The revised Draiocht proposal!!!!

[Cefyn]

So first and foremost I would like to say thank you to everyone who was on the think tank to help review and revise this, as well to all the players who have been waiting so patiently for it's finish. Second off I would like to make a reminder that this is not effective in play yet there will be a vote on it at game on the week of 11/16.

I would also like to make the note that no matter which way this vote goes this is not a Draiocht getting turned down and will never enter play sort of deal it will be pulled back to the drawing board for more revisions and tweaks and presented again. That being said let's get to the real reason you are here.

DRAIOCHT

Draiocht is a magic of nature and the blood working together. The druids of the Gangrel line kept it hidden away for centuries after the Christian religion overtook much of their homeland and drove out the pagan ways. In many ways, teaching Draiocht is teaching someone to find themselves within the balance of nature; whether that makes a Gangrel a god of fate or a servant of the natural world is indeterminable until the way is grasped. A person teaches the ways of the magic first, and the manifestations are determined by the learner. Afterwards, only true understanding of one's own path can be shared with another.

This magic was originally practiced by many throughout the British isles before the rise of Christianity in the region. Cainites of nearly every clan in the region could take the opportunity to become a Druid, taking on the burden of maintaining the balance of the world. Druids were often the leaders of their people, serving as either priests or in some cases as Gods of the Grove themselves.

With the arrival and supremacy of Christianity, the magic fell into extreme disuse, with Druids both mortal and Cainite being hunted down as heretics wherever they could be found. The Council of Ynys Mon, the last holdout of Druidism in the region, made a decision to take the magic underground, banning its instruction or use until the time was right that the world was ready for it again. They formed the Order of the Hidden Grove, who were tasked with preserving knowledge of the magic for future generations. Through the centuries since the Order was established, many among them fell to the vagaries of fate, leaving the once diverse order predominantly comprised of Gangrel, still led by its original leader Emrys, formerly of the Council of Ynys Mon.

Now this magic has returned, a gift to the newly formed Great Pack from the Order of the Hidden Grove, which declared its allegiance to the Grand Alpha Karsh. What magic remained with the Order was limited after centuries of hiding, but a great deal more was remembered by the Lhiannan whom the Order summoned back into the world in 1999.

System: Draiocht is unique in how it is taught and learned. Like all blood magic, it requires some level of instruction and training to use correctly, and is thus subject to the normal "Blood Magic learning time" restriction. However, unlike other blood magics, a Druid’s first and Primary Path of Draiocht blossoms from within you, not from your teacher. The teacher simply plants the seed – teaching Draiocht as a Discipline, not a specific Path, and as the Druid gains levels of the Draiocht discipline, his Primary path manifests itself.

Druids may only ever teach their Primary path of Draiocht to another, and teach the discipline itself to others, often creating a new Path in the process. It is not uncommon for the master to become the student and his new pupil to teach him his unique manifestation of the powers of Draiocht. The Path which becomes the Primary path for a new initiate is personal in nature, and is a unique representation of the sleeping potential of that individual. A Druid’s primary path is assigned by the character's Nature.

Draoicht's unique structure has always promoted a community of sharing and learning, but masters have also always been very selective to only teach the secret magics to those they trust implicitly, so that greed does not spill the power over to everyone and destroy the unique power of their art.


Paths of Draiocht
Draiocht has 5 paths unique to itself, as well as several additional paths common to Hermetic Thaumaturgy. Even those paths that share the same mechanical effects as their Hermetic counterparts, are seen wildly differently by the Druids and the form in which they are used is unique to Draiocht. Below is a list of all of the Paths available to Draiocht as well as a list of which primary path corresponds to which nature as outlined above. Those paths in italics are unique to Draiocht. Alternate names more commonly used by the Druids for the common paths are presented in parentheses following the common name.

Paths
Elemental Mastery (Sidhe’s Bargain)
Neptune’s Might (Wrath of Llyr)
Oneiromancy (Dreams of the Cycle)
Path of Curses (Words of the Morrigan)
Path of Mars (Path of Camalus)
Path of the Earth’s Gifts
Path of the Four Seasons
Prey on the Soul’s Fear (Mantle of Arawn)
Rego Mantem (Llwybr Ysbryd)
The Green Path (Druantia’s Blessing)
The Witch Path
Veriditas
Weather Control (Weaving the Winds)


Nature/ Primary Path
Architect/ Path of the Earth’s Gifts
Autist/ Oneiromancy
Autocrat/ Elemental Mastery
Bon Vivant/ Path of the Four Seasons
Bravo/ Prey on the Soul’s Fear
Capitalist/ Oneiromancy
Caregiver/ Rego Mantem
Cavalier/ Path of Mars
Celebrant/ Path of the Four Seasons
Chameleon/ Elemental Mastery
Child/ The Green Path
Competitor/ Veriditas
Conformist/ Path of the Four Seasons
Conniver/ The Witch Path
Curmudgeon/ Path of Curses
Defender/ Path of Mars
Deviant/ Path of Curses
Director/ Rego Mantem
Enigma/ (Random path)
Explore/ The Green Path
Eye of the Storm/ Weather Control
Fanatic/ Path of the Earth’s Gifts
Follower/ The Green Path
Gallant/ Path of Mars
Idealist/ Elemental Mastery
Judge/ The Witch Path
Loner/ Path of the Earth’s Gifts
Martyr/ Neptune’s Might
Masochist/ Path of Mars
Monster/ Prey on the Soul’s Fear
Pedagogue/ Oneiromancy
Penitent/ Neptune’s Might
Perfectionist/ Path of the Earth’s Gifts
Rebel/ Weather Control
Rogue/ The Witch Path
Sadist/ Path of Curses
Sage/ Oneiromancy
Scientist/ Weather Control
Sociopath/ Path of Curses
Soldier/ Veriditas
Survivor/ Veriditas
Thrill-Seeker/ Veriditas
Traditionalist/ Rego Mantem
Trickster/ The Witch Path
Visionary/ Oneiromancy


PATH OF THE EARTH’S GIFTS

This is one of the oldest paths of Draiocht. Ancient Lore tells that the old Gods who created the world imprinted some of themselves into their creation, as a mother might imprint on her child. This path taps that primal connection between the natural world and the aspects that created it, substituting the Druid for the maker in this relationship, causing the world to react with favor to him, and allow him some control to reshape the natural world to suit his own needs. This Path is often unusual in its versatility, some powers having more than one aspect or way that they can be used. In such cases, each aspect is to be treated as a separate power that requires a separate roll and blood expenditure to activate.

• Daghda’s Bounty
The earth holds many gifts, old and new. There are secrets buried beneath the soil that would amaze even the most avaristic of treasure hunters. This art allows the user to find, unearth, and store such bounties within the earth.

System: The player spends a blood point which must actually be spilled on a patch of natural earth or stone of sufficient size to be considered part of the natural world (a park in a city would count, but a patch of dirt with a tree in the sidewalk would not). This power can be used in one of three ways: to find hidden bounty, to unearth something buried, or to sink something in the earth and hide it away. Each use of this power is a separate activation and requires a separate roll and blood expenditure.

To learn the location of something buried the vampire goes into a trance as her mind follows the path of the blood as it seeps into the ground and spreads out from there. The blood disperses through the earth very quickly, giving the vampire an accurate mental image of the subterranean landscape in a radius of one mile per success. This image includes the presence of material contained within the earth, the location of anything buried, and the general layout of any subterranean structure or cave network. This process takes one turn per success.

To unearth what is buried, the vampire must be within 100 feet laterally of the thing she wishes to raise. To unearth an object the vampire must first know the outer dimensions and depth of the object, whether through a previous application of this power or other means. The earth will ripple and the object will rise to the surface, whole and intact without disturbing the earth around it. The size and depth of the object to be unearthed depends on the successes scored:

Successes Depth Size of Object
1 5 ft a brick
2 8 ft a person
3 15 ft a car
4 30 ft a city bus
5 50 ft a family house
6+ +100 ft per success a castle

The Druid must choose and apply her successes to either depth or the size of the object, so a Druid wishing to unearth something the size of a car that was buried 15 ft down would need 6 successes. Objects can only be unearthed through this power if they are buried in natural earth and rock. This power cannot affect concrete, asphalt, or any other man made material. If used on a kindred melded with the earth or stone, this power will disturb the Earth Meld, causing the effects described in the Protean discipline.

To bury an object in the ground, the same rules and chart apply as for unearthing. The object to be buried must rest upon natural earth or stone before being interred and can only be buried in a place that physically has enough room for it.

Raising or burying an object within the earth is not an instantaneous process. The object will rise or sink at a rate of only three feet per turn (one foot per second). The Druid must continue to concentrate on the process for the entire duration to successfully raise or bury an object. If used in combat, an enemy targeted with this power and caused to sink will sink 3 feet into the ground, but will easily be able to extract himself from the now soft earth with a Strength roll (difficulty 5). If he fails to extract himself, and the Druid continues to concentrate on sinking him, the difficulty to extract himself rises to 8. If a target sinks for 3 or more turns into the earth, then he must physically dig his way back to the surface, succeeding a Strength roll at difficulty 9 for every 10 feet he is buried.

•• Eyes of Flidais
This power calls upon the favor of Flidais, huntress of the great forests and mistress of the wild beasts. With an invocation and a sacrifice of blood, this power allows the Druid to see through the eyes of the beasts of the forest far and wide.

System: The player must spend a blood point and make the usual Willpower roll to activate this power. This power may be used in two ways. It may be used on a single animal of any kind, allowing the Druid to share its senses wherever it goes. The Druid may shift his senses from either the animal or his own as often as he wishes at any time while using this power. He may even attempt to perceive both at the same time, although the distraction this creates imposes a +2 difficulty on all actions while attempting to do so. This power carries no control over the animal in question; the Druid is merely a passive observer. However this power is often used in conjunction with the Animalism discipline to create a very effective spy. If the Druid possesses the Animalism Discipline, he may communicate telepathically with the animal in question at any time during the duration of this power, and even use any power of Animalism on that animal regardless of distance. This application of the power lasts until sunrise.

This power may also be used to grant the Druid a general awareness of an area around him by tapping into an amalgamation of the vision of all the animals in his immediate vicinity. If there are at least 3 animals of any kind in the Druid's vicinity when activating this application of the power, he gains -2 difficulty on all Perception rolls, does not suffer from multiple opponent penalties in combat, and all powers that require eye contact are at +3 difficulty due to the division of his senses. These animals must be close enough to accurately perceive the scene for this power to work. A Druid could not use this power by keeping some rats in his pockets. This application of the power lasts for the scene.

••• Dryad’s Highway
All the world is connected by the roots of the great trees. The Druids understand that interconnected nature of the world to such a degree that they can literally travel along that web, appearing to disappear into one tree and stepping out of another one miles away.

System: The player spends a blood point and makes the usual Willpower roll to enter the Dryad's Highway. The Druid must physically step into a tree of sufficient size to completely encompass him. Upon successfully making this roll, the Druid gains a sense of the general location of all trees within range and may step out of any of them that are also large enough to fully encompass him. The range of this power is determined by the successes scored on the Willpower roll. Entering one tree and exiting another is part of the same action; a Druid cannot simply sit within the Highway.

Successes Distance
1 500 ft
2 half a mile
3 5 miles
4 20 miles
5 50 miles
6+ +50 miles per success

The Dryad's Highway is not physically part of this world. When traveling it, the Druid will appear to all senses both mundane and mystical to have vanished completely from his present location, only to reappear in the new one when he reenters the world. It is noted that although the Druid is aware of the general location of the tree he chooses to exit from, he gains no insight into the surrounding area or anything else currently happening around it in the material world.

There have been Druids who have spoken of remaining in the Highway or even using it to visit other worlds, speaking of the Highway by its older and greater feared name of the Faerie Trods or the Rainbow Run. Of those who have tried, nearly all were never heard from again, and the few who did return, came back changed and hopelessly mad.

