform actions requiring deep thought, it can telepathically communicate single images, scents, or sounds to its creator.
**Homuncular Servant Stat Block**
```
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 1, Social 0, Mental 1
Secondary Attributes: Health 3, Willpower 1
Exceptional Dice Pools: Athletics 4, Stealth 6; Intimidation 4
Special: Homuncular servants take Superficial and Aggravated damage in the same way
as vampires, except they are immune to sunlight. They cannot heal or mend damage.
They cannot be mentally dominated or influenced as they are bound to their master.
They do not need eyes or ears to perceive everything around them as someone with
unimpeded vision and hearing might. They can telepathically broadcast a single
image per scene Standard Dice Pools: Physical 2, Social 0, Mental 0
Secondary Attributes: Health 4, Willpower 0
Exceptional Dice Pools: Intimidation 4
Special: Mindless corpses take Superficial and Aggravated damage in the same way as
vampires, except they are immune to sunlight. They cannot heal or mend damage, and
rot at least one Superficial Health damage each day. They cannot be mentally
dominated or influenced as they are bound to their master. They do not react to
motion, words, or interference from anyone but their reanimator. Mindless corpses
may always contribute to Teamwork (Core, p.122) for menial
labor such as digging, lifting, or pushing even if they lack Skills.
General Difficulties: 2/1 to their master.
General Difficulties: 3/1
```
Blinding the Alloy Eye (Sabbat: The Black Hand p.52)
**Prerequisite Power:** [Shadow Cast](https://wiki.capetownvtm.com/material-availability/powers#shadow-cast-oblivion-2-players-guide-p.87)
**Ingredients:** A small piece of aluminum mesh
**Process:** The user spends a scene in isolation, contacting the spectre and bonding it to the aluminum mesh. The mesh is then placed in a light-proof container, to be taken out when the effect is to be activated. Once removed and attached to a visible piece of flesh or garment of the caster, the effect is initiated.
**System:** Do not make a Ritual roll until the effect is activated. If possible, the result of the test should be kept secret from the player. If successful, cameras around the caster will end up scrambling their image, though they will pick up everything else normally. The effect lasts for a full scene, or until the mesh is removed.
Compel Spirit (Players Guide p.94)
**Prerequisite Power:** [Where the Veil Thins](#where-the-veil-thins-oblivion-2-players-guide-pp.87-88)
**Ingredients:** A wraith’s fetter, the caster’s vitae, and an item (or threat) sufficient to damage the fetter.
**Process:** The vampire must be in close proximity to a wraith in order to use this Ceremony, typically through use of [Summon Spirit](#summon-spirit-players-guide-pp.92-93). The necromancer casts a handful of their own vitae in the wraith’s direction as they hold a destructive item to the fetter (a knife, a hammer, a gun, or potentially holding the fetter over a fire) or speak threatening words that the wraith believes. The vampire and wraith engage in a contest of wills. If the vampire wins, the wraith must serve as the vampire decrees, at least temporarily. On a loss, the vampire is left mentally debilitated and the fetter disappears from their grasp.
**System:** Make an Oblivion Ceremony roll vs. the wraith’s Resolve + Composure. If the vampire has no way of physically threatening the fetter, also make a Manipulation + Intimidation roll (Difficulty equal to the wraith’s Resolve + Composure).
If the necromancer wins both rolls, they can command the wraith to perform a number of moderately difficult tasks (spying, research, answering questions truthfully, etc.) equal to the number of successes rolled on the Ceremony roll. For every two successes, the vampire can instead command the wraith to perform a difficult task (such as attacking someone, doing something repugnant to the wraith’s sensibilities, etc.). On a critical win, the vampire can demand any action from the wraith, and it tries its best to complete the task. The wraith remains in the vampire’s service until the end of the chronicle or until it has fulfilled its master’s commands, at which point it returns to the Underworld with an eternal enmity for the necromancer.
If the wraith wins either contest, the vampire suffers the margin in Superficial Health damage, and the wraith then re-enters the Underworld.
The compulsion placed on the wraith ends immediately if the vampire attacks it. If the vampire harms the threatened fetter, the wraith suffers between one and three Aggravated Willpower damage (depending on the importance of the fetter) and the wraith is sent back to the Underworld to be tormented by, and possibly converted into, a murderous spectre (Core, p.377).
Maw of Ahriman (Blood-Stained Love p.152)
**Ingredients:** A room that no light enters and is quiet as the grave.
**Process:** The vampire performing the Ceremony contemplates the darkness and the silence, then unleashes their voice as loudly as possible, casting it out to make room for the darkness of the Abyss.
