Faux Path

Thaumaturgy Paths

From the Diaries of Constantin Addams, Regent of the Sixth Circle.

We walk the nights of a new age, brothers and sisters of the Pyramid. Since Gutenberg, our tomes are no longer handwritten, and hence much less rare. With the rise of public libraries, many "secret works" are now available for public consumption. Since the rise of the personal computer, any apprentice with a scanner, printer and the "Internet" can acquire a minimal occult library in weeks, rather than the years spent in ages past.

Once digitized, a complete set of the Books of al-Az the Elder will fit upon a collection of CDROMs approximately the size of a sandwich, rather than the 29 volumes with which most of us are familiar. And no longer do younger Kindred guard the "secrets of the clans." An understanding of the limitations, effects, and abilities of most common Disciplines is available to anyone who asks, and even those rare Disciplines, such as those of the Samedi, are often recognizable to at least one person in a domain. Only Thaumaturgy is treated as precious knowledge, and the other clans hold it against us. New means must be used to guide our fellow Kindred into heeding our superior advice.

For this purpose, I have developed what I humbly call the Faux Path. It commands little actual power. Few rituals that will affect another are contained within. However, the clever thaumaturge may use the Faux Path to great effect by playing on the fears and preconceived notions of his or her fellow Kindred. At the highest levels, the lines between falsity and reality blur, but wise Tremere take heed: most Kindred do not take well to being openly deceived.

Enough talk. Step with me onto the False Path.

Hello, Goodbye (it should have been called: Lies, Lies, lies) -- Level 1

Description: The thaumaturge has a basic understanding of the magic of falsity. She may cause any one true statement she makes to be perceived as a lie for the duration of the evening. At dawn, all Kindred affected will be able to make their own judgments about the statement. She cannot make lies appear to be true, however.

System: With successful invocation, this power causes any listeners who hear the true statement immediately disbelieve it. This magic does not affect Aura readings, a Bone of Lies or other Discipline usage of greater power than this Discipline.

Disciplinary Identification -- Level 2

Description: One of the primary skills of the deceiver is the ability to recognize when she is being deceived. With sufficient training, the thaumaturge can identify which Disciplines are being used in front of her, and, with a sufficient explanation or by looking at the results (such as a ghoul's arm affected by Vicissitude), can even identify Disciplines not directly witnessed.

System: The thaumaturge can identify the Discipline used in any situation. Only Disciplines may be identified directly, whereas the powers of other supernatural creatures (but not hedge magic) are identified only as "powers belonging to something else." A Storyteller may allow a bonus to Kindred possessing one or more of the skills of Kindred, Camarilla or Sabbat Lore (where appropriate). A Kindred cannot concentrate long enough to identify Disciplines used on her while she is engaged in combat, though she may remember the effects and identify them later. Regardless of specifics, at this level all "thaumaturgical" effects, whether hedge magic, True Faith, Dark Thaumaturgy or even other uses of the Faux Path register as "Thaumaturgy."

Note that a character may not identify a Discipline with which she is not at least somewhat familiar. For example, a character is unlikely to know of the more esoteric Disciplines of certain minor bloodlines, while Dominate should be fairly obvious. Also, this is not a "catalogue" of Disciplines, as the information is gained mystically. A Camarilla Kindred may never have seen another Kindred using Telepathy, but would be able to identify it using this power through familiarity with Auspex.

Thaumaturgical Nomenclature -- Level 3

Description: Once the chaff has been separated from the wheat, so to speak, identification of the most versatile Discipline of Thaumaturgy remains. Despite the frustrated thoughts of some young Tremere, no limit exists to the number of paths a thaumaturge may learn. However, some of the more common elements of Thaumaturgy can be identified.

System: A power described as "Thaumaturgy" by Discipline Identification can be further identified as to the path, power or ritual, or even as true magic, if this is the case. In case of a truly obtuse, unique or unknown path, a result of "unquantified" is not uncommon. Note that if an effect is incorrectly assumed to be Thaumaturgy (without using the Level Two power), the results of this Discipline will be incorrect as well. For example, a Kindred who has caught his hand on fire and is using Fortitude to resist the damage may be incorrectly identified as using the Lure of Flames.

Ritual Madness -- Level 4

Description: By now, many Kindred are aware that most powers and rituals have a limited range. With the public and private transportation options available to most Kindred, even the dreaded Splinter Servant holds little terror if the victim can stave off his attacker for a mere minute. A clever thaumaturge can use this knowledge against her enemies.

System: Using this power, any thaumaturgical effect a vampire extemporizes can be "modified" to supply only a physical sensation, but no actual effect. For example, a Warlock may cause Kindred approaching him to feel "vague discomfort and uneasiness" with no explanation, though a successful Aura Perception might discover sparkles indicative of any other magical effect. Likewise, a vampire may "Engage the Vessel of Non-Transference," which causes another Kindred to feel a cold shiver if she touches a certain object. The much-vaunted "Ward Versus Fools" causes an individual to feel as though he is approaching a ward designed against his "creature type," whether Lupine, ghoul, mortal, ghost, Kindred. A cagey Kindred can even claim "next time, it'll be the real thing," regardless of his or her true powers. This is an uncommonly versatile path power, but its effects are always mental (and psychosomatic) in nature.

Sanguinary Affectation -- Level 5

Description: Once a careful study has been made of various Disciplines, the thaumaturge can then seek to duplicate the outward effects upon his own self. For example, a Tremere's hands may seem to grow claws, he can make other seem to bow to his whim, or his hands may crackle with the lambent fires of an unmastered but familiar path. Of course, his nails are merely long and cause no damage beyond normal, the patsy was going to do what the vampire said anyway, and his hands couldn't light a cigarette.

System: After a successful roll, the player spends a Willpower, and can then successfully duplicate the outward effect of almost any Discipline, path or ritual of Level Five or below upon his or her own person, by fulfilling the normal prerequisites of the Discipline (blood expenditure, Willpower costs, etc.), for one turn. Note that a Kindred duplicating Celerity, for example, could not actually move faster than a normal Kindred, but she could perform parlor tricks with Faux Celerity, such as "snatching the pebble from the hand of the Master" and the like. Of course, to snatch the pebble from the hand of someone with Celerity may well require her to spend the extra blood, and even then she would likely have to win a contested roll. But convincing a convocation of other Kindred that she has this speed might be worth the cost, even though she could never even outrun Kindred with only one dot in Celerity using this path's powers.