A failure on this roll means that the Druid does not enter the first tree at all, failing to open the door to the Highway. A botch can eject the character from a random tree anywhere in the world, or even leave them trapped within the Highway or ejected into the other worlds touched by this path.

•••• Hand of Govannon
With this power, the Druid invokes the power of Govannon who sculpted the Earth to reshape the earth around himself to suit his needs. With a wave of his hand and an invocation of will he can raise earthen walls to block assailants, make the ground shift and shake beneath the feet of opponents, or even raise spikes of rock from the ground to attack.

System: The player spends a blood point and makes the usual Willpower roll to activate this power for a scene. Once so controlled, the earth can be used in combat to attack, defend and hinder, or out of combat to reshape terrain. This power may only be used on natural earth and stone. Using each of the maneuvers listed below takes a mental action and requires the expenditure of a Willpower point.

To attack, the Druid may call upon the earth to eject great, brutal spikes of stone and rock from the ground into opponents. The Druid may target a number of opponents equal to his successes on the casting roll. For each spike, the Druid rolls a Wits + Occult roll to hit, which may be dodged normally but not blocked or parried, and applies carry-over damage as normal. The spikes have a base damage of the Druid's unmodified Stamina + Draiocht rating. The spikes are large enough that only one can hit a single target per attack. All targets must be standing on natural earth or stone to be affected.

To defend, the Druid simply activates the power to call forth a wall between himself and an oncoming attack. The Druid's successes on the initial activation roll subtract directly from the damage of the physical attack to be blocked. This application of the power can be aborted to as a defensive action. After being used, the wall remains, granting +2 difficulty cover penalties against future attacks from the same direction. All walls summoned with this power crash back to earth as though they were never there after 1 turn per success.

To hinder opponents, the Druid can cause the earth around him to heave and quake. This inflicts a +2 difficulty to all actions for those standing within 10ft per success. The Druid himself is immune to the penalty. This effect lasts a number of rounds equal to the Druid's Draiocht rating.

Outside of combat this power can be used to reshape natural earth and stone in any way the Druid can imagine. The Druid can shape up to 10 cubic feet of earth and stone per success with each casting of this effect. The final shape must be independently stable and viable or the structure will collapse. At Storyteller discretion, a Wits + Crafts check may be required to shape anything particularly complex.

••••• Aspect of Cernunnos
This final power of this path is unique in that it does not channel the natural world around the Druid, but rather taps into the primal creature within every Cainite, the Beast. This power opens the Beast to the raw power of the old Hunt, reminding the vampire of the nights when the great forests covered the earth, and all were subject to the laws of the hunt, the laws of nature, red in tooth and claw. This power reawakens the buried memory of the Beast and channels through that predator to call a Wild Hunt of old.

System: This power may only be evoked in a natural setting of sufficient size to be considered a primal place. The Storyteller will always be the final arbiter on whether or not an area is sufficient but the guideline should be that a large park in a city should count, but a small clump of trees does not.

The Druid lets out a primal howl as he either spits or flings blood onto the target who will become the Prey of of the Wild Hunt. The player spends a blood point and makes the usual Willpower roll. Once so marked, the Prey instinctively knows that he has been marked as Prey and all the natural world has turned against him. If successful, all the natural world knows the target as Prey. All of the predatory beasts within a ten mile radius are called to the Hunt and will unerringly track the Prey and seek to attack and bring him down. For the duration of the Hunt, all such beasts gain +1 to each physical attribute.

The Druid himself upon activating this power appears to vanish on the spot as he melds his body and soul with the natural world. Over the next 5 minutes, he assumes the mantle of Cernunnos the Divine Aspect of Nature Red in Tooth and Claw. When he reappears 5 minutes later in the same spot, he stands over 10 feet tall, granting him an extra 3 Bruised Health Levels and 10 extra dots to distribute among his Physical and Mental Attributes. He grows silvery white stag's horns from his forehead to mark him as the Master of the Hunt, and while so marked, no other predator, including Lupines, will be able to challenge his Authority (treat this effect as Majesty that only affects predatory animals and Lupines). This transformation effect takes a full five minutes during which the Druid may take no other actions. During this time the Druid exists outside the physical world and cannot affect or be affected by any other effect.

If the Prey runs, all the beasts affected by this power will attempt to run down the Prey, harrying and harassing him until the Master of the Hunt arrives. They will attempt to render the Prey to a Crippled state and surround him attempting to prevent escape. However the beasts will not attempt to strike the killing blow, though this may occur by accident. Their goal is to weaken the Prey for the Master of the Hunt. If the Prey is not attempting to escape, the beasts will take no action against him. If the Prey is running it is important to remember the wound penalties that apply to movement as the animals wound and harry the Prey, consuming his resources before the Master of the Hunt arrives. If the Prey stands his ground, the beasts will circle around and snarl and growl, but will not attack unless he attempts to flee.

Once the transformation is complete and the Druid reappears transformed, the Druid may unerringly track the Prey, always aware of his precise location, piercing all attempts at illusion or stealth. All attempts to use any power to conceal the Prey's location must be of higher level than the Druid's Draiocht rating or automatically fail. However the bargain struck with the natural world for the use of this power compels the Druid to follow the Laws of the Hunt in this chase. The Hunt is a physical thing, a contest of strength and tooth and claw. As such, for the duration of the hunt, no discipline classified as Mystical (Blood Magic, Obtenebration, Chimerstry, etc.) may be used or the Hunt is immediately forfeited and the effect ended.

As impossible as it seems, the Prey does have a chance in every Hunt. The Laws of the Wild hold no sway in the dominions of Man. The Hunt will only end with the sun's rise or the moment the Prey flees inside any man-made structure. The Prey will instinctively know this the moment that he is declared Prey and will get his chance to run. A manmade structure is only sufficient if it can be considered a permanent structure (a hut would count but a tent would not) and was already built before the Hunt was called.


PATH OF THE FOUR SEASONS

This is one of the oldest paths of magic, being based on the core principles of the Druidic faith and developed alongside the Mages of the Old Faith Fellowship. The cycle of the world affects all things as the seasons turn. Each season brings with it aspects of life and very different energies. By channeling these aspects of the Cycle, the Druid may exemplify the current place in the Cycle in connection with the resonating magic to produce great effects that match the current season. With Spring comes rebirth, renewal and new life. With Summer comes strength, good health and morale. With Autumn comes aging, and weakness, but also plenty and the harvest. With Winter comes cold and death.

Each power of the Path of the Four Seasons is not a distinctive power in itself. Rather each level exemplifies one of the key principles of Druidic magic that all initiates are taught. The specific effect that is invoked when a power is used depends upon the current season at the time of the casting. This makes this path incredibly versatile if used by the patient and those who understand the flow of the Cycle, while rather irritating to younger practitioners who think only of immediate needs. The seasons are defined by the oldest standards: Spring is from the Vernal Equinox until the Summer Solstice, Summer from the Summer Solstice to the Autumnal Equinox, Autumn from the Autumnal Equinox to the Winter Solstice, and Winter from the Winter Solstice to the Vernal Equinox.

• Season’s Watch
The divination of secrets runs through all things. As all things in the natural world are connected through the cycle of life, so may a Druid divine their secrets simply by looking in the right places. The aspects of this power are all about looking for the secrets sympathetic to each season.

Spring: Spring is the season of rebirth and change, but this is not always beneficent. Change bears the marks of deception and disguise as well as renewal. But no matter how well one wishes to disguise himself, echoes of the true self are always there somewhere. With this power the Druid may attempt to see past a disguise or illusion to the truth behind the mask. The Druid must look at a person or object they believe to carry a disguise and activate this power. Even one success scored on the activation roll will tell the Druid whether or not the subject of the power is disguised in any way. This however gives no direct knowledge of what lies behind the disguise. This power will detect all mundane attempts to disguise oneself as well as uses of Obfuscate, Vicissitude, or other powers to change one’s appearance.

Summer: Summer is the season of passion and emotions flaring. With this power, the Druid may glean the nature and source of a subject's emotional state, and even whether or not that state is natural or inflicted.

The Druid looks at the subject and rolls normally to activate this power. The information gained by this power is based on successes scored as per the following chart.

1 success: Subject's primary emotion
2 successes: Subject's secondary emotion
3 successes: Origin and target of subject's emotions. This determines for whom the subject feels each emotion revealed and whether or not that emotion is natural to them or inflicted by some artificial power.
4 successes: Perceived cause of subject's current emotional state. This reveals the specific power used to inflict an artificial emotion upon the subject (though not the user of that power) or if a naturally occurring emotion, reveals what the subject believes is the originating cause of the emotion present.
5+ successes: Actual cause of the subject's current emotional state. This reveals the user of any artificial power used to alter the subject's emotional state, as well as the circumstances under which said power was used. If the emotional state is natural, then this reveals the true cause of that emotion, even if it is unknown to the subject (such as a shadowy hand that manipulated these feelings while disguised as something else).

Autumn: Autumn is the season of age and wisdom, the season of plans come to fruition. The Druid with this power may look into the plans of another and determine their true plans, unmasked by deception.
The Druid makes the usual roll and activates this power for a scene. During that time he may attempt a Perception + Politics roll (difficulty equal to the subject's current willpower) to divine the plan and end goal behind any action he sees being taken. He may see a rival speaking to the prince and determine just how that step fits into the plans of his rival. This aspect may only be used to determine the plans of actions in progress before the Druid. One or two successes reveal the end goal of the plan, 3 or 4 reveal how this step is important, while 5 or more reveal the plan in its entirety. This power can only determine plots and goals meant to come to fruition within one week per success on the original activation roll.

Should combat break out during a scene that the Druid has activated this power, it has another effect, allowing the Druid to see the plans and actions of all others involved in the combat before they happen. The Druid saves his declaration of action until after everyone else has declared theirs, although still acts at the usual place in the initiative order.

Winter: Winter is the season of death and finality. The Druid with this power can determine just how close someone is to death, as well as spotting those who have passed beyond the veil such as ghosts or those who have stepped outside of the Cycle whether by suspending their aging such as vampires and ghouls or by not being subject to time at all such as Fae.

The Druid rolls normally and this power activates for a scene. While this power is activated, the Druid sees the world overlaid with a dreary and death-like pallor, the flaws in everything coming to the forefront. This allows the Druid to see exactly how wounded anyone he may look at is, and determine the type of damage (bashing, lethal, or aggravated) of those wounds. The Druid may also determine the exact age of anyone he sees (for vampires this can only determine the age at which they were embraced), as well as if that creature is part of the cycle or not and whether that state is permanent. Creatures permanently outside the cycle are vampires, wraiths, fae, mummies, and demons, while those temporarily outside the cycle include ghouls, mages or sorcerers artificially extending their lives, or those who have the Unaging merit.

•• Force of Nature
The power of the Seasons is not only a passive event. The Druids understand the truly potent power behind the changing of the Seasons and know that to harness that power in its raw form to strike at those who would oppose the Druid's power. Each Season also has an elemental association that comes to the forefront when this power is called upon.

Spring: The Winds of Spring blow fiercely and bring with them the change and rebirth of the age. This power channels those winds in their aspect of force to summon a vicious whirlwind, trapping the target within.

The Druid spends a blood point and rolls normally and sends the winds to envelop his target. The target is immediately surrounded by a raging whirlwind, imprisoning him and keeping him from taking other actions. While in the whirlwind, the victim cannot move or take any physical action save attempting to break through the winds. Any mental actions the victim would take suffer +2 difficulty due to distraction. The whirlwind kicks up enough dust and debris that line of sight is broken both to and from the victim. To break out of the whirlwind requires a Feat of Strength roll of 5 + the successes scored on the casting roll. Should anyone outside the whirlwind approach within two yards, they must make a reflexive Strength + Athletics roll (difficulty 8) or be swept up in the raging winds, subject to the same penalties as the victim. This power lasts for one turn per success scored on the casting.

Summer: The passions of Summer can bolster, but the sun's fires burn hottest in this season. This power channels that very solar fire, scorching the earth and blasting the Druid's enemies to ruin.