**System:** The vampire’s player makes a Ceremony roll. The character’s mouth or another orifice becomes a void of inky blackness, destroying inanimate objects placed within in a matter of seconds.
For the duration of the Ceremony, the character cannot speak if the power was used on the mouth, as it most commonly is. A bite attack deals 1 aggravated point of Willpower damage in addition to the fang damage. The vampire is unable to slake Hunger while this Ceremony is in effect, though, as any blood swallowed is annihilated.
The Ceremony lasts until sunrise or the vampire cancels it. Canceling the Ceremony requires the character to pay in flesh: they must stick a small portion of their body into an orifice, dealing 1 point of Superficial damage which cannot be reduced in any way as a bit of flesh is consumed by the Abyss. It can be mended normally.
## Level 3
Craft Flesh Golem (Tattered Facade p.101)
**Prerequisites:** [Aura of Decay](#aura-of-decay-oblivion-3-players-guide-p.88) or [Necrotic Plague](#necrotic-plague-oblivion-4-players-guide-pp.89-90)
**Ingredients:** At least three dismembered adult-sized corpses, embalmed or otherwise relatively free of decay; sea-bed clay and copper dissolved in nitric acid; a brass or platinum burin or other engraving tool
**Process:** This Ceremony must be carried out in a location with a split or extraordinary thinning in the Veil. The vampire stitches the corpse parts into a single golem, pouring the acid into the golem’s body along the patterns of spine, viscera, and veins. The final step is engraving the word of Power tzel in the golem’s mouth with the burin, and dripping the vampire’s vitae onto the word to control and charge it. This act draws shadows from the Abyss into the golem’s body and animates it.
**System:** The stitched corpse can be assembled manually (with a successful Difficulty 3 Resolve + Medicine or Difficulty 4 Resolve + Crafts test) or with the aid of a successful Difficulty 2 [Fleshcrafting](https://wiki.capetownvtm.com/material-availability/powers#fleshcrafting-protean-3--dominate-2-players-guide-pp.82-83) test while the bodies are alive and then turned into corpses. Make a Ceremony test once the prepared corpse is ready. A failure on either the preparation or ceremony test ruins the body parts and wastes the acid. On a total failure, the shadows break free from the golem and attack the vampire in a three-round contest of Intelligence + Oblivion (they have four dice in their pool), doing Aggravated Willpower damage with their wins. The flesh golem’s Strength equals the total margin of success on both the preparation and Ceremony tests. It obeys the orders of its creator until the word in its mouth is destroyed; if its creator enters torpor or otherwise becomes uncommunicative, it follows its last order.
Create Corpse Suit (Tattered Facade pp.101-102)
**Prerequisite:** [Shadow Perspective](#shadow-perspective-oblivion-3-players-guide-p.89) or [Touch of Oblivion](#touch-of-oblivion-oblivion-3-players-guide-p.89)
**Ingredients:** Sufficient skin of a mortal with Melancholy Resonance, fat of a mortal with Phlegmatic Resonance, waxed thread, any decorative elements desired\
Process: The vampire calls on the powers of Oblivion and their hands fill with shadows from the Abyss as they cut, treat, and sew their chosen garment. It’s considered best to do this work by candlelight. Once sewn, the vampire rubs the garment with the fat while speaking to it as a friend.
**System:** The more successes the vampire has on the Ceremony test, the nicer the Corpse Suit will look. At the end of the Ceremony, the vampire must convince the now vaguely sentient Corpse Suit that it will be their new closest and most treasured companion, making a test of Manipulation + Persuasion or Subterfuge (depending on sincerity) at Difficulty 2. The Storyteller need not reveal whether the test has been successful. If the vampire fails to convince the suit, it waits for an opportunity to betray them. When the vampire dons the suit, they gain a Folkloric Bane and Folkloric Block flaw chosen by the Storyteller.
A correctly functioning Corpse Suit attunes to subtle signs of danger and senses all types of curses, wards, and the presence of ill-willed monsters. Noticing when its maker is about to walk into danger, the suit makes their skin prickle as if stuck by many small needles — assuming they’re wearing it. A discontented suit occasionally times these warnings to put the wearer at risk. The suit never contains any money except what others place in it.
**Duration:** The suit lasts forever, re-knitting any damage over the course of a night. It cannot be destroyed except with fire, Blood Sorcery, or Oblivion.
Fortezza Sindonica (Trails of Ash and Bone p.173)
**Prerequisite Power:** [Where the Veil Thins](https://wiki.capetownvtm.com/material-availability/powers#where-the-veil-thins-oblivion-2-players-guide-pp.87-88)
**Ingredients:** Powdered bones, salt, a steel chain long enough to encircle the desired area, the caster’s vitae, a severed human finger, a metal basin.
