The Smoking Mirror
Description: Named for the chief Aztec god Tezcatlipoca, this ritual allows the Necromancer to use an obsidian mirror to see as ghosts do. By gazing into the mirror's ebony depths, the Pisanob may discover an object's flaws, assess the general health of mortals or even read a being's aura.
At the start of the ritual, the Kindred decides which of the ritual's two aspects she will use - she may not use both at the same time. With Lifesight, the Necromancer may read auras as if she had the level two Auspex power, Aura Perception. Deathsight, on the other hand, grants the Necromancer the ability to see wraiths and the Shadowlands. It also shows the stain of oblivion on the living, which a knowledgeable Necromancer may use to diagnose and study illness, damage or disabilities from which a target may suffer with a successful Perception + Medicine roll (difficulty 4 to 8, depending on the ailment's nature). As the Storyteller's discretion, the Kindred may make a similar study of an inanimate object's flaw and how to repair them, if that object has a strong link or either life0 or death- energies (such as a murder's knife or a window box used to grow healing herbs).
Casting: To perform the ritual, the Necromancer grasps an obsidian mirror that has had its edge sharpened so that it cuts into the flesh of whoever takes hold of it. As the vitae flows onto the mirror's surface, it allows the mirror's reflective power to bridge the worlds of the living and the dead, much as it allows the Necromancer herself to do. If the Kindred wishes Lifesight, she calls upon the power of Tonatiuh, He Who Goes Forth Shining. If she wishes Deathsight, she calls upon Mictlanteotl, Aztec god of the Underworld. The player then rolls to activate the ritual as normal (Intelligence + Occult, difficulty 4). If successful, the Necromancer may view the world as a wraith does via the reflective surface of the mirror for a scene. On a botch, the vampire may well invoke the ire of the deities upon whom she calls, with disastrous results.
Reference: CGR 71 (Pisnab Necromancy)
Notes: It seems to me that this ritual is overpowered: It is a level 1 ritual that duplicates a level 2 discipline (Auspex 2) AND has another power. As two related level 3 rituals, it seems realistic. -Jamie