The Druid spends a blood point and rolls normally. Once activated, the Druid is surrounded by a corona of white flame that carries no heat until it is discharged. Any vampire attempting to approach the Druid with this power active must test for Rotschreck at difficulty 6. Any vampire attempting to strike the Druid with this power active must test for Rotschreck at difficulty 8. While the flame aura is active, all attempts at Obfuscate automatically fail.

To discharge a bolt of flame is a physical action, requiring the Druid to make a Dexterity + Athletics test to hit his target. This roll can be dodged normally and grants carryover successes like any other ranged attack. The bolt inflicts a base amount of aggravated damage dice equal to the Druid's mastery of the Path of the Four Seasons. Discharging the bolt removes the flame aura. This power will last for one scene or until discharged.

Autumn: The Autumn is the season of the harvest, of the bounties of the Earth. But the Earth can take as well as give. This power channels the destructive power of earth upon a victim, causing each of their steps to sink into a churning sinkhole beneath their feet.

The Druid spends a blood point and rolls normally to curse his victim with earth. With each step, the victim's foot sinks about a foot into the ground as the earth churns beneath him, hampering all action and movement. A victim affected by this power halves all dice pools for physical action and cannot move without taking an action to do so, requiring him to split his dice pools for any other action. Even then the victim may only move 5 + Strength yards per turn. This power lasts for one turn per success on the activation roll.

Winter: Winter is the season of loss and hardship, of decay and death. It may seem odd that this season is exemplified by the element of Water which gives life, but what is given may be taken away. The winter winds blow and blood with water freezes and cracks. This power causes the blood in its victim to freeze in the veins.

The Druid spends a blood point and rolls normally to freeze his victim's blood. If the victim is mortal, this inflicts one level of lethal damage per success that cannot be soaked with armor or any physical defense. Against a vampire, this power causes the victim anguish when he tries to spend blood. For one turn per success after this effect is cast, for each blood point he spends, he takes an unsoakable level of lethal damage.

••• Season’s Ward
The power of the Seasons is ever present and the Druid knows how to channel that energy to protect as well as attack.

Spring: Spring's connection to the winds is shown here as the Druid conjures a vortex of raging winds around himself, deflecting attacks from even the most capable assailant.

The Druid spends a blood point and rolls normally to conjure the vortex. For the remainder of the scene, all melee attacks against him suffer a +2 difficulty as the blows are diverted off course. The true power of this effect is shown though against ranged attacks which automatically fail against him as the projectiles are knocked hopelessly off course. As a physical defense this only applies to physical based ranged attacks such as a gun or thrown weapon. The winds have no power to stop mystical effects.

Summer: Summer is the season of war and passion, and the ward associated with it is similarly militant. A Druid invoking the ward of summer's skin thickens, turning even the deadliest blows aside.

The player spends a blood and rolls normally. For the remainder of the scene, the Druid has -2 difficulty on all soak rolls vs. any kind of damage.

Autumn: Autumn as the season of mysticism and magic, when channeled defensively carries a potent ward against such practices. The Druid need only know that they are the target of a mystical assault of some kind and invoke this power to weaken or even stop the effect entirely.

This power can only be used when the Druid is specifically targeted with a power. The Druid then spends a blood and rolls normally. Any successes the Druid gains on this roll are subtracted from the successes of the power that was targeting the Druid. This can only be used if the Druid is aware of the power that is targeting him, possibly requiring a Perception + Occult roll for subtle effects. This power takes a mental action in combat, though it may be aborted to as a defensive action. This power cannot cause the target to botch, only fail.

Winter: The cold of Winter weakens and kills those unprepared for its trials. Those who have learned to channel winter's harsh energies however may use that very aspect to weaken a vampire's greatest banes. The Druid using this power greatly reduces the threat of fire as winter's energies permeating his body snuff the fiercest blaze down to that of a tiny spark, and the sun at its weakest in the winter is reduced to a barely noticeable glow.

The Druid spends a blood point and rolls normally. For a number of combat turns (3 seconds each) equal to the successes scored, all damage from fire and sunlight is treated as Bashing damage.

•••• Season’s Balance
The theme of balance runs at the heart of Druidic practices. For any great effect there must be an equally great price to be payed. To give life to the crops, a sacrifice of life is called for. Each of the aspects of Season's Balance show this as their powerful temporary effects have a cost that must be paid.

Spring: Spring is the season of regeneration and renewal, as new life energy floods the earth. Tapping into this flood of energy, the Druid gains great capacity for regeneration.

The Druid spends a blood point and rolls normally to establish the connection to the Spring flood of energy. For the next hour, the Druid will automatically regenerate one blood point and one Willpower point every 2 rounds (or minute out of combat). This cannot increase either pool beyond their maximum, but allows the Druid to consistently remain at full resources. This extra energy is not real blood, but mystical energy gathered from the Cycle. As such it cannot be bled out and stored for later use, nor may it be gained via feeding on the Druid or stolen with Theft of Vitae.

However the price of such a flood of energy is felt afterwards. The Beast is a greedy thing and grows used to the flood of energy and forces the Druid to feed its gluttony. For a full week after using this power (including the beginning of the next game session up until the time the power was used), any time the Druid feeds, he must make a Self-Control/Instinct roll at difficulty 10 to avoid draining the victim dry, and diablerizing the victim if a kindred. If he is forcibly prevented from draining his victim, the Druid will immediately enter frenzy. For the next week, the Druid must feed Brutally. Further uses of this power may not be used while suffering this power’s cost.

Summer: Summer as the season of war and valor can lend great prowess to the warrior in the field. However every warrior knows that when you push yourself to your limits, a price is paid afterwards in the crippling weakness that comes of stretching one's limits.

The Druid spends a blood and rolls normally. For the remainder of the scene, all of the Druid's base physical attributes are doubled. This effect doubles only the actual Attribute score itself, not including any powers or blood expenditures modifying it. However it does stack with other powers that boost attributes and blood expenditures and counts as a transformation effect for the purpose of how it stacks with blood expenditures and the cap of 10. For example a Druid with Strength 3, Dexterity 3, and Stamina 4 would gain +3 Strength, +3 Dexterity, and +4 Stamina that stack with all other expenditures and powers that boost the attributes.

The price of strength is future weakness though. For the remainder of the night that the Druid uses this power, all of his Physical Attributes are halved, rounding down to a minimum of 1, though they may still be raised with blood or other powers. The reduction in attributes also reduces the Druid’s generational maximum for the purposes of future blood spends by the same amount. Further uses of this power may not be attempted while suffering the power's cost.

Autumn: Autumn is the season of the harvest, the season of plenty. This aspect is shown as the Druid channeling these energies can dramatically increase the efficiency of her blood pool. However, a resource used too quickly is gone all too soon and the cost of using such a power is felt in the end.

The Druid spends a blood point and rolls normally. For the remainder of the scene, each blood point the Druid spends counts as if he had spent 2 blood points, which may be allocated to anything the Druid wishes. For example, if a 9th generation Druid were to spend 2 blood points, he would gain 4 points that could be spent raising attributes, powering disciplines, healing, or any other normal use of blood.

The cost however comes at the end of the harvest when the resources have been overtaxed. For the remainder of the night the Druid uses this power, he gains the Thin Blood flaw. This does not break existing blood bonds, though while the flaw persists the Druid is unable to create new bonds. Further uses of this power may not be attempted while suffering the power's cost.

Winter: Winter is the season of death and decay. This power allows the Druid to channel all the destructive power of Winter through himself as a conduit to wreak terrible destruction on a hated foe. However channeling such power has a cost and the balance of the world must be maintained.

The Druid must touch his intended target to use this power requiring a successful Dexterity + Brawl check. The Druid then spends a blood point and rolls normally. If the Druid succeeds on his check, his victim is sent into instant torpor regardless of current health levels. This torpor is considered damage torpor and lasts the normal amount of time based on the victim's Path rating. If this power is used on a mortal, the mortal is killed instantly.

Channeling such destruction has a terrible price though. The same energies rip through the Druid as they do through the target causing the Druid to take a number of health levels of unsoakable aggravated damage equal to 1 + the number of health levels the victim had remaining when the power was used. The force of this energy is spiritual in nature and channeled through the Druid's very soul, thus affecting him normally even while possessing another host. Wise Druids use this power very cautiously.

••••• The Great Cycle
Perhaps the most important aspect of Druidic practices is the concept of the Great Cycle. Everything comes in cycles; life and death, day and night, the passing of the Seasons. This final power of the Path of the Four Seasons exemplifies the end of each season as it passes into the next.

Spring: Spring is the season of health and renewal. However soon enough the children of Spring are the soldiers of Summer. This power captures a last vestige of Spring's renewal energies but moves it to a more martial end. This power allows the Druid to heal himself by channeling his wounds on the one who inflicted them.

This power may only be used in a scene where the Druid has taken wounds of some kind. The Druid must touch the target of this power which must be the one who inflicted his wounds, requiring a Dexterity + Brawl roll and spend a blood point and roll to activate the power normally, applying any current wound penalties to this roll unless a Willpower has been spent to ignore them. For each success gained, the Druid transfers one of the wounds he suffered at the hands of his victim upon his target, healing himself of those wounds in the process. This power affects any kind of damage, and the same kind of damage that was inflicted is suffered by the target. This can only affect those wounds that the target of the power inflicted upon the Druid and any successes gained in excess of the number of wounds suffered at the hands of the target are lost with no effect. This only affects wounds actually suffered, not those mitigated by soak.

Summer: Summer is the season of glorious battle, but as summer wanes even the greatest of battles end and bolstering effects fade away. This power grants the Druid one last burst of energy at the expense of his foes.

The Druid spends a blood point and rolls normally, targeting one of his enemies. If he scores even a single success, all attributes that the target has currently increased by blood expenditures immediately return to their original levels. Furthermore, for every success scored by the Druid, he may steal some of the lost energy from his opponent and increase one of his own physical attributes as if he had spent blood to raise it. This increase follows all the normal rules of spending blood to raise physical attributes.

Autumn: Autumn is the season of the harvest and plenty, but as Autumn turns to winter, the table grows bare and hunger spreads, requiring strong wills to survive. This power hits a vampire in the same way.

The Druid must touch the victim of this power, possibly requiring a Dexterity + Brawl roll and spend a blood point and roll normally. For a full week after this effect is cast, the target cannot spend blood for any reason. However in times of strife great strength of will is found. For all things that would normally cost blood, the victim may spend a corresponding amount of willpower instead. The victim must spend one Willpower point each night to wake while this effect persists, though the fact that he still gains one automatically each night simply means that he will not regain any spent willpower over the week. This power reduces the victim’s blood debt by 7.

Winter: Winter is the season of death and the end of all things. However as things fade, that is often when they cling to life the hardest. This power allows the Druid to ignore death itself, albeit for a very short time, before succumbing to the final rest.

This power may only be used reflexively after suffering a blow that would either send the Druid into torpor or bring them to final death. For a number of turns equal to the successes scored, the Druid may continue to act in any way he wishes. While in this deathless state he is immune to further damage and suffers no wound penalties. After the duration runs out, the Druid suffers the full effects of the strike that allowed him to activate this power, whether that sends him into torpor or causes him to meet final death. No healing or any other effect may prevent the Druid from meeting the fate he has temporarily avoided through this power.


VERIDITAS

After the Roman Empire began to fail and contract, it abandoned its farthest flung colonies like Britannia, and thousands of legionaries were left behind with no way to return to the central empire. These Roman citizens, trapped without support in a foreign land, had to fend for themselves with hostile locals who remembered the scourge of the Roman armies. Captured and tortured, a single legionary named Caius Crassus spent years among the Picti tribes, until at last, cursing and reviling his former people, he was accepted by the Picts. When the Roman civilization saw him again, he was changed; primal, driven, and a vampire of powerful blood. He brought with him the secret power of the wildmen beyond Hadrian's wall, and he turned on his previous fatherland to burn away the lingering Roman occupation with a hate only spite can make. This hitherto unknown path of Draiocht manifested in Crassus, exemplifying his dedication, passion and drive for vengeance.