**Process:** The steel chain is laid along the circumference of the desired area, meeting and leaving no gaps. Mixing the ingredients into the basin, the caster dips their hands into the mixture, coating up to the wrist, and applies the mixture by hand along the chain at equidistant intervals. With a final sigil located in the center of the chain, the Ceremony is complete. Wraiths who attempt to cross the chain are dragged into a horrid momentary echo of physical form, often in states of torturous wailing terror. Wraiths so affected are temporarily visible to any casual onlooker, leading to terrifying tales of the appearance of screaming ghosts.
**System:** This Ceremony costs three Rouse Checks instead of the usual one, but the caster does not make their Ceremony roll until a wraith attempts to cross the chain, triggering its effect. This Ceremony is strongest when fresh, but lasts a year and a day after it’s performed. If the ward is triggered more than seven days after it was performed, subtract two dice from their pool. The wraith rolls their Willpower in a contest against the caster and if the necromancer succeeds, they inflict torturous pain upon their victim. The wraith suffers three points of Superficial Health damage. For as long as they remain within the boundary, they lose two dice to all Willpower rolls and rolls to use their supernatural abilities. On a critical win from the caster, they may choose to bar the wraith from leaving the boundary until they pass a Difficulty 4 Willpower test, which they may attempt once per scene. The other parameters of this warding Ceremony are identical to Blood Sorcery Warding circles (see Core, p.275).
If the wraith is possessing an individual or object when they cross the chain, the same effects apply, and the unlucky individual suffers 3 Superficial Willpower damage as the wraith is violently forced from them.
Host Spirit (Players Guide pp.94-95)
**Prerequisite Power:** [Aura of Decay](#aura-of-decay-oblivion-3-players-guide-p.88)
**Ingredients:** A gift to be made as tribute to a wraith (whether the wraith values it depends on the individual), a parasitic bug, and two teeth extracted from the vampire’s mouth.
**Process:** The vampire must be in close proximity to a wraith in order to use this power, typically through use of [Summon Spirit](#summon-spirit-players-guide-pp.92-93). The necromancer presents a tribute to the wraith, sometimes in the form of alcohol poured on the wraith’s gravesite, or a bag of coins to be buried in the earth, or even the freshly decapitated head of one of the wraith’s until-recently living enemies. The vampire then pulls two teeth from their mouth, usually with pliers, and bites into a parasite with their remaining teeth. The vampire then opens their mouth and the wraith can choose to enter it, inhabiting the vampire’s body.
The benefits of having a wraith ride one’s body include an enhanced physique, access to whichever memories the wraith chooses to share, and the wraith’s voice offering the vampire advice. The wraith can take complete possession of the vampire if they wish to, which some necromancers view as a blessing to be experienced, and others deem the main reason not to use this power.
Allowing a wraith to control one’s actions for a night effectively subdues the Beast, as well as demonstrating physical prowess and knowledge the vampire may not usually possess.
**System:** Make a successful Oblivion Ceremony roll. If the wraith agrees to the proposition, it then enters the vampire’s body and can remain for a number of scenes equal to the successes rolled on the Oblivion Ceremony roll. With the wraith inside them, the vampire gains two dice to all Physical Attribute rolls and +2 Health until the wraith departs. The vampire can hear the wraith in their head, offering advice, and they can substitute the wraith’s Skills for their own, at the Storyteller’s discretion.
A wraith can choose to assert its possession instead of acting as a passenger. If the vampire resists, they make a Resolve + Composure roll vs. the wraith’s Resolve + Composure. If successful, they reject the wraith’s influence. If failed, the wraith steers the vampire until the end of the scene, though it can’t make the vampire do anything self-destructive.
Knit the Veil (Trails of Ash and Bone p.174)
**Prerequisite Power:** [Where the Veil Thins](https://wiki.capetownvtm.com/material-availability/powers#where-the-veil-thins-oblivion-2-players-guide-pp.87-88)
**Ingredients:** Ground bones, an iron needle, cat gut thread, the caster’s vitae, a goat tallow candle.
**Process:** The caster scatters the powdered bone around an area no larger than a football field to mark the boundary of this Ceremony. Then, they prepare the candle by piercing their flesh and passing the thread under their skin. Using the needle, they carve runes down the length of the candle and then wrap the thread around it until they pull it from under their skin. The candle may then be placed inside the boundary and lit, burning with a pale and unmoving flame that artificially thickens the Veil around it with radiating, uncomfortable warmth.
