Transmutation
Description: Thaumaturges practicing the art of Alchemy can manipulate the forms of solids, liquids and gases. Guns and knives melt into pools of metal, wood petrifies and becomes brittle, and common boundaries such as walls and doors transmute to vapor. The laws of chemistry do not bind Warlocks employing the powers of transmutation, as materials shift their state regardless of their temperature. Effects similar to those achieved by true alchemy can be achieved by using the Path of Transmutation. This path is looked upon somewhat unfavorably among the Tremere, as it reflects a "quick and dirty" effect rather than true mastery of alchemical transmutation.
1) Fortify the Solid Form
By fortifying a sold object, a magus increases the strength and integrity of an item. A thaumaturge mystically transmutes a feather to become a crude blunt object, pencils become makeshift stakes, and a car becomes as tough as a tank.
System: This power increases the offensive and defensive capabilities of an object. For each successes the scores, an object will absorb one health level of damage. Similarly, a thaumaturge wielding the same object offensively will inflict one extra die of damage per two successes the player scores on the activation roll. In either case, an object may absorb or inflict a maximum of five health levels or dice of damage, respectively. The effects of fortifying an object last for one scene, and must either be offensive or defensive - the Platonic ideal of attack is not the same as for defense.
Note: This power cannot be used to increase the structure of a living creature. However, a thaumaturge may use Fortify the Solid Form in conjunction with the Level Two power Crystallize the Liquid Form to make a very solid piece of ice, molten metal, etc.
2) Crystallize the Liquid Form
Tremere designed this power to prevent other Kindred from taking vitae. This can also be used to solidify water and molten metal. Liquids within living bodies may not be altered, though blood exiting the body may be solidified. Kindred may not consume solidified blood.
System: For every success the player scores on the Willpower roll, the vampire may transform one blood point (or about two pints of a liquid) into solid form for a scene. This substance will not change in temperature; solidified molten steel still burns and melts other materials. The liquid must be within the thaumaturge's line of sight.
3) Liquefy the Solid Form
A thaumaturge may "melt" solid objects and leave them in a liquid like state. By employing this power, attackers could find their weapons in small pools at their feet. Stakes rot away at a rapid pace, and blades corrode into soft, nondescript puddles. Some wily thaumaturges might even transmute bullets before they impact an intended target.
System: The thaumaturge may transform an object within his line of sight. When the object reforms from a liquid, it will likely assume a deformed state and be rendered useless. A transformed object remains in a liquid state for one scene, after which it resumes its original shape (which many thaumaturges claim is a recent improvement over an older, more dated version of this power). The size of the object that may be changed depends upon the successes of the player's roll.
One Success: a lighter
Two Successes: A telephone
Three Successes: A computer
Four Successes: An automobile
Five Successes: A Railroad car
As much as many Tremere would like it, Liquefy the Solid Form may not be used on living (or unliving) beings.
Errata: As a clarification, this power works on only ONE object at a time.
Errata: This power does not work on permanently enchanted objects such as fetishes, the Century List artifacts, or Talismans (both of which are both permanently enchanted objects and, in a way, part of living beings)
4) Gaol
When a Warlock invokes this power, he solidifies the air into an opaque, indestructible object. A crude shimmering prism forms around a victim's body, encasing him within unbreakable material. Doorways become impenetrable boundaries as the air between a doorjamb condenses to a resilient barrier.
System: A Warlock may solidify the air within 50 yards of his person. One success on a Willpower roll solidifies an amount of air equivalent too a brick where five successes will form a solid block of air that can encompass a telephone booth. Once the air condenses, it becomes completely indestructible; this effects lasts for one scene. Victims trapped within the solid air will not be able to break through this barrier (not even with Potence), though mortals will not suffocate.
The oxygen within the block is breathable, though liquidlike. these victims will experience an uncomfortable sensation in their lungs from the alien dependency on the oxygenated fluid, and they may reject it altogether. When the effect of Gaol expires, the barrier around the subject dissipates into its original gaseous state. The oxygen within he target's lungs, however, will remain a fluid and, though breathable, must be purged from the body - coughed out - before it can transmute back into a gas. Subjects suffer one level of bashing damage from this overexertion.
