Ushabti
The name of the path comes from the figurines that prosperous Egyptians had buried with them. In the Afterlife, these figurines supposedly became servants who would work for the interred person's soul. Images of objects also became real in the death realm. Egyptian magicians also brought images to life in this world. One old tale tells of a magician who created a magical sedan chair and bearers who kidnapped a king from distant countries and returned in the same night. Vampire magicians cannot perform such magnificent feats, but masters of the Ushabti path can still achieve many wonderful things.
Each use of this path requires a separate figurine. Thus, a magician who wants to create a crocodile fashions a model crocodile; t create a falcon, he uses a model falcon. Animal figures are as easy to animate as images of humans. A magician can use a figurine only once.
In every case, the magician makes the figurine out of wax or clay mixed with one blood point's worth of her own vitae. The lector-priest writes words of power upon the model, including its name in Egyptian hieroglyphics - "digger," "bullock," "guard" or the like. Then she bathes the figurine in honey and beer and fumigates it in the smoke of various herbs.
system: when activating an ushabti, the magician anoints the figurine with one blood point's worth of her own vitae and speaks an incantation. At this point, the player makes an Intelligence + Crafts roll to determine whether the magic succeeds. If the magic works, the statuette expands into a life-sized, animate figure. If the player rolls a botch, the statuette animates but an evil spirit possesses the ;ushabti and sets about making the character's unlife miserable.
Ushabti creatures have Attributes and Abilities. Attributes are limited only by the magician's mastery of the path. A lector-priest cannot give an ushabti any Ability she herself does not possess, and cannot grant an Ability rating above her own. Only at the highest level of mastery can an ushabti have Virtues, Humanity or Willpower, because they have no genuine minds or free will. Most ushabti can only follow orders. They cannot think for themselves, even to preserve their own existence.
An ushabti has health levels identical to a human or vampire. They soak both bashing and lethal damage with their full Stamina at a difficulty of 6. Although ushabti can possess the physical abilities intrinsic to an animal form, such as flight for a a bird or a lion's claws and teeth, they cannot have any sort of magical powers.
Ushabti range from obvious animate mannikins to simulacra almost indistinguishable from life. The number of successes from the player's Intelligence + Crafts roll indicates the realism of the animate figure.
One Success: Obviously clay or wax, crudely formed.
Two Successes: A fairly realistic mannikin, like waxworks or a china doll.
Three Successes: Moderately lifelike: could fool a casual viewer (Perception + Alertness, difficulty 6, to detect as false).
Four Successes: Incredibly lifelike (difficulty 8 to determine as false).
Five Successes: Indistinguishable from life.
An ushabti's "realism rating" can never exceed the level of the power that created it. Thus, a Guard could never look more than moderately lifelike.
An ushabti creature remains active for one lunar month, so longa s it has no contact with mundane humanity and stays within the vampire's haven. At the end of this period, the magician can extend the ushabti's existence for another lunar month by feeding it another blood point. If an ushabti interacts with ordinary humans outside its creator's have, the magic degrades rapidly: within an hour, the ushabti reverts to wax or clay and becomes a crumbling statue again. A "slain" ushabti becomes a figurine at the moment of its "death."
Ushabti figurines are always made for use by a specific person: no one else can employ them. Most of the time, the magician makes ushabti for his own use, but she can prepare ushabti for another person to use at some later time. This costs the magician a point of Willpower. The other person activates the ushabti using the requisite magic words, but does not need to expend vitae.
1) Laborer:
At first, a magician can produce only simple, nearly mindless servants. These ushabti can perform simple, repetitive tasks such as digging, sweeping, pulling and carrying. Laborers cannot fight.
System: Whether human or animal, these basic ushabti have two dots in each Physical Attribute, one dot in each Mental Attribute and no dots in their Social Attributes. {Ushabti can be beautiful, if their maker fashions them so. A 0 Appearance represents an ushabti's inability to perform any task requiring Social Attributes.) They have no Abilities.
2) Servitor:
A more skilled magician can produce ushabti with greater intelligence and usefulness. Servitors can perform moderately complex tasks that require some small degree of common sense.
System: To the basic Laborer, ad three dots of Attributes (but no Social Attributes, and no Mental Attribute can rise above 2). Also, add two dots of Abilities. At this level, these cannot be combat Abilities.
3) Guard:
At this level, the magician can create ushabti with simulated minds that work quickly enough to handle combat. An ushabti created with this level of mastery does not have to be an actual guard, but is a common application.
System: To the basic Laborer, add six dots of Attributes, and four dots of Abilities. Guards can have Social Attributes, but no Social or Mental Attribute can have a rating higher than 2; neither can any Ability.
4) Overseer:
A truly skilled magician can create formidable ushabti - powerful beasts, or servants more skilled than many humans. Such ushabti can command lesser ushabti, and perform complex tasks without supervision.
System: To the basic Laborer, add nine dots of Attributes and six dots of Abilities. N Social or Mental Attribute can rise above 3 dots; neither can any Ability.
5) Gift of Khnum:
The ancient Egyptians believed that the god Khunum shaped human beings int he womb, as a potter shapes clay. A master of Ushabti can create servants of remarkable skill or power who are utterly loyal, but do not know that the are fakes. Even more remarkably, a magician can craft a body for a spirit and that spirit and body will truly live, as a free-willed being from then on. Through the Gift of Khnum, a blood-sorcerer can raise the dead - or release demons on the world.
System: To the basic Laborer, add 12 dots of Attributes and eight dots of Abilities. The ushabti also has Virtues, Humanity and Willpower like a starting Vampire character. It can think for itself, but remains emotionally bound to its creator as if blood bound. Alternatively, the magician can simply craft a body and infuse it with a pre-existing soul; either a wraith or some other sort of spirit. The ushabti has whatever Abilities, Virtues and other Traits the spirit had. The magician can create whatever body he pleases, but the spirit must agree of its own free will to occupy the body.
The Gift of Khnum costs two Willpower points. The player can spend more Willpower POints for added successes on the Intelligence + Crafts roll to increase the chance of a highly lifelike ushabti, if she wants.
An ushabti created by the Gift of Khnum does not degrade in the presence of ordinary humans or at the end of a month. It will degrade within minutes, however, if someone challenges its identity and convinces it that it is not a real person. One Setite legend talks of a faithful ushabti who served its creator for a hundred years before it saw its reflection and realized that it was just another one of its master's statues. Another story tells of a perfectly lifelike ushabti who married and bore children to her husband. She crumbled to dust, however, when her husband sought to discover her past and found that she did not have one.