This path of Draiocht focuses the primal, natural life energy of the wood to grant the Druid who uses it incredible resilience and recovery. It connects with the raw, life-giving power of blood that is the fundamental principle of vampiric vitae and unleashes it upon the body. While normal vampiric healing draws upon the power of the blood to physically repair some wounds, this power uses the vitae to forge and maintain a connection to the primal principle of life force while the power is active.

However, healing and life energies are an alien thing to a vampire, and a balance must be struck. To grant life, life must be taken. Every time a power of Veriditas is used, a small area approximately 5 feet in radius around the Druid becomes blighted for a number of weeks equal to the highest level of Veriditas used there during that scene. All plants within the area die and wither, and any person or animal that enters the area immediately feels sick, and may vomit. If this is discovered, this tends to attract mortal investigative forces looking for the cause of the taint.

•Recovery
The witch can focus the power of his life blood to recover from damage on an ongoing basis, stretching the recovery out over the entire evening. Many witches use this power to efficiently heal from any wounds they may have suffered during the evening to awaken fresh and renewed the next sunset without wasting precious blood, while others use it to maintain their bodies from low grade injuries throughout a busy night.

System: The Druid spends a blood point and rolls normally to activate the power, which lasts for the remainder of the night. The Druid automatically heals one level of Bashing or Lethal damage at the end of each scene or hour until the next dawn.

•• Regeneration
The power of the natural world is alien to the vampire body, and it takes great effort and a personal connection to draw it forth. While holding still in a trance-like state, the witch may force his body to recover rapidly, healing one level of lethal damage every round as he pulls the natural power through his body to keep the power of his blood active and working through his body to heal it. Drawing the life energy through his body, the Druid's body becomes incredibly resilient, adding his successes in soak dice.

System: The Druid spends a blood point and rolls normally to activate this power, which lasts until the end of the scene. So long as the Druid remains standing still, taking only defensive actions, he may add his successes in soak dice to soak all forms of damage. In addition the Druid takes no wound penalties while the effect persists and heals one level of bashing or lethal damage per round. This power ends immediately if the Druid takes any aggressive action, or makes use of any power that isn't part of Veriditas.

•••Burst of Life
At this level of mastery, the Druid can focus and store natural power inside his body, lying dormant in case of injury or harm.

System: The Druid spends a blood point and rolls normally to activate this power. For every success, the Druid gains an additional effective health level of damage on and above his normal health levels as his body gains a certain resilience to damage and reflexive healing. As soon as his flesh is damaged by an attack, it automatically knits itself on that same action, even before additional damage can be delivered by subsequent actions or attacks. This power can only be activated once per scene. These health levels can only stop lethal or bashing damage, not Aggravated wounds.

•••• Conduit
At this level of mastery, the power of the witch to draw in the power of the land is exceptionally powerful and stable. Once he invokes a connection to the land and its life-force, he can continue to draw forth natural energy for healing even as he moves and takes other actions as the power simply flows through his vampiric unlife like a hole in a pressurized channel.

System: This power carries the same effects as Regeneration, but allows the Druid to move and act as normal while maintaining all of the usual benefits of Regeneration. In addition, the power of the conduit of energy is so strong that the Druid’s regeneration may even heal Aggravated damage as long as he fulfills all of the usual requirements for Regeneration and spends a point of Willpower for each aggravated wound healed in this way.

••••• Healing Gift
Through this final barrier of mastery, the Druid can call forth great gouts of primal power, multiplying his natural healing ability manifold. By concentrating but a moment, he can flood his body with power and restore it to its natural form at once.

System: The Druid must spend 2 blood points and a Willpower point to activate this power in addition to the usual roll. The Druid’s body is flooded with life energy, instantly healing him for a number of health levels of lethal or bashing damage equal to his successes. Any additional successes gained on the activation roll will convert aggravated damage to lethal. For example, a Druid currently Crippled with 3 levels of lethal damage and 3 levels of aggravated damage who scores 5 successes on this roll will heal 3 levels of lethal and convert 2 levels of aggravated damage to lethal, leaving the Druid with 2 levels of lethal damage and 1 level of aggravated damage. This power may recover lost health levels gained through Burst of Life if used in the same scene.


THE WITCH PATH

This path is a kind of sanguine witchery, with a wide array of strange powers. The odd disparity of its effects often confuses other Kindred; many who have never heard of the witches of Draiocht mistake each power of the Witch Path as evidence of a different parent Discipline. The witches have a reputation for knowing scores of bizarre Disciplines, when in fact their ilk has only one unique tradition of power. Like all good witches, of course, the Druids who practice this path are loathe to reveal such a secret to others; let their enemies - and allies - make their mistakes.

The supernatural powers of the witches have no single origin story. Some among the Old World Druids claim that Draiocht is a kind of proto-magic, from which other, more common paths have descended. Such witches believe other Kindred powers are derived from their own. More modern scholars have supposed that this Path's disparate powers are a result the feeding habits of its original Druid progenitor, rumored to have feasted upon mortal witches and mages of all kinds. The blood of the witches who practice this power is now, theoretically, a blend of bizarre, magical ingredients.

One folk tale, passed down from sire to childe, claims that the witch's unique powers were drawn from the land itself - that the sacred mountains of Hibernia bled magical powers, and the first witches drank them up. Thus, this power represents a raw mixture of magic inherent in the lands that lay in the shadow of the dark forests and hills of the British Isles.

This path of Draiocht is unique in that it does not use the standard Willpower rolls for activation as common to most forms of blood magic. The power for this path comes not only from the blood, but from another hidden source that to this night no Druid has truly discovered, though many theories abound. In order to tap this primal source, whatever it might be and use the powers of this path, a talisman or familiar of some kind is required. The talisman may be any kind of object, though amulets, rings, staves or wands are the most common, which must be soaked in a point of the Witch’s blood under the light of the moon for a full night to function. The powers of this path may only be accessed while this talisman is on the person of the witch. If the witch instead chooses to use a familiar, the creature must be within the Witch’s sight for her to use any of the powers of this path. A familiar may be any animal of sufficient size to be ghouled which must be fed a blood point from the Druid while under the light of the moon. Should the Witch use any power of instantaneous transportation such as Flight of the Warlock or Dryad’s Highway, the familiar is automatically transported with the Witch. A Witch may only have one familiar or talisman dedicated to the Path at any given time. A true familiar created with the ritual Bind the Familiar is automatically acceptable as a familiar for this path, as is a Slat an Draoichta created by that ritual for a talisman with no further need to dedicate the item or animal as a conduit.

•Eye of Blood
It is commonly claimed in the folklore of the peasantry that witches were able to spy on people from miles away. Evil sorcerers would learn a person's secrets in this way, and use them to force good folk to do evil deeds. But first, the witch had to touch you or your belongings. This power lets a witch do just that. By applying a spot of her own blood to the body or clothing of the subject, the witch is able to mystically watch him from afar. The witch must be able to touch the subject to cast her "bloody eye" on him, but just a fingerprint's worth of blood is necessary to activate this power. Once done, the witch's ability to perceive her subject is limited only by her own perceptiveness and mystic power.

The witch does not see through the subject's eyes or from the point of view of the blood she applies to him. Rather, she experiences "third-person" visions consisting of images, sounds, emotions and smells, like a kind of arcane telemetry. The sensations come to her in a surreal almost hallucinatory experience, not unlike a vision gained through the use of Auspex, but in real time.

System: Applying the eye requires touch and a blood point to be spent. To attempt to view the subject later requires another blood point and the player rolls Wits + Empathy, difficulty of the subject's Permanent Willpower. On a botch, the link is corrupted, and the character receives disturbing and terrifying images rather than a vision of the subject causing her to lose a point of Willpower in addition to wasting the blood to activate the power. On a successful roll, the character is able to perceive visions of the subject's whereabouts, and actions until the next sunset. She may actively "look in on" the subject with an instant action as many times as she likes during this power's duration. Whenever the subject experiences a substantial sensory change (such as going from a warm cottage into a chilly night or being physically or emotionally hurt), the character may attempt a reflexive Wits + Empathy roll at the same difficulty to receive a brief vision of the experience. This power lasts until the “bloody eye” has been removed from the subject.

The number of successes achieved on the activation roll determines the number of miles the subject may travel from the character without breaking the mystic connection. Each success extends the power's range by five miles, and five or more successes produces an unlimited distance. If the subject travels outside the range of this power, the effect is suppressed until he reenters range, but is not removed. While the witch slumbers, visions of the subject come to her in dreams.

The visions received by the character may be a confusing mix of images, sounds, smells and emotional sensations. The character gains no special ability to perceive beyond her normal means with this power; the vision cannot be steered. While a sense of the subject's environment certainly comes across through the vision, the subject himself is always the primary focal point of the vision.

The character may take actions to discern details and spot hidden objects in a vision just as though she were there. If the character were looking in on a subject with a concealed weapon, for example, she may attempt a Perception + Alertness roll to notice it. The Storyteller may apply as much as a +3 difficulty when the character attempts to scrutinize objects or people other than the subject. If the character has Auspex, she may can even bring Heightened Senses and Aura Perception to bear on the subjects in the vision. While utilizing this power to peer on a subject, the witch suffers a +2 difficulty penalty on all actions taken at her own location due to distraction.

•• Witch-Cloak
Witches are known for their sometimes bizarre appearance and use of trickery to protect themselves. With this power, an old witch can disguise herself amid the weeds of an abandoned lot, vanish into a row of roadside trees or appear to change her shape. The witch has only a slight ability to control this power, however. Rather, it is a mystic effect that radiates from her own corpse to affect the eyes of others.

Note that this power does not actually change the witch's shape in any way. Instead, it plays with the senses of an onlooker. A witch may appear to transform from a tree into her normal form, when in fact she was simply standing near other trees. A witch may appear to have a wooden post in place of legs, when in fact she is simply wearing a brown skirt. The images perceived by the subject become more dramatic as the witch's proficiency with the Witch Path increases.

System: This power costs a blood point to activate. No roll is necessary to activate this power. Rather, the Witch-Cloak allows the character to add her dots in the Witch Path to Stealth and Subterfuge dice pools to hide or disguise herself. Whereas a mundane disguise allows a character to pass herself off as someone else, this power allows the witch to pass herself off as something else. Note that this power cannot compensate for the character's clan flaws or inhumane appearance; a bestial witch may go so far as to disguise herself as a wolf, but cannot pass for a normal human. Likewise, the character's disguise cannot dramatically change her apparent size.

As a rule of thumb, a disguised witch does not seem more trustworthy or less monstrous unless she also uses an ability like Leadership to change her target's mind. This power only alters the subject's literal perceptions.

A witch augmenting her Stealth skill with the Witch-Cloak never appears to vanish using this power. Rather, she appears to be something else. A witch hiding in a ruined house might be mistaken for a man-sized patch of water damage to the wallpaper, while a witch sneaking across a playground might appear as a mass of blowing leaves.

••• Witch’s Gaze
This power is the witch's sanguine manifestation of the archetypal curse of a mad witch - the "evil eye." With just a look, the witch can curse a subject, dooming him to suffer a terrible setback, grievous injury or awful malady. The witch may inflict a particular curse upon the subject by proclaiming her intent for the subject to hear, or she may simply lay a bane upon him to attract bad luck.

System: This power costs a Willpower point to activate. The player rolls Charisma + Intimidation, opposed by a Willpower roll from the victim, difficulty 6 for both.

If the roll is successful, the witch may attempt to curse one of the target's Abilities, or the target themselves. To curse a specific Ability, the witch must suggest the Ability to be cursed with a proclamation, for example "You rely too much on your guns, fool!" indicates the Firearms Ability, while "Damn your cherished tongue" might indicate Expression or Leadership, and the player must specify which Ability is intended to the Storyteller. The subject has no means of determining which Ability has been cursed other than the character's proclamation. For the duration of the curse, the victim will lose a number of base successes from all rolls of the targeted ability equal to the net successes scored by the caster.