**System:** When lighting the candle, the caster makes their Ceremony roll, subtracting one die from their pool for every wraith present within the boundary, on either side of the Veil. Upon a win the Veil density (Players Guide, p.88) of the area becomes Impenetrable for as long as the candle burns. On a critical win, the Ceremony’s duration is doubled and no being may spy across the Veil. Undisturbed, it persists for as many nights as the caster has Oblivion dots. Another necromancer who attempts to [Split the Veil](https://wiki.capetownvtm.com/material-availability/powers/oblivion-ceremonies#split-the-veil-level-4-players-guide-pp.96-97) here must win against the caster’s successes as a Difficulty, doing so ends this Ceremony and reduces the Veil density as per that Ceremony.
Name of the Father (Cults of the Blood Gods p.94)
**Prerequisite Power:** [Shadow Perspective](https://wiki.capetownvtm.com/material-availability/powers#shadow-perspective-oblivion-3-players-guide-p.89)
**Ingredients:** The ability to speak ancient Greek, eye contact with a victim, five charcoal sticks
**Process:** The priest invokes an incantation in a dialect of ancient Greek, invoking the name of Shalim as they crush four charcoal sticks in hand. These words are spoken while making eye contact with the victim, therefore the victim must be able to see and hear the user for this power to be successful. Upon crushing the final charcoal stick, a shadow crosses the eyes of the priest and those of the victim, leaving the eyes of each participant entirely black as the victim succumbs to a crushing sense of despair. Those who have experienced this power and lived to tell of it speak of an all-consuming darkness closing in around their thoughts and robbing them of all sensation. The last thing they recall is a distant, rumbling laughter echoing in their mind.
**System:** The vampire’s player makes their Ceremony roll vs. the victim’s Resolve + Composure. On a win, the vampire may activate this Ceremony’s effects any time they are in the victim’s presence. Upon activation, the victim is paralyzed with despair for a number of turns equal to the margin. While under this effect, victims cannot see, hear or experience any form of sensory input except touch and physical pain, which brings them out of the effect. The victim can expend Willpower equal to the number of turns they would remain paralyzed to break free of the power.
Shambling Hordes (Players Guide pp.95-96)
**Prerequisite Power:** [Aura of Decay](#aura-of-decay-oblivion-3-players-guide-p.88)
**Ingredients:** A mortal corpse (or multiple corpses), and a fresh mortal sacrifice.
**Process:** The vampire must have a separate corpse in addition to a mortal prepared for sacrifice. The vampire slays the sacrificial victim, spilling their blood on the corpse or corpses intended for animation. If the Ceremony is successful, the corpses stand (the recent sacrifice does not) and serve the vampire’s commands.
**System:** Due to the amount of blood spilled in this Ceremony, the caster must first test to resist Hunger Frenzy (Difficulty 2). Make a Ceremony roll, possibly incurring Stains in the process depending on the chronicle Tenets and the Storyteller’s discretion. Upon a win a number of aggressive dead equal to the necromancer’s Oblivion rating or the number of prepared bodies (whichever is lower) receive the gift of animation. Corpses animated this way do not decay and only enter repose if commanded to by the vampire, if the vampire meets final death, or if destroyed.
The animated corpses can parse moderately complex orders such as “kill everyone who enters,” “groan if you see anyone pass this way,” or “terrorize that neighborhood.” Unlike the corpses raised using the [Gift of False Life](#the-gift-of-false-life-players-guide-p.92), these animated dead do not sit idle if left without commands, instead attacking anyone around them except for their master.
As per the rules for temporary Advantages like these (Core, p.180), their continued usefulness beyond the current story must be ensured with Experience — such as through the Retainers Background (Core, p.196; one dot per loyal corpse) — or the aggressive corpses may become unstable and unruly.
**Aggressive Corpse Stat Block**
```
Standard Dice Pools: Physical 4, Social 0, Mental 0
Secondary Attributes: Health 6, Willpower 0
Exceptional Dice Pools: Brawl 6; Intimidation 5
Special: Aggressive corpses take Superficial and Aggravated damage in the same way
as vampires, except they are immune to sunlight. They cannot heal or mend damage.
They cannot be mentally dominated or influenced as they are bound to their master.
They do not need eyes or ears to perceive everything around them as someone with
unimpeded vision and hearing might. Bites from the aggressive dead inflict +2 Health
damage which is Aggravated to mortals.