For example: Clifton Andrews notices Rebecca, a ghoul spy, attempting to sneak into his haven. His player gains five successes, solidifying enough air to completely capture Rebecca inside an indestructible block. Immediately after, Rebecca panics as she breaths the liquidlike oxygen within the solid block of air. She gulps in mouthfuls of the fluid while her body adjusts to the foreign method of breathing, causing her to retch until she accepts the oxygen. After the solid block dissipates, Rebecca drops to the ground and trows up all the liquid she took in while trapped, suffering a level of bashing damage from the amount of retching she must do before the liquid purges from her lungs.
Proposed Errata: Dodging a gaol may be done, at +2 difficulty if the target suspects it is coming (or has enough Auspex to precognitive sense the danger). The difficulty increases by one for each success beyond the minimum required to imprison him or her. A successful dodge must take the target completely out of the are of effect: a minor shift of body weight might avoid a blade but not a gaol.
Solid objects caught within the gaol displace the air to be hardened, reducing the total gas affected. They do not increase the total volume that can be solidified. The volume solidified is not precise: perfect planes and angles are impossible (this is a "quick and dirty" path, after all). Solidifying the air around something that mostly fills the specified volume probably creates a series of disconnected chunks that, while interesting, do nothing to hinder its movement.
Shaping solidified air in an unusual pattern (I.E. entrapping someone but leaving their head or a single hand free, or leaving an arrow slit in an otherwise solid wall) must be declared before the roll, and done at a +1 difficulty. Particularly elaborate structures may be higher at Storyteller's discretion.
Though the air is basically physically indestructible, elements within it still react chemically in the normal manner. Fire burns through a gaol as the oxygen is removed, and certain acids and other chemicals will eat the prison away. Also, in order to remain stationary, the light-as-air block must be anchored to at least one immobile physical object, which may be broken with sufficient force, rendering the gaol mobile.
The following table outlines the volume, maximum area of a thin sheet of solidified gas, and what may be trapped within it. Note that a block of air that is too small to completely entrap a being may still hinder them: One success below the number required can cause specific difficulties (bind the legs, an arm, etc). In this case, the difficulty to dodge the gaol is at normal difficulty (6).
| Successes | Volume | Example | Maximum area of a thin sheet | Largest creature entrapped |
| 1 | 5 inch cube, or 1/72 of a cubic foot | A brick | 1 square foot | A small bird or rat, or a few of mice |
| 2 | 1 cubic foot | 1 square meter (9 square yards) | A small desktop computer | Large rat, bat, cat, medium sized bird, small dog |
| 3 | 10 cubic feet: a cube 2'2" on a side | About the size of an average CRT television | 5 square yards(A square 6 feet on a side) | medium sized dog or large bird |
| 4 | 50 cubic feet: a cube 3'8" on a side | A big screen CRT or student's desk | A square 12 feet on a side | A child, wolf or average dog, the largest birds |
| 5 | 125 cubic feet: a cube 5' on a side | A telephone booth | About 125 square feet (an area about 25' X 25') | A human or large predator (Hispo Gaoru or tiger) |
| 6 | 500 cubic feet: a cube 8' on a side, or a sphere 12.5' radius | A small storage shed | A square about 40' on a side: about 1500 square feet | A Zulo, Crinos or other "War Form," a Bear or Horse (with rider) |
5) Ghost Wall
After attaining this level of mastery, a thaumaturge finds herself no longer hindered by common barriers such as walls and rock formations. With but a thought, solid objects shift to a vaporous state and may be traversed with little difficulty. The Warlock passes beyond walls as they are insubstantial and will not obstruct his movement. Targets fall through a gaseous floor, and vaporous parachutes are useless in slowing the travel speed of a skydiver.
System: A thaumaturge may make vaporous any nonliving body within his line of sight. For every success he scores on his Willpower roll, a larger amount of material transmutes in this manner. It takes a single success to transmute a laptop computer into vapor, while it takes five successes to transmute a city bus. A transmuted object loses its shape and becomes transparent. This effect lasts for one scene, after which the object in question reforms as if nothing had ever happened. Needless to say, this is an outrageous breach of the Masquerade if any inappropriate eyes observe it.
