Path of Blood
Rego Vitae -- Description: This path was the first one the Tremere devised, and it remains the primary path of many a Usurper. It works to control and analyze vampiric vitae, and it was a key in uncovering ways in which to unlock the broader powers of Thaumaturgy itself. The havens, laboratories and workshops of Usurpers who study this path are often adorned with vial after vial of blood -- vampiric, mortal and some from more esoteric sources still. Strange alchemical stills, barbed hooks, needles and arrays of especially enthusiastic leeches are all part of such a magus' thaumaturgic repertoire.
1) A Taste for Blood
With a taste, the Cainite with power can analyze the power in a drop of blood. A vampire's blood reveals its owner's secrets: generation, freshness -- telling how long it has been since the vampire last fed -- and the amount of blood he or she still has within their body. Mortal blood reveals the presence or absence of Cainite vitae mixed in (which would unmask a ghoul), as well as the presence of any diseases that stem from an imbalance between blood and another bodily humor.
System: The vampire simply ingests a drop of the target's blood, which is sufficient to take her one step toward a blood oath if the target is a Cainite. The player then spends blood and rolls Willpower as normal. The number of successes determines the amount of information gained and its accuracy. A single success would reveal that a vampire was of comparatively high or low generation (compared to the thaumaturge) or that a mortal was healthy or ill. Five successes would reveal all the secrets listed thus far and even more (Storyteller's discretion).
2) Blood Rage
This ability lets a thaumaturge control another Cainite's expenditure of vitae, rousing the victim's Beast as he does so. The Tremere must touch the target for a moment to activate this power, and he must maintain contact if he wishes the target to continue using blood at his behest. The Usurper can force the target to burn blood to heal wounds or augment physical capacities, but not to activate a Discipline that requires blood.
System: The player rolls and spends blood as normal once the character touches the target. Each success forces the victim to spend one blood point to either raise a Physical Attribute or to heal a non-aggravated wound. The thaumaturge's player chooses just how each point is spent. Each success also raises the target's difficulties to resist frenzy by one. If the target is not currently at risk for frenzy, he may become so through the use of this power.
3) Blood of Potency
The thaumaturge who uses this extremely valuable power can concentrate his or her blood, thickening it to the potency of the vitae of low-generation Cainites. In so doing, he or she lowers their effective generation for a short time. Young Tremere, Embraced in the last few decades, theorize that some early, secret version of Blood of Potency allowed their elders to achieve generations so close to Caine during their early nights, but Tremere and the Council of Seven refuse to share any details.
System: For every success on the standard roll, the player can decrease her character's effective generation by one, or add an hour to the power's duration. If he or she allocates no successes to duration, the effects last for a single turn. Childer Embraced during the duration of Blood of Potency are, as per normal, one generation higher than their sire's normal generation. This power does not give the thaumaturge the ability to create super-childer. Similarly, the vampire cannot learn high-level Discipline powers while he or she is under the influence of this power. Nor do those who diablerize the thaumaturge while he or she is in this state gain any special benefit from that foul act. The power affects only uses of the Discipline of Dominate, blood expenditure and maximum blood pool size.
BoP Errata 1: Once the effect wears off, any blood over the character's blood pool maximum dilutes, leaving he character at his regular blood pool maximum. Thus, if a 12th-generation Tremere (maximum blood pool of 11) ingested 14 blood points, and had this much vitae in his system when the power wore off, his blood pools would immediately drop to 11. This errata remains current and correct despite the DA2 revisions -- BZ.
BoP Errata 2: Use of this power proportionally increases minimum blood pool at which a vampire faces a hunger frenzy, just as if he were naturally the generation he achieved. This errata has been revised according to DA2 canon and is now current. I apologize in advance for not contacting the previous editor of this errata to gain permission, but these revisions are only bring the power concurrent with accepted DA2 norms. -- BZ
4) Theft of Vitae
A thaumaturge using this power siphons vitae from her subject. She need never come in contact with the subject - blood literally streams out in a physical torrent from the subject to the Kindred (though it is often mystically absorbed and need not enter through the mouth).
System: The number of successes determines how many blood points the Tremere transfers from the subject. The subject must be visible to the thaumaturge and within 50 feet. Using this power is like drinking form the subject - used three times on the same Kindred, it creates a blood bond on the part of the thaumaturge! This power is obviously quite spectacular, and Camarilla princes justifiably consider its public use a breach of the Masquerade.
5) Cauldron of Blood
A thaumaturge using this power boils her subject's blood in his veins like water on a stove. The Kindred must touch her subject, and it is this contact that simmers the subject's blood. This power is always fatal to mortals, and causes great damage to even the mightiest vampires.
System: The number of successes gained determines how many blood points are brought to boil. The subject suffers one health level of aggravated damage for each point boiled (individuals with Fortitude may soak this damage using only their fortitude dice). A single success kills any mortal, though some ghouls are said to have survived.