General Difficulties: 3/2
```
The Shallow Slumber (Gehenna War p.50)
**Prerequisite:** [Passion Feast](#passion-feast-oblivion-3--fortitude-2-players-guide-pp.88-89) or [Touch of Oblivion](#touch-of-oblivion-oblivion-3-players-guide-p.89)
**Ingredients:** Charcoal and one Rouse Check of the user’s vitae.
**Process:** The performer carefully writes a series of sigils on themselves or another vampire, while cursing the names of various gods or saints responsible for good health.
**System:** So long as the sigils remain on the target’s body, for each success in the margin on the ceremony test, their Blood Potency counts as one lower for the purpose of torpor duration and premature awakening. Likewise, their Humanity counts as a similar number of dots higher but only for purposes of torpor duration. A total failure on the Ritual test extends the torpor instead, as if the subject had another dot more in Blood Potence and a dot less in Humanity. Only one attempt per subject per torpor can be made.
A vampire can use this ceremony on themselves or another vampire, even if the subject has not yet fallen into torpor. The sigils stay on the subject’s body until they are washed away, marred by injury, or intentionally defaced, though rarely longer than a week due to natural abrasion.
**Duration:** Indefinite, so long as the sigils remain.
Wisdom of the Dead (The Book of Nod Apocrypha p.35)
**Prerequisite Power:** [Oblivion’s Sight](#oblivions-sight-oblivion-1-players-guide-p.85) or [Where the Veil Thins](#where-the-veil-thins-oblivion-2-players-guide-pp.87-88)
**Ingredients:** The head or skull of the deceased, pure water and a small flame.
**Cost:** One Rouse Check
**Dice Pools:** Resolve + Oblivion
**System:** The cermonist must possess a skull or head. After rolling Resolve + Oblivion (Difficulty 2 for a mostly intact head, or 3 for a skull), the Kindred begins to glean knowledge from the deceased. The Storyteller will name one skill the deceased was most knowledgeable about in life (or unlife if a Kindred skull) and an additional skill per point of the margin of success. For the rest of the night, the user may draw upon the deceased’s knowledge: each time the user rolls one of the deceased’s skills, so long as they are still carrying their skull or head, they may add 2 dice to your dice pool. This only applies if the deceased had a higher skill rating than the user.
At dawn, roll one die for each skill roll boosted: a failure on any of these dice indicates the skull or head dissolves to ashes as the Ceremony ends and it cannot be reconstituted by any means.
**Duration:** Until dawn or the head/skull is destroyed.
## Level 4
Bind the Spirit (Players Guide p.96)
**Prerequisite Power:** [Necrotic Plague](#necrotic-plague-oblivion-4-players-guide-pp.89-90)
**Ingredients:** A wraith’s fetter, the sacrifice of an innocent mortal, and sufficient salt to surround a property or individual. If the target for haunting is an individual, the necromancer must possess something of their body, such as fingernails, hair, blood, or skin.
**Process:** The vampire must already have a wraith under their control using [Compel Spirit](#compel-spirit-players-guide-p.94). The vampire kills an innocent mortal (though innocence is subjective, this tends to apply to the young, caregivers, and genuinely pious individuals) in or close to a location or person they want their wraith to haunt. Subsequently, they mix their vitae with sufficient salt to surround the target for haunting, and paint a circle with the mixture. They place the wraith’s fetter somewhere within the location, or in the target’s possession.
**System:** Following the steps of the Ceremony, the vampire may incur Stains from the murder depending on the Chronicle Tenets and the Storyteller’s discretion. They make an Oblivion Ceremony roll that cannot be resisted, as the wraith must already be compelled for this power to work.
The wraith is bound to the location or individual targeted, with no duration applied to this Ceremony’s effects. Any emotion the wraith feels intensely during its binding affects the inhabitants of the location or the individual to whom it’s bound, with each person affected suffering a two-dice penalty to all rolls made to resist acting or feeling the way the wraith feels. Therefore, an angry wraith may make vampires more inclined to Frenzy, while a depressed wraith might make a mortal more likely to stop self-care. Bound wraiths have the same powers as spectres (Core, p.377).
The wraith is forever bound to the target, unless the vampire cancels the Ceremony, the fetter ever moves from the location or individual’s possession, or the wraith is destroyed. Binding also ends if the necromancer attacks the wraith. Most wraiths bound in this way are furious or melancholic about their plight, and their mood affects the area around them. Many necromancers use this method to defend their havens or haunt their enemies.