The duration of an Ability-specific curse depends on the witch's dice pool. The default duration for an Ability-specific curse lasts until the next sunset. Each +1 difficulty the witch voluntarily applies to her dice pool extends the curse by an additional week, assuming she wins the contested action to invoke the curse.

If the character curses the subject in general, all actions taken by the subject are treated as if they scored one less success on all rolls for every Net success on the activation roll, to a minimum of Failure, rather than Botch for the rest of the scene. The general curse does not require a verbal proclamation.

•••• Blood Minions
The penultimate power of the witch is perhaps the strangest. A witch with this power can transform her blood into supernatural animal servants that do her bidding. To onlookers, it appears as though birds, rats, or bugs crawl out from gashes in the vampire's flesh.

The animals created with this power are clearly unnatural, with empty sockets in place of eyes, blood-colored beaks or claws or some other horrific sign of their strange origin. While they may pass for ordinary at a glance, any focused observation of a blood minion reveals them as clearly unnatural. These minions can travel any distance from the witch, who instinctively knows their location at all times. Though these creatures do not eat, sleep or think, they follow the will of the witch exactly. They attack her enemies, fetch objects for her and assist her in the use of other powers of the Witch Path.

Blood Minions appear to be made of flesh and bone, but are actually made up of something more akin to the ashy remains of burnt paper. If damaged, they crumble into ash. Unlike a vampire, these creatures can move about during the day.

System: The Witch rolls Strength + Animal Ken at difficulty 7 and spends any number of blood points. If successful, the character is able to transform her Vitae into lifeless, animate Minion creatures. By spending an amount of Vitae equal to the blood points listed for the desired creature, the witch can create small birds, bats, ravens, rats, cats or even dogs and larger animals to do her bidding. The character can create any number of Minions, provided she has enough Vitae to account for the blood pool of all the animals created (in addition to the Vitae spent to activate this power). The character can only create animals using the amount of Vitae she can spend in one turn, based on her Generation. These creatures must be let out from the character's body, through a gash in the stomach, arm, or leg, for example, though this wound causes no harm to the character.

Minions created with this power can fly, bite, carry and perform any other actions an animal of the same type could, using the usual statistics for an animal of that type. In addition, the witch can use the Eye of Blood power to perceive a Minion's surroundings over any distance and the Flight of the Warlock power to mystically transport herself to a Minion's location. A Blood Minion that successfully attacks a target can destroy itself to subject that target to the Eye of Blood power.

Blood Minions may take their own actions during a turn, but always act on the same Initiative as the character.

The creatures created with this power turn to ash at the next sunset or immediately upon taking any damage, whichever comes first. If the player scores 5 or more successes on the activation roll, the Minions have two days of life instead of one, lasting until sunset on the second day.

••••• Flight of the Warlock
Witches in folklore are often attributed with an ability to fly. The druid witches that practice these powers do not have that ability, but they do have a mystic means of traversing the land. A witch with this power can instantly transport herself to the location of a Blood Minion created with her own Vitae. The vampire seems to vanish in a blink of the eye, leaving behind nothing but a chill patch of air and the scent of blood. At her destination, the witch's Minion explodes in ash as the vampire appears, perhaps misleading onlookers into thinking the witch was the animal Minion.

System: The witch rolls Wits + Occult at difficulty 6 and spends a Willpower point to activate this power. If successful, the witch instantly arrives at the spot previously inhabited by her Blood Minion. On a botch, the minion is destroyed and the willpower is wasted, leaving the witch unable to use this power for the rest of the scene. If the witch attempts to transport herself to a space in which she cannot fit, this power automatically fails. The difficulty of this power raises by 1 for every two miles between the character and her target.


REGO MENTEM (LLWYBR YSBRYD)

This may well be the oldest of all the Paths of blood magic. It dates back to pagan times preceding civilization, when the spirit world was closer to the physical world. In modern nights this path has become all but forgotten, remembered only in small secretive cabals such as the Order of the Hidden Grove until the recent unveiling of the magic of Draiocht. This path may summon spirits to deal with and aid the Druid, making compacts and bargains. The corrupted version of this path known as Rego Manes which summons demons, has retained greater prominence, and may be much of the cause for the true path remaining underground for so long.

System: This Path has two powers. The first allows damage to be inflicted upon any kind of spirit through ritual incantation (The player rolls a number of dice equal to his rating in this path in damage to the spirit which resists with Willpower rather than Stamina if in a host). The damaging powers of this Path take place immediately upon their use and only require a few spoken words to enact.

Secondly, this Path allows the Druid to summon spirits from the Umbra. The rating in this path determines the maximum power of the spirit summoned according to the chart below. The spirit is called and made manifest by the power of the Druid for the duration of the scene, thus allowing the Druid to see and speak with it. A Druid may either summon a specific spirit that he has interacted with in the past (provided he has the necessary level to summon that spirit) or may attempt to summon a generic spirit of an appropriate type. In the case of level 5, Storytellers should remember that there is only one Incarna of each thing in the world, so the Incarna of Eagles is the spiritual essence of all eagles and so forth.

• Gafflings (Essence 5-15)
•• Minor Jaggling (Essence 15-20)
••• Standard Jaggling (Essence 20-25)
•••• Powerful Jaggling (Essence 25+)
••••• Incarna (Essence 40+ and all but gods)

It should be noted that just because one CAN summon beings with the power of ancient deities doesn’t mean one SHOULD. Spirits have no great liking for vampires in the first place and more powerful spirits will often take insult if they are asked to perform a task they see as beneath them.

Unlike the art of Spirit Manipulation, which most Druids take great offense to; Rego Mentem offers no compulsion to the spirit summoned beyond its presence for the scene. Any and all deals must be worked out in a scene and arrived at in character. It is noted that since spirits rather intensely dislike most vampires, their prices are usually far higher than they might otherwise be for werewolves or mages. A spirit will perform the agreed-upon task for a maximum number of weeks equal to the successes scored on the summoning or until the next time it rains in the area, the cleansing waters washing it back to the Umbra.

For more details on Umbral spirits, see the clarification for Spirit Manipulation, as well as Werewolf the Apocalypse and some of its supplements such as Umbra Revised.


Draiocht Rituals

As with any blood magic, Draiocht has access to a number of rituals. Some of these are unique to the paradigm while others are remarkably similar to effects from Hermetic Thaumaturgy or other blood magics. In some cases this is due to a common origin of power, in others it is due to outright theft from the original source (particularly on the part of the Tremere who stole every bit of magic they could get their hands on). It is important to remember that even those rituals that have the same mechanical effect as those from another paradigm will have completely different forms.

Below is a list of the common rituals that Draiocht shares with other paradigms. Alternate names more commonly used by the Druids for the common rituals are presented in parentheses following the common name. Below that are full write-ups for the rituals unique to Draiocht.

COMMON RITUALS

Level Name [Source Page]
1 Communicate With Kindred Sire [VtM-R 183] (Seek the Ancestor’s Wisdom)
1 Defense of the Sacred Haven [VtM-R 183] (Denial of Bel)
1 Deflection of Wooden Doom [VtM-R 183] (Ward the Heart’s Bane)
1 Domino of Life [GttS 119] (Life’s Reflection)
1 Enlightenment [SoTB 98] (Peek Through the Hedge)
1 Hospitality [PGttHC 190] (Unseen Witnesses)
1 Incantation of the Shepherd [GttC 110]
1 Purity of Flesh [GttC 110] (Hand of Diancecht)
1 Sense the Mystical [BM:SoT 91] (Reveal the Changeling)
1 Spectral Mask [PGttS-THB 30] (Mask of Arawn)
1 Wake with Evening’s Freshness [VtM-R 183] (Sleep of the Guardian)
1 Water Walking [BS:TTC 65] (Stride of the Kelpie)
2 Bind the Heavens [BS:TTC 48] (Cormac’s Curse)
2 Extinguish [BM:SoT 92] (Bel’s Mercy)
2 Eyes of the Night Hawk [GttS 119] (Eye of the Eryr)
2 Impassible Trail [BM:SoT 93] (Dryad’s Footsteps)
2 Recure of the Homeland [GttS 120] (Soil of Life)
2 Remember the Forge’s Heat [vampire boards – New Koldunic Sorcery]
2 Sign of the Moon [PGttS-THB 30]
2 Steps of the Terrified [BM:SoT 93] (Seeds of Nemain)
2 Ward Versus Ghouls [VtM-R 184]
2 Warding Circle Versus Ghouls [VtM-R 184]
3 A Touch of Nightshade [BM:SoT 95] (Caellich’s Touch)
3 Awakening the Verdant Thorn [PGttLC 170]
3 Bind the Familiar [PGttLC 171]
3 Cleansing the Flesh [BM:SoT 94] (Renewal of Clean Waters)
3 Deny the Sun’s Weight [vampire boards – new hermetic thaumaturgy] (Morning’s Vigor)
3 Draught of Earth’s Blood [PGttLC 173]
3 Friend of the Trees [PGttS 72] (Dryad’s Lover)
3 Ward Versus Fae [BM:SoT 95]
3 Ward Versus Lupines [GttC 113]
3 Warding Circle Versus Fae [BM:SoT 95]
3 Warding Circle Versus Lupines [GttC 113]
4 Bone of Lies [VtM-R 184] (Fragarach’s Point)
4 Infirm Inert [BM:SoT 96] (Diancecht’s Disfavor)
4 Refuge of the Thirsty Grave [PGttHC 192] (Daghda’s Embrace)
4 Scry [BM:SoT 96] (Eyes of the Tuatha)
4 Soul of the Land [LS2 174]
4 Ward Versus Kindred [GttC 113]
4 Warding Circle Versus Kindred [GttC 113]
5 Severed Hand [BM:SoT 98] (Legacy of Argetlamh)
5 Stone of True Form [BM:SoT 98] (Taliesin’s Bane)
5 Stone Slumber [BM:SoT 98]
5 Umbra Walk [Cb2-Tr 38] (Gates of Avalon)
5 Ward Versus Demons [GttC 114]
5 Ward Versus Ghosts [GttC 114]
5 Ward Versus Spirits [GttC 114]
5 Warding Circle Versus Demons [GttC 114]
5 Warding Circle Versus Ghosts [GttC 114]
5 Warding Circle Versus Spirits [GttC 114]


Draiocht-Specific Rituals

Amulet of Fortune: Level 1
This ritual creates a small amulet that when worn around the neck alters the fates, granting good fortune to the wearer when he needs it most.

System: The Druid must take a smooth river stone and bind it with a cord made of woven heather, crafting an amulet to be worn about the neck. The Druids entreat with the Spirits of Fate and Fortune to bless the wearer of the amulet and bestow their favor. A number of times equal to the successes scored on this ritual, the wearer may call on the power of the Amulet to grant him an extra automatic success on any action that functions as if he had spent a Willpower point. This comes from fortune and manifests as the vagaries of chance aiding the wearer’s action. As such, this can stack with the expenditure of a Willpower point.

The spirits of Fate are fickle and vain creatures however and desire to see true work put into their supplications. The maximum successes that a caster can score on this ritual are therefore capped at the successes scored on physically crafting the amulet.


Feel the Predator’s Taint: Level 1
With the creation of the Great Pack, the alliance with the Garou Nation was predicated on the Druids among the Gangrel assisting with the Garou’s war against the Wyrm. And yet there was a problem. For centuries the werewolves spoke of all vampires being “Wyrm-tainted” and yet no vampire could really comprehend what that meant. The werewolves claimed to be able to smell it, yet this source of their hatred for the Children of Caine was a mystery to most. After the pact was sealed, the greatest Druids and the greatest Theurges began to work together to attempt to give the Great Pack a way to sense this taint in others. This proved problematic as the Garou way of smelling the taint in another could not be duplicated by the vampires, the taint of their own Beast overpowering any smell of corruption from without. Just when they were about to give up however, Emrys of the Order of the Hidden Grove, looking at the problem from a different angle, was able to create a way to use that innate corruption of all vampires, even those whose taint is small enough not to register to werewolves, to feel out the taint in others.

