Blood Mastery
Whispered rumors tell that one should never allow the Tremere to gain access to the blood of another vampire. Paranoid tales in hushed tones tell of the Tremere's mastery over other Kindred through the sole use of a small quantity of vitae. While modern, cosmopolitan Kindred scoff at such tales, even they are careful not to let their blood fall into the wrong hands, just in case.
Such caution, though, is well-deserved. A Tremere with even rudimentary understanding of blood can focus its power into sympathetic forms. By destroying another Kindred, blood, the Tremere gains symbolic power over that Kindred. This in turn allows the Tremere to manifest his supremacy over the victim.
System: The thaumaturge must mix a tiny quantity of his own vitae (a negligible amount, less than a point) with that of his victim, then slowly burn it in a fire or biol the blood slowly over an open flame. The caster speaks the phrases of symmetry as he finishes. Once complete, the Tremere has magical mastery over the victim, however briefly.
Successful completion of the Blood Mastery ritual guarantees a victory of some degree over the victim. In the next contention that the caster brings against the victim, the ritualist automatically succeeds. If the task would require some roll, the caster garners one success automatically, but no more (and cannot roll or spend Willpower to improve the roll). This means that the caster is guaranteed a marginal success against his opponent. Of course, it may not be in a fashion that the thaumaturge desires - one success alone is not enough to decapitate an enemy, but it might influence him briefly with the Dominate Discipline. Similarly, if the victim takes some action first, the ritual is of no help if the caster's player could not normally make a countering roll. For example, the caster would still be subject to an opponent's use of Presence, because he may not normally make a roll to resist. If the victim uses some Discipline that would require the caster to resist, though, then the thaumaturge automatically counters it and thus ends the power of the ritual.
Blood Mastery can only guarantee success in one limited endeavor - a thaumaturge cannot burn multiple points of blood to gain additional success or success on multiple consecutive actions. Once the ritual is in place, it must be discharged before it can be invoked again against the same subject. Blood Mastery expires if its effects remain unused by sunrise.