Bind to Mortal Form (Tattered Facade p.102)
**Prerequisite Power:** [Necrotic Plague](#necrotic-plague-oblivion-4-players-guide-pp.89-90) or [Skuld Fulfilled](#skuld-fulfilled-oblivion-5-players-guide-p.91)
**Ingredients:** The chosen mortal, an Oblivion-touched iron chain, a candle made with human tallow, dirt from a fresh grave, a thimble of blood or other body fluids from the mortal
**Process:** The vampire must be in possession of an iron chain that has been marked by the shades of Oblivion. They can create this themselves using [Touch of Oblivion](https://wiki.capetownvtm.com/material-availability/powers#touch-of-oblivion-oblivion-3-players-guide-p.89) on the chain, or use one prepared by someone else or which hails from the Abyss. They begin the Ceremony proper by lighting the candle, which sputters and casts a circle of warm light around the two. The mortal must then swallow the grave dirt. Using a blowtorch or a similar high-power heat source, the vampire proceeds to heat up the chain, using it to brand the mortal. This sucks all the light out of the room, extinguishing the candle. It also traps the spirit of the mortal within their decaying flesh. The vampire then has three nights to deliver the blood or fluids gathered from the mortal to the same grave where they got the dirt.
**System:** The necromancer tests Resolve + Oblivion (Difficulty 5). Each rolled success adds a decade to the mortal’s natural lifespan, but if the test is not an overall win, or if the vampire fails to take the mortal’s blood to the grave within the deadline, the mortal ages at twice the speed they would have otherwise aged, as the shadows binding their spirit eat away at their life force.
Bind to Mortal Form can be performed several times on the same mortal; however, the chain loses its power with use. The shadows binding the mortal’s lifeforce also grow stronger with each Ceremony. Thus, the Difficulty for the Resolve + Oblivion test increases by 1 with each subsequent casting. A mortal sustained by Oblivion shades eventually grows withdrawn, confused, and fearful of the light.
Death Rattle (Trails of Ash and Bone p.174)
**Prerequisite Power:** [Fatal Precognition](https://wiki.capetownvtm.com/material-availability/powers#fatal-precognition-oblivion-2--auspex-2-players-guide-p.87)
**Ingredients:** A wraith’s fetter, a personal item owned by the intended target (living or undead, but not another wraith), the caster’s vitae, over proof rum, a black candle, a clay bowl large enough to hold the fetter and target’s personal belonging.
**Process:** The caster must be in close proximity to the desired wraith in order to successfully complete the Ceremony, typically through the use of [Summon Spirit](#summon-spirit-players-guide-pp.92-93). The fetter and target’s possession are combined in the bowl along with the caster’s vitae. The candle is held over the bowl and lit allowing the wax to drip into the contents of the bowl. The name of the wraith and the target are chanted repeatedly. As the wax melts, it forms a seal between the items inside of the bowl, creating a bridge between the wraith and the desired target. When this seal is broken, the rum ignites the possession of the target and they experience the death of the wraith.
**System:** The caster makes their Ceremony roll and the target contests with Composure + Resolve whether or not they know they’re being targeted. On a win by the caster the victim experiences a vision of the wraith’s death, with a higher margin leading to a more vivid experience. If the wraith died a violent death, this causes Superficial Willpower damage equal to the margin of the roll, but even a peaceful death inflicts one point as they experience the wraith’s dying gasp. A critical win from the target rebounds this trauma back onto the necromancer, inflicting the margin as Superficial Willpower damage to them instead.
The caster may choose to be the target of the Ceremony. They roll only against the normal Ceremony Difficulty, and the caster must open their mind to accept any resulting Willpower damage.
Split the Veil (Players Guide pp.96-97)
**Prerequisite Power:** [Necrotic Plague](#necrotic-plague-oblivion-4-players-guide-pp.89-90)
**Ingredients:** A blade that’s been used to cut into someone living, chalk or charcoal, a silk sheet, and a human sacrifice.
**Process:** The vampire hangs a silk sheet over a wall in a place where the veil density (Players Guide, p.88) is standard, thin, or frayed. They then perform a human sacrifice against the sheet, and as blood coats the sheet, cut it open with a blade. The Ceremony widens the portal between the world of the living and the world of the dead.
**System:** The caster performs the sacrifice, which may result in Stains depending on the chronicle Tenets and the Storyteller’s discretion. When cutting the silk sheet, their player makes the Ceremony roll). Due to the amount of blood spilled in this Ceremony, the caster must roll to resist Hunger Frenzy (Difficulty 2). For every success on the Ceremony roll, the veil’s density reduces by one level, down to being absent (Players Guide, p.87).
Importantly, if the veil rating is reduced to absent, wraiths can spill into the physical world for the remainder of the session (or night). Once that period concludes, a veil density of absent increases to frayed and the gateway for wraiths closes.