System: In order to gain the innate sense of the Beast for its own corruption, the Druid must sufficiently enrage it to the point that it desires to hunt its own kind. The Druid must catch and completely drain the blood of a predatory animal (must be of sufficient size to hold at least one full blood point) while invoking Cernunnos to grant him the sense of the predator. At the conclusion of the ritual, the Druid’s beast is so enraged that he must immediately stave off a Frenzy at difficulty 6.

The effects of the ritual last the remainder of the night. While this ritual is active, the Druid is able to sense the taint of the Wyrm in all those whom he comes into physical contact with, manifesting as a shiver running down his flesh, and his Beast growling at the threat. This cannot sense the degree of Wyrm taint inherent in those he comes into contact with, only its presence or absence. For easy reference, vampires are all automatically considered Wyrm-tainted unless they have a Humanity score of 7 or higher, or follow any of the Beast paths including Path of the Feral Heart. Gangrel, closer to the Wyld than the Wyrm, are an exception, their Wyld taint overriding the natural Wyrm-taint of their Beast, save some of the more heinous examples that follow the way of the Wyrm more explicitly (Path of Evil Revelations, Path of Typhon, Path of Screams, etc. at ST discretion).

This ritual can also sense Wyrm-taint in objects or places, his Beast recoiling from the area or object as though it was the domain of another predator. For more details on what constitutes Wyrm-taint, see Werewolf: The Apocalypse.


Intruder’s Warning: Level 1
This ritual allows a Druid to know when someone is intruding in his grove or other location important to him. It creates a noticeable effect that the Druid will recognize when anyone crosses the threshold into his domain.

System: The Druid spends 30 minutes walking the outline of the warded area barefoot and attuning himself to the location. For the next 24 hours, anytime someone or something crosses the threshold established by the Druid, some noticeable effect will happen that will alert the Druid that someone has crossed the threshold and some evidence of their entry will be left. The specific effect is at the discretion of the Druid, though typical signals are a particular stone might overturn on its side, a pile of leaves might fall from a tree, or a stream might burst its banks in a specific location. In all cases, the effect is static; it looks or sounds exactly the same each time it happens. Any point at which someone enters the warded area, the effect takes place. Whether or not the vampire is present to observe it is a different matter.

Note that complex chains of events are outside the purview of this power. The ritual will not trigger an elaborate Rube Goldberg style “trap” (though it may set off the first part of one), nor will it aim and fire a crossbow. These are simple, subtle, brief effects.

The Tremere are known to have co-opted this and several other rituals converting them into what is now known as the Hearth Path. To this day no Druid quite knows why.


Tracing the Ley Line: Level 1
Central to the themes of Draiocht are the lines of power that run throughout the world known as ley lines. These lines are anywhere but not necessarily everywhere. The important sites of magical power form where a number of these lines meet at a nexus. The more lines meet at the nexus, the more powerful the site will be. The werewolves call them Cairns, the Mages call them Nodes, the Cathayans call them Dragon Nests, but the older and more universal term used by the Druids is Cray. At a Cray, mystical energy pours forth into the material world, infusing nearby material. The energy can also be drawn forth by those who know how.

System: This ritual allows the Druid to trace a ley line back to its source to locate the nearest Cray. This ritual is best performed from a high vantage point where the Druid can see a large area. The Druid spends a point of blood, spilling it on the ground as a sacrifice, and concentrates on locating the ley lines, as he petitions the local spirits for assistance. Once the ritual is complete, the Druid must make a Perception + Occult roll at difficulty 8 to discern where the lines lie. The Druid may then follow the lines to the nearest Cray.

Note: Whereas once natural Crays could be found all over the place, those days are gone. Crays are rare and valued resources among many supernatural groups and whether it is a Sept of werewolves or a Cabal of Mages, they are unlikely to be pleased to see a Druid trespassing in their Cray.


Weather Sense: Level 1
This simple ritual was of great benefit to ancient communities before instant communication and meteorological advancement. Even today it has proved useful as it does not rely on guesswork and prediction. This ritual allows the Druid to predict the weather in a given area.

System: The Druid must walk somewhere he can get an unobstructed view of the night sky (clouds do not count as obstruction for this purpose). Here he must remove his boots and commune with the spirits of Earth and Air to tell him their intentions. Once the ritual is complete the Druid accurately can tell the weather in the given area around the place where the ritual was cast for 1 day per success after the casting, with 1 success giving him that night. The Druid may know the weather affecting a radius of 2 miles per level of Draiocht he knows.

This ritual predicts only natural weather patterns and cannot predict the use of the Path of Weather Control or any other mystical means of altering the weather.


Draught of Longing: Level 2
This ritual creates a potion that if drunk causes the drinker to fall madly in love with the subject of the ritual.

System: The Druid must brew a tea made from black tea leaves, rosemary, moonflower petals, and elderberries mixed with a point of Cainite blood, though not necessarily that of the Druid himself. This tea must be brewed under the light of the moon and the Druid must chant an invocation of desire into the brewing drink.

Once the ritual is completed, it must be drunk within the same night it was brewed or lose all power. If anyone drinks the Draught of Longing during this time, they will immediately suffer the full effects of a 3 step blood bond to the Cainite who provided the blood in the ritual for the next full cycle of the moon. At the end of this time, the bond will break and the victim will fully remember what happened to him, likely wishing revenge on the one who gave him the drink. Further attempts to blood bond the victim of the Draught of Longing during the duration do not work as the Draught overrides the lesser feelings. Even lesser blood bonds created by the first and second drink fail to function on the subject of this ritual while its effects persist.

If the Druid drinks his own potion, he immediately gains the Megalomania derangement for the next full moon cycle. However during this time, he gains the same immunity to blood bonds as conveyed by another’s potion.


Drinking the Wyrm: Level 2
In the battle against the Wyrm, one of the most important weapons wielded by the Theurges of the Garou Nation is the Rite of Cleansing, a simple ritual allowing Wyrm-taint to be cleansed from a person, object, or area. In working with the Druids of the Great Pack, the Theurges sought to teach this ability to their new allies, though the results were not all the Theurges might desire. Opinion among the Theurges is divided as to whether this ritual was a success or not, though nearly all of the Druids call it a great success. This ritual allows the Druid to cleanse an area or object of taint by drinking that taint into himself, feeding it to his Beast.

System: The Druid must first successfully sense the presence of Wyrm-Taint in the object or place in question or have the area pointed out to him by one who can. The storyteller applies a taint rating to the object or area in question on a scale of 1-5 (the lobby of an illegal slave-labor brothel might be a one, the knife used in a brutal murder might be a 3, and the site of a toxic waste dump might be a 5; the areas of corruption caused by Veriditas have a taint rating equal to the level used). The Druid must then drip a point of his own blood onto the object or area in question, then drink it back down after allowing it to absorb the taint (this does cost a blood point as the power of the blood used is consumed in absorbing the taint). The Beast eagerly drinks down the taint, growing in strength as it feeds on the corruption. While the Druid holds the taint within him, he is considered to be Wyrm-tainted, regardless of his path of enlightenment or rating thereof. The natural ability of Gangrel to appear untainted does not apply to the taint gained by this ritual.

The Druid then has 2 options. First he may deposit any or all of the taint somewhere else by spending a willpower point to vomit it back up in another location, tainting that location or object he vomits on with the same value as the taint vomited up.

However few enough Druids make use of the first option because of an unexpected second option that was discovered accidentally. By holding the taint within himself, the power of the Druid’s Beast is greatly enhanced, feeding on the taint within. While holding the taint, the Druid gains 3 additional freebie points per level of taint that may only be spent into the Gifts of the Beast merit. The Druid may hold any amount of taint within himself, though at a price. The more taint the Druid takes on, the stronger the Beast gets. For every 3 points of taint the Druid is currently holding, his difficulties on Frenzy checks increase by 1. Furthermore, the power of the taint is addictive, causing the increase in Frenzy difficulties to last after the taint has been purged for the same amount of time the Druid held it, as the Beast rages in withdrawal of its lost power.

Thus far there has only been one way discovered to permanently purge Wyrm taint through Draiocht. In order to do so, this ritual must be combined with the ritual A Life for a Life, the Druid taking the taint into himself, then sacrificing another to purge himself of all maladies, which includes the taint. Needless to say, the werewolves are not particularly happy with this state of things and consider this a failed experiment to give the Gangrel the power to purge taint. The Druids on the other hand, while understandably cautious about the addictive quality of this newfound power, many, especially the Lhiannan, consider this a great success and make full use of the taint for power.


Keeper’s Knowledge: Level 2
The Druid is the master of the glen, knowing where every stone and branch lies. This ritual allows the Druid to know everything within his own domain.

System: This ritual may only be cast in a location where the Druid has slept at least 3 consecutive days within the last week. The Druid must spend a blood point as he mixes his blood with the earth of his resting place (dirt swept from a floor will suffice if the Druid lives indoors) and coats an item in this mixture. The item must then be kept sealed away or buried within the Druid’s domain for a further 3 days and nights, after which time it may be brought out again and cleaned off, the magic completed.

From that point on, the Druid may at any time complete a second part of this ritual taking 10 minutes, attuning himself to all things of his domain. This second part tells him of the location of all items currently within his domain (approximately a 25 foot radius per success) as well as the exact location of any items previously enchanted with Keeper’s Knowledge. This knowledge applies only to inanimate objects (though plants are affected). He may not locate his childe or ghoul in this manner, nor is he aware of any animals that may currently be in his domain. The Druid must concentrate on a specific object to know its location; this power does not give pure omniscience of every object at once.

The Tremere are known to have co-opted this and several other rituals converting them into what is now known as the Hearth Path. To this day no Druid quite knows why.


Place in the Cycle: Level 2
The teaching of Draiocht has always presented something of an unknown problem. Due to the fact that a student will always manifest his own primary path based on his nature, no Druid can truly know what material they are working with when they begin instructing a new initiate. The ancient Druids created this ritual to assist them in gauging a new initiate’s potential, as well as usefulness to the order. This ritual allows the Druid to determine the subject’s nature, and thus the primary path he will manifest should he learn Draiocht.

System: The Druid must spend a blood point as he paints corresponding Ogham runes on the eyelids of the subject and himself requiring a difficulty 8 Dexterity + Crafts roll. Then both must look into a silver mirror framed with holly sprigs with their eyes closed as the Druid chants an invocation to Arianrhod to peel back the veil and reveal the subject’s destiny. As the Druid chants, images will flicker across the closed eyelids of both the subject and the Druid, each revealing the same thing: the subject’s true nature. This information is conveyed symbolically, so a Conniver nature might reveal the subject as a slinking form in a black cloak whispering in someone’s ear, a Director nature might show the subject looking over a chessboard, arranging people as the pieces, and a Judge nature might show the subject presiding over a trial. In any case, the visions will continue until a full understanding is gained by both parties.

This ritual has also gained one additional unintended benefit for the Druids. This ritual reveals the subject’s place in the Cycle should he learn Draiocht. The Druids have a set place in the Cycle already. Should the subject already hold any level of mastery of Draiocht, the images will be combined with images of balance and protection, the subject revealed as having taken on the Druid’s mantle already. This has proved useful in uncovering one who wished to trick Druids into teaching him more than they should by masquerading as a new initiate.


Visage of the Tuatha: Level 2
This ritual infuses the Druid with the grandeur and majesty of a divine being. This was mostly used in the days when the Druids led communities and served as Gods of the Grove.

System: The Druid must prepare and drink a concoction made from holly, clover, and Mugwort, infused with the Druid’s own blood (this costs a blood point). After drinking the potion, the Druid gains an aura of authority and command about him that grants +2 dice on all Charisma rolls. This effect lasts for the remainder of the night.