## Level 5
Ex Nihilo (Cults of the Blood Gods pp.213-214)
**Prerequisite Power:** [Withering Spirit](https://wiki.capetownvtm.com/material-availability/powers#withering-spirit-oblivion-5-cults-of-the-blood-gods-p.208)
**Ingredients:** Masks for each participant, a bowl containing sufficient quantity of the caster’s vitae so each participant might coat the soles of their feet in it, two coins of any value per participant.
**Process:** Few Ceremonies of Oblivion come with as much doubt and fear as Ex Nihilo, the ability to migrate into the Shadowlands. This Ceremony enables a physical crossing into the lands of entropy. Vampires who physically enter the Shadowlands may interact with wraiths as if they were solid, but cannot carry objects beyond those on their person with them. Vampires destroyed in the Shadowlands disappear in a vortex of blood and ash, sucked into the false earth beneath their feet.
Ex Nihilo appeals to a great many necromancers and mystics who want to study the Shadowlands without the impediment of a time limit. It’s an unmatched method for interviewing ghosts and exploring the necropoli — the cities spirits inhabit. It’s also incredibly dangerous, as many wraiths — especially spectres — seek to destroy vampires, draining them of their Willpower, and there’s always the risk of meeting the ghost of someone the vampire slew years earlier. Such wraiths tend to hold a grudge.
The vampire must have used [Split the Veil](#split-the-veil-players-guide-pp.96-97) that night, in the location they’re currently occupying, in order for Ex Nihilo to function. If the Veil density is reduced to absent, the caster and any companions may enter the Shadowlands from that point, if they don masks to cover their faces, dip or paint their feet in the vampire’s vitae, and carry a coin in each hand.
**System:** The user makes three Rouse Checks (sufficient to expend the required vitae) and spends a turn concentrating, expending a Willpower point to prepare for the crossing. They then make their Ceremony roll. If successful, the vampire, a number of companions equal to the number of successes rolled, and any objects on their person may then enter the Shadowlands.
The Shadowlands follows several rules that do not exist in the world of the living:
• Wraiths are capable of physical attacks on vampires (Core, p.377 for an average spectre’s stat block) but some are also capable of attacking a vampire’s Willpower specifically, as they drain a vampire’s passion. Defense pools against Willpower drain, which a wraith can attempt up to 3 yards/meters from the vampire, are made up from the vampire’s Resolve + Composure, vs. the attacking wraith’s Strength + Brawl. This attack inflicts Aggravated Willpower damage.\
• Though there is no sun (and therefore no daytime) in the Shadowlands, the vampire must still Rouse the Blood every 24 hours. With no sunlight, they are able to operate without rest.\
• Vampires in the Shadowlands cannot interact with the world of the living in a meaningful way. They can only touch or speak with living creatures by ending this Ceremony, which takes the expenditure of a Willpower point and another Rouse Check in a place where the Veil isn’t impenetrable. They can see snatches of motion through the Veil, and a Discipline such as Auspex may enable them to spy from beyond the veil, but for the most part, anything viewed has a Difficulty 4 or more to perceive.\
• Vampires can use their Disciplines in the Shadowlands just as they can in the land of the living.\
• If a vampire is compelled to feed in the Shadowlands, they cannot obtain sustenance from wraiths without [Passion Feast](https://wiki.capetownvtm.com/material-availability/powers#passion-feast-oblivion-3--fortitude-2-players-guide-pp.88-89), but can feed from mortals or other vampires with them.\
• Oblivion absorbs individuals who lose all Health or Willpower in the Shadowlands. They leave no wraiths if destroyed.\
• Vampires cannot bring wraiths out of the Shadowlands without a Ceremony such as [Summon Spirit](#summon-spirit-players-guide-pp.92-93), which must be used in the land of the living to have this effect.
**Duration:** Until the power is deactivated or the vampire is destroyed
Gift of True Life (Tattered Facade pp.102-103)
**Prerequisite Power:** [Necrotic Plague](#necrotic-plague-oblivion-4-players-guide-pp.89-90) or [Passion Feast](#passion-feast-oblivion-3--fortitude-2-players-guide-pp.88-89)
**Ingredients:** Two willing or unwilling mortals, a length of silk rope
**Process:** Opening a vein on each mortal’s wrist, the vampire presses their wounds together, securing them with the rope. Holding on to each mortal, the vampire channels shadows from the Abyss to push vitality from one mortal into the other.
**System:** The vampire makes their Rouse Check as they open the veins and a Ceremony contest of Resolve + Oblivion against the Stamina + Resolve of the mortal being drained as they start channeling the Abyss. A failed Ceremony contest forces the shadows to slink back to where they came from. A win starts the process of pushing vitality from one mortal to another. The results become apparent quickly. For every five minutes of siphoning, the targeted mortal loses 10 years’ worth of life they could have lived to the other. When the target has lost their ordained lifespan (traditionally 70 years), they start deteriorating quickly. The effect on the receiving mortal is more subtle. They become the image of health but aren’t otherwise immediately affected. Following the Ceremony, they age half as quickly as other mortals until the extra lifespan they have been granted has been spent (at which point, they once again age normally). Diseases develop at half the speed as well. They aren’t in any other ways protected from death.
The conversion rate of vitality is 1:1 for mortals who are related or deeply emotionally bonded. Otherwise, the targeted mortal must give a decade for each three years of life received by the other.
The vampire must make a Ceremony test of Resolve + Oblivion at Difficulty 6 to stop the process and cut the bond before the targeted mortal shrivels up like a dried prune and turns to dust. If the vampire cannot stop the Ceremony this way, simply killing the mortal works as well. Regardless of the outcome, the vampire performing this Ceremony most likely gains one or several Stains.
Even more than most, this Ceremony is likely to attract attention from the other side of the Veil.
Lazarene Blessing (Players Guide pp.97-98)
**Prerequisite Power:** [Skuld Fulfilled](#skuld-fulfilled-oblivion-5-players-guide-p.91)
**Ingredients:** One mortal sacrifice, incense, the heart of any mammal, and powdered silver.
**Process:** The necromancer burns incense to perfume the air before performing an act of sacrifice, cutting the heart of the victim out and replacing it with the heart of another mammal, though it doesn’t need to be stitched in and working for the Ceremony to function. After pouring a bag of powdered silver over the open eyes of the dying or dead mortal, the vampire invites a wraith to take the deceased mortal as a host. Wraiths cannot be forced to possess a body, but few refuse the opportunity to walk around in semi-living shoes again.
**System:** Killing a mortal for this Ceremony may incur Stains, depending on the chronicle Tenets. If the replacement heart was likewise taken from someone the vampire murdered, that murder might also incur Stains. Following a successful Ceremony roll, a wraith can enter the freshly-dead body and live in it as if it were their own. The wraith must be present during the act of sacrifice.
The possessed corpse wakes bearing the wounds that killed it, though the replacement heart is functional (no matter its origin or placement) and the body heals one point of Health damage upon possession. The remaining Health damage recovers with time (as vampiric healing). The body gains no special resistances to harm beyond Disciplines it might have possessed in life. The body possesses the same Physical Attributes, Disciplines (if a ghoul), and Advantages it had in life. Social and Mental Attributes, Skills, and any form of morality rating match those of the wraith.
This possession lasts indefinitely, or until the possessed body dies again or the wraith is exorcised from the host.
Pit of Contemplation (Cults of the Blood Gods pp.94-95)
**Prerequisite Power:** [Tenebrous Avatar](https://wiki.capetownvtm.com/material-availability/powers#tenebrous-avatar-oblivion-5-players-guide-p.91)
**Ingredients:** Pot of ink, three pints/six liters or more of blood from an innocent the user murdered, an unlit room
**Process:** The vampire personally murders an innocent mortal, likely incurring Stains depending on the Chronicle Tenets and their Convictions. While innocence is subjective, traditional sacrifices are children, virgins, and holy individuals. The vampire then takes at least three pints/six liters of the deceased’s blood into an unlit room and uses it to paint a doorway on a wall in the chamber. Finally, the vampire splashes a pot of ink onto the blood-painted portal. Focusing their will upon the gateway, the priest opens a tear through to Oblivion.
Anyone foolish or unfortunate enough to fall into the gap is immediately transported into a pocket of eternal black nothingness for as long as the priest sees fit. If the priest is destroyed without releasing their prisoners, any undead prisoners remain trapped in the void (unless and until another vampire reverses the Ceremony).
Priests may choose to pass through the door, but doing so condemns them forever. Some Shalimites do this when they feel they have completed their work as a part of the cult.
**System:** Following the Ceremony steps, the priest’s player makes their Ceremony roll, and on a success the effect is quick and implosive. A hole opens at the point where ink and blood mix. The hole draws objects, air, and people toward it and, if they fail a Dexterity + Athletics roll (Difficulty 4), sucks them into a pocket within Oblivion.
While trapped, victims are suspended in an endless blackness. They cannot see or hear anyone or anything around themselves. Only the priest who conjures this blasphemous gateway can free those held within, by pouring a vampire’s vitae over the painted door (sufficient to provoke a Rouse Check). Mortals sucked into Oblivion are instantly killed.