Walking the Path of Fate: Level 2
The Druids understand the importance of the Cycle. Each person and thing has its place in the world as ordained by the Fates. Through this ritual, a Druid may reaffirm his appointed place in the Cycle by allowing the Fates to guide his actions and through this, gain a greater understanding of himself in the process.

System: In order to cast this ritual, the Druid must purposely get lost to a degree that he is no longer entirely sure where he is or quite how to get back home. While wandering aimlessly, the Druid invokes Arianrhod to guide his steps and point the way to his place in the Cycle.

The exact effects of this ritual are greatly varied. The Druid, while wandering aimlessly will encounter something of importance to his role in the Pattern. The details of the scene are entirely at Storyteller discretion, but should have something to do with the Druid’s nature and/or Path of Enlightenment. By allowing the Fates to guide his steps and surrendering control, the Druid is shown his proper place in the world and what the Cycle desires of him.

At the conclusion of the event put forward by the Fates, the Druid may make an Intelligence + Conscience/Conviction roll at a difficulty determined by the storyteller (difficulty 7 if he “succeeded” in the scene before him and difficulty 9 if he “failed” the test). If this roll is successful, the Druid will gain a Tenet point on whatever Path of Enlightenment he walks as his place and more of his own Nature is revealed to him.


Amulet of Blood’s Resilience: Level 3
This ritual creates an amulet that wards the wearer against a specific power. This is a generic name for a series of rituals meant to ward against different disciplines and blood magic paths. A different ritual following the same system must be taken for each discipline or path of blood magic to be warded against.

System: The Druid must craft an amulet composed of or containing sympathetic material and symbols to the power he wishes to ward against. This sympathetic material is largely symbolic and can truly be anything as long as the Druid understands the connection. Then the Druid or any other participant must successfully use a discipline or path of blood magic to be warded against, targeting the amulet which will absorb the effect completely. The number of successes rolled by the Druid determines the effectiveness of the amulet. While wearing the amulet, the wearer will gain a resistance dice pool equal to the successes scored on the ritual to be automatically rolled at difficulty 6 against any use of the discipline in question. For example, if this ritual was cast to ward against Presence and Summon was cast into the amulet and the Druid scored 5 successes on the casting, the wearer would gain 5 dice to resist the first 5 Presence effects of levels 1-4 that affected him. This amulet cannot protect against things that create purely physical effects (such as Lure of Flames), or effects that enhance another such as Potence or Celerity, but can protect from area effects such as Presence. If the discipline in question already has a resistance roll, the extra dice are added to that pool. The amulet lasts until the last charge has been expended at which point it crumbles to dust. No one person may benefit from more than a single Amulet of Blood’s Resilience at a time.

The ancient Druids knew of many, but not all disciplines. The following list are the Disciplines and Paths for which a ritual following this line have already been created. Others may of course be researched now that the Druids have stepped once again on to the world stage.

Presence
Dominate
Auspex
Animalism
Chimerstry
Dementation
Serpentis
Vicissitude
Ogham
All paths of Draiocht
All ways of Koldunic Sorcery


Draught of Oblivion: Level 3
Cast by Druids who wish to enchant a subject, this potion causes those who drink it to lose all memories of the person or thing they love and value most. The effect is temporary but can be a great boon in convincing a former enemy to work with you in the confused state that follows.

System: The Druid must mix and brew an infusion of aconite, horsetail, and mugwort and infuse it with a point of his own blood and fresh river water. The resulting drink must be consumed within the same night it is brewed or it loses all effect. Any victim who consumes it will immediately lose all memory of the thing or person he loves and values most in the world. This will likely result in large blank spots in the subject’s memory, causing a great deal of confusion. A ghoul who forgets his domitor will likely have a difficult time explaining his current situation. While under the effects of a Draught of Oblivion, no use of Auspex or Dominate will locate the missing memories, or even detect that there is anything missing. Painstakingly attempting to recreate the missing memories with Forgetful Mind is possible, but would be an extremely lengthy process, and they would be implanted memories rather than true recollections.

The effects of this ritual last for one month per success scored by the Druid, after which point all the memories immediately come flooding back. This duration can be extended with further applications of this ritual, though a new dose is only effective if given within the last month of the duration.

While not properly understood at the time of this ritual’s development, modern Druids have discovered that this ritual creates an actual chemical block in the brain, rather than mystically sealing away the memories. This block may be removed by complex brain surgery requiring 3 successes on a Difficulty 9 Dexterity + Medicine roll.


Druidic Circle: Level 3
Every Druid knows that greater feats of magic can always be performed when multiple Druids work in concert. This ritual allows for the formation of a magical circle of Druids to cast a communal effect, combining their power to produce truly awesome results.

System: This ritual may only be performed outside under the night sky. Each Druid in the circle must physically stand in a circle, each no more than 5 feet from the Druid on either side. They must each spend a Willpower point to link as they chant for half an hour. A maximum number of Druids may join the circle equal to the highest Occult score among the circle. Each Druid must have this ritual to participate. Once this ritual is cast, all those in the circle are linked and all can aid in each other's Draiocht castings. While in the circle, when any Druid activates a Path or ritual of Draiocht, all others in the Circle may spend a Willpower point and roll Intelligence + Occult at 1 difficulty higher than that of the original caster. Each success they get adds an extra die to the caster's roll for his effect. The circle is broken whenever any Druid in the link steps out of the circle.


Eyes of the Forest: Level 3
A Druid in days of old often managed communities far apart. Through this ritual, the Druid could know when any of his communities needed his assistance. This ritual allows the Druid to see out of a tree that has been previously prepared and marked.

System: The Druid must first carve a mask, fit to his own face from natural wood taken from a specific kind of tree. This mask should be expertly crafted, and the quality of the craftsmanship does affect the potency of the ritual. Once the mask is created, the Druid may carve an exact replica of the face depicted in the mask into any tree of the same kind as the wood for the mask came from. This requires he score at least as many successes on the crafting check for carving the face as he did for making the mask. Thereafter, at any point, the Druid may spend a Willpower point and put on the mask to see through the eyes of any of the faces he has carved. If a face in one of the Druid’s trees is defaced or damaged, the Druid will no longer be able to see through that tree.

The Druid may have any number of faces as he desires attuned to a single mask. However the distance at which he can view through them is dependent upon the quality of the mask. The Druid will be able to view through any tree in which he has carved a face within 5 miles per success on the mask of his present location.

When viewing through the mask, the Druid may not use any of his other powers through this remote viewing, though he does get the passive benefit of Enhanced Senses and Seeing the Unseen if he possesses any Auspex.


Season’s Passing: Level 3 (Requires Path of the Four Seasons 3)
Path of the Four Seasons is an incredibly powerful and versatile path. However its one major weakness is that the user cannot control the seasons and thus may not have access to the powers he wants when he wants them. This ritual temporarily allows a Druid to tap the energies from another part of the world and temporarily change the Season around him.

System: This ritual takes a full night from sundown to sunrise. During this period, the Druid must surround himself with the accoutrements and sympathetic symbols of the season to be invoked. Once the ritual is complete, the Druid has ripped a hole in the Great Cycle, drawing on energies from another time and place to change the Season. A failure on this ritual imposes a +2 difficulty penalty on all uses of the Path of the Four Seasons for the remainder of the current season. A botch renders the Druid incapable of using any power of the Path of the Four seasons for the remainder of the current season.

Once the ritual is successfully completed, for the following night, the spiritual resonance of the local area is changed to match whichever season the Druid has invoked. All those using any Season dependent powers will manifest those of the Druid’s chosen season rather than the actual season. The following day the Cycle will reassert itself and the seasons will return to normal.

This power has a costly price, and is only invoked in great need because of it. By using this ritual, the Druid damages his own connection to the Cycle which can only be rebuilt with time and meditation. After this ritual is cast, the Druid gains a +1 difficulty to all uses of Path of the Four Seasons for a full week. If this ritual is cast again while suffering a penalty, the duration resets and an additional penalty of +1 difficulty is placed on top of the first. So a Druid who used this ritual on Friday night would suffer a +1 difficulty until the next Friday night. If he used this ritual again on Wednesday night he would suffer a +2 difficulty until the following Wednesday night and a +1 difficulty until the Wednesday night after that. These penalties can stack indefinitely if this ritual is used too often.

The area affected by this ritual is large, covering approximately a 50 mile radius from the point of casting. It is noted that other Druids affected by this ritual may not appreciate having their plans disrupted by someone else and may come looking for the one who cast this effect. In the event that multiple Druids cast this ritual for the same night, the Druid who scored the most successes will determine the season. In the event of a tie, the effects will cancel each other out, neither ritual succeeding, though both will suffer the standard penalties for the attempt.


Truth of the Flames: Level 3
Draiocht is more demanding than many other forms of blood magic. Through Draiocht, the Druid is forming a connection between the natural forces of the world and his very soul. A vampire’s soul is a static thing and such a connection is quite alien, thus usually taking a great deal of time to master properly. However, this ritual is a shortcut to that process, stripping away all layers of pretense and showing the Druid exactly what he is without reservation, allowing the necessary connection to be forged far more quickly, albeit through extreme and dangerous means. The only way to strip away all pretenses natural to the vampiric state is to bring the subject to the very door of death.

System: This ritual may only be cast in full view of a clear sky on the night of the half moon, the time of balance and change and takes the full night to cast, lasting until just before sunrise. The Druid constructs a large wicker man effigy, large enough to hold at least one person inside. The prospective student must purify himself by fasting for 3 nights prior to the ritual. At the stroke of midnight, he must climb inside the wicker effigy as the Druid begins a prayer, first invoking Danu to guide this child on his path and grant him her patronage. Next the Druid prays to Arianrhod to peel back the veil and show this student who he truly is. Finally, just as the sun is starting to rise, prayers are made to Bel to strip him down to nothing and to Druantia to shelter him from Bel’s fire and guard him in her earthen womb, giving him birth anew when Bel’s fury has passed. Just at the moment of sunrise, the Druid sets the wicker man ablaze, bathing the subject in fire and sunlight at once. The Druid must then quickly flee the sun’s vengeance himself, finding shelter.

The subject must prove his mettle by not fleeing the fires that surround him or the daylight that burns his flesh. He must stave off Rotschreck at difficulty 8 as the sun and the flames rise around him, or the ritual fails completely, the gods having found him unworthy. Willpower may not be spent on this roll, as the Gods desire to know the worthiness of an individual’s own resistance to fear, not merely his ability to bolster himself in extreme cases. Even after successfully passing the test of fear, the prospective Druid must steel himself for the price to come, the fires and the fury of the rising sun, intensified through the Druid’s magic, deal him 7 unsoakable levels of aggravated damage and strip away all remaining willpower before the wicker man finally burns up and the druid falls to the ground. The earth then rises up to cover and shelter the subject for the day, shielding him from any further damage. This effect is treated as the Protean 3 power Earth Meld for all mechanical needs.

Over the course of the day, the subject is confronted with exactly who and what he truly is. This spiritual understanding may take many forms, from a flashback through the character’s life, to meeting oneself, to a more traditional spiritual quest with an umbral guide. The details of the scene are left up to the Storyteller, but should not be glossed over as the Druid must first understand every aspect of himself before mastering the connection with the forces he will wield. Confronted with an unfiltered view of exactly who and what he is, shocking for anyone, the character must immediately test for degeneration at difficulty 8.

At nightfall, the character will rise as normal, though all of the aggravated damage must be healed normally, and he rises with only one temporary Willpower point. If the ritual was successful, the subject may now learn Draiocht without the usually required months of training to learn a blood magic.
In addition, the profound spiritual awakening triggered by this ritual will give the subject a much better understanding of himself. Some like what they find when they gaze into the mirror of the soul. These gain the option of immediate justification to increase their Humanity or Path of Enlightenment by one dot, regardless of current tenet points. Others recoil from what they find in shock and revulsion. These may take this opportunity to change the parts of themselves they find distasteful, immediately gaining justification to change their Nature.

A character may only be the subject of this ritual once. If he fails the test for any reason, the gods will not look with favor on him again and he must take the long path if he still wishes to learn the mysteries of Draiocht.


Airbae Druad: Level 4
This ritual comes from an ancient Druid who defended his hold against invading Romans by enchanting the hedge around his lands with a terrible spell, to kill the first man who cleared it. The troops argued and deserted rather than any wishing to be the first to cross and knowingly give up his life.

System: This ritual can only be cast on a hedge a minimum of 5 feet high that completely encloses an area. The use of Green Path greatly aids in the growing of such a hedge, but this can be achieved without magic as well. Once the hedge is complete, the Druid must weave a vine through the entire circumference of the hedge while invoking powers of protection and vengeance. This ritual takes a minimum of a full hour to cast and may take longer depending upon the size of the hedge.

Once the ritual is complete, the hedge is a barrier to all save the Druid himself who may cross at will. The hedge becomes immune to all damage and cannot be destroyed by any physical or mystical means. This protection lasts until one person other than the Druid clears the hedge, which breaks the effect. However the first person to cross the barrier takes a number of health levels of aggravated damage equal to the Druid’s successes on casting this ritual. This only applies to those who attempt to cross the hedge of their own free will so someone thrown over or Dominated into crossing would simply be repelled as though meeting an unseen barrier. Once one person has successfully crossed the hedge and taken the damage, the effects of this ritual end.


Blinding the Gods: Level 4
The Druids have always had an uneasy relationship with Gods. Even the more benevolent of the Tuatha de Danann are capricious and no true friends of the peoples of earth. This ritual, originally created to shield a community from the eyes of a vengeful deity, has found another use in that it prevents the farseeing of other magicians as well.

System: The Druid must walk around the area to be warded from scrying counterclockwise for a full twenty minutes, or 7 full times around whichever takes longer. While walking, the Druid must continually chant an extremely boring and repetitive chant, thought to make the fickle gods get bored and look elsewhere. At the conclusion of the ritual the Druid walks to the very center of the warded area and must pluck out one of his own eyes, costing him a Willpower point and dealing a level of unsoakable lethal damage.

After the completion of the ritual, any who attempt to scry into the warded area will see only the most mundane, boring vision they could imagine happening in that area (farmers plowing fields, an empty room, etc.). The effects of this ritual last indefinitely, as long as the Druid who cast the ritual does not heal the damage to regenerate his eye. He has given up a part of his sight to prevent the sight of others.


Compact of Binding: Level 4 (Rego Mantem 4)
The power of Draiocht does not wholly come from the Umbra nor from compacts with the spirit denizens thereof. However, Druids have long ago mastered the art of summoning these spirits and bargaining for a share of their power through the use of Rego Mantem. This ritual, shared with the Druids long ago by a select group of Fianna and White Howler Garou allies, allows the Druids to bargain for one of the most useful forms of spiritual power. This ritual allows the Druid to make a compact and bind a spirit into a Fetish.

System: The Druid must first summon a spirit through the use of Rego Mantem. The process from there is largely up to the storyteller as the exact terms of the fetish compact are a matter of negotiation between the Druid and the spirit in question. A spirit of appropriate theme and power must be called to match the level of the desired Fetish (as a rule of thumb the level of Rego Mantem required to summon such a spirit should match the level of the Fetish in most cases, though most level 5’s will not actually require Incarna). Once the compact is struck, the spirit enters the item in question and the Druid must anoint the item with a point of his blood and spend a Willpower point to bind it to him. This vulgar display allows for a connection with the Druid’s will, replacing the need for Gnosis when using the Fetish.

This ritual, unlike Spirit Manipulation, may only create fetishes by a spirit willingly entering into a compact with the Druid. There is no compulsion in play. Furthermore, since the Druid cannot pay Gnosis to the spirit, the Chiminage demanded by most spirits for such prolonged service will usually be higher than that demanded of werewolves or mages. Couple that with the spirit’s natural dislike for vampires, and most Druids pay fairly hefty prices indeed.

This power does have one distinct advantage over fetishes created through Spirit Manipulation however. Since the compact has been entered into willingly, fetishes created with this ritual are not prone to failure in the same way that those created by force are, as the spirit is not discontent with its lot. However, the spirit must be kept happy with regular Chiminage on the part of the Druid, or it will simply leave.

See the clarifications for Spirit Manipulation 4: Entrap Ephemera for details on Fetish creation and appropriate powers.


Faerie Ring: Level 4
This ritual functions as the Thaumaturgy ritual Consecration of the Sanctum, save that it must be constructed specifically as an outdoor location, bordered with a ring of standing stones.


Life for a Life: Level 4
This ritual can save anyone, even from the brink of death and restore them to full health, but at a terrible price. To save a life, a life must be taken. Through this ritual, the Druid may sacrifice one person to save the life of another.

System: This ritual may only be performed in a grove under moonlight. The Druid must bring the sacrificial victim to a previously prepared stone altar. The victim and the target to be healed must be laid on the altar side by side. The Druid then intones a chant, enumerating the belief that all are of one life, one blood, and one will give their life to save another. At the conclusion of the ritual, the Druid kills the victim by cutting out his heart, requiring a Dexterity + Medicine roll at difficulty 9. If the victim is Kindred, the ritual magic preserves the Heart until the conclusion of the ritual. The Druid then squeezes the Heart’s Blood into the mouth of the victim, calling out for him to accept this sacrifice and be restored. The body of the victim is then ritually burned to denote his passing back into the Cycle.

If the ritual succeeds, the target is healed of all damage, as well as having all maladies, diseases, and afflictions completely cured, all blood bonds broken, and any other harmful effect completely reversed, the sacrifice of the victim having been accepted and restoring him to full vigor. Such is the cleansing magic that is invoked by this ritual that even a vampire’s inherent taint as sensed by the Garou is temporarily cleansed, though it returns with the next sunset. State within the Cycle is important to this ritual. To heal a mortal, a mortal must be sacrificed. To heal a kindred, another kindred must be sacrificed.

The Druids keep very close watch on anyone seen to be practicing this ritual too often, and any clear abuses or unnecessary uses of this powerful ritual may meet with their displeasure. This is an extreme ritual meant for extreme circumstances. Sacrificing someone to cure a slight cough does not promote balance.


Sacrificial Vigor: Level 4
This ritual exemplifies the idea of balance. In order for life to be given, a life must be taken. For this ritual, the Druid sacrifices an animal or person to take their vitality into himself.

System: This ritual takes a full hour and must be performed under the light of the moon and finished before the stroke of midnight. A wreath of fresh flowers is woven and placed upon the victim’s head. The victim is then laid back on a stone altar (the use of Animalism or Dominate are greatly beneficial at this stage) and the Druid cuts its throat with a silver dagger. The blood runs down into a bowl and the Druid then drinks all of the collected blood transferring the victim’s life to his. The Druid gains no additional blood points from this process as all the power inherent in the blood is used up during the ritual. At the conclusion of the ritual, the victim’s life is melded with the Druid’s granting him additional Bruised Health Levels equal to those possessed by the victim. If the victim was an animal, these health levels fade at dawn. If the victim was human or kindred, these extra health levels fade after a full week. Damage to these extra levels cannot be healed with powers or blood expenditures. A Druid can only benefit from one application of Sacrificial Vigor at a time.


Knotting the Ley Lines: Level 5
This is a much valued art, long thought impossible by most supernatural creatures who depend on Crays. This ritual allows the Druid to tie a knot in several close-lying ley lines, actually creating a Cray. This extremely costly ritual is the only known way for vampires to create a Cray, and many other types of supernatural creatures, particularly werewolves and mages, who use such sites see this manner as incredibly vulgar and dangerous, possibly even taking umbrage at such a site within their territory.

System: This ritual may only be performed on the night of a Full Moon and takes the entire night. It requires three Druids who each know the ritual to all work together to found a Cray. They must each first use the ritual Trace the Ley Line and walk that line to the suitable nexus location where they all are within 10 feet of each other. Once at the location the three must join power through the use of the Druidic Circle ritual and declare one of them taking the role of Elder who must be older than 250 years, one of Ancilla who must be between 100 and 250 years, and one of Neonate who must be under 100 years. The one who declares himself Elder must lead the ritual, although each has their role to play. Once joined in the Circle, first the Neonate must walk in a circle 13 times counterclockwise around the site of the intended Cray, spilling 5 points of blood as he chants, "Blood of the young, blood of change, the Spring Winds blow to shape the lines." Next the Ancilla must circle the other direction chanting, "Blood of the middle, blood of balance, the Summer Fires flow to the embrace of the Earth." Finally the Elder must circle the same way as the Neonate chanting, "Blood of the old, blood of stasis, the Waters of Winter freeze and seal the power in place, its sacrifice here to grow anew." This walking and the sacrifice of blood weaves the lines each has tracked in a complex knot that will forever after be bound to the site.

To infuse the newly formed Cray with power, each Druid must spend between one and five permanent willpower points. All must spend the same number of willpower. The number of Permanent Willpower points spent at this point determines the level of the Cray.

The use of this ritual sends ripples through the entire ley line network and those capable of sensing mystical energy will almost certainly detect the massive flare of power. Use of this ritual may draw unwanted attention as Crays, particularly high level ones, are rare and valuable in these times.


Slat an Draoichta: Level 5
Literally translated as the “Rod of Druidism” this is the origin of the stories about wizards with magic wands. This ritual creates a material focus for the Druid’s power, allowing him to wield more and channel greater effects than he could without. This rod creates a small rift in the Cycle of time, bringing the past to align with the present through the sacred spoken word of the Druid, allowing the Druid to channel more energy from that rift to perform his feats of magic. More than that though, the Rod enhanced the power of the Druid’s sacred spoken word.

Those who have successfully made a Slat an Draoichta in ancient times became known as Seannachaidh, a high office in the Druidic Order. The Seannachaidh were the keepers of the spoken word and the oral histories which the Druids considered absolutely sacred.

System: Creating a Slat an Draoichta is not an easy process. The physical rod must be no less than a foot long and be composed of ash wood with 9 silver bells attached to the end. To create a proper Slat an Draoichta is far more than simply making the physical rod. To properly initiate himself as a Seannachaidh the Druid must, while holding the completed rod, craft and deliver a truly exceptional story (5 or more successes on both the craft check and the delivery check) to an audience of at least 10 people. This attunes the Rod to the Druid’s voice and command of the sacred word. A failure on the delivery roll brings great shame to the Druid who may not attempt this feat again for at least 6 months. Botching the delivery roll has forever shamed the Druid’s command of the spoken word and renders him mute for the next year and prevents him from ever attempting to become a Seannachaidh again.

After the ritual is complete, the Druid’s voice and power are ever-after attuned to the completed Slat an Draoichta. While holding the rod, the Druid gains +2 dice on all uses of Draiocht, but only if the Druid speaks a full invocation when casting using the power of his voice. Effects cast silently or subtly gain no benefit from the Slat an Draoichta. Furthermore, the Druid holding the rod is treated gains an additional +2 dice on all rolls involving the use of his Voice. This bonus should apply in any situation that would ordinarily benefit from the Enchanting Voice merit.


Stone of Albion: Level 5
This ritual is based on an ancient legend that the ancient Druids of England enchanted a stone and buried it under Stonehenge, proclaiming that as long as this stone remained buried there; England would never fall to invasion. The legend goes that this story was lost through the ages and that when William the Conqueror threatened King Harold’s domain he had the stone unburied and carried it to the battle of Hastings to bless his troops and thus lost the battle as the protections were broken. This ritual creates a similar stone that if buried under a Cray will greatly hinder any assault on the surrounding areas.

System: This ritual is usually performed by a full Druidic Circle for the maximum effect, but can be performed alone if desired. Any number of Druids who know the ritual may aid in the casting, though all must pay all of the associated costs and make their individual rolls. A perfectly spherical stone must be carved and fashioned from stone quarried within the area to be protected. Each Druid performing this rite must expend a permanent Willpower point and infuse their blood into the stone as it is being shaped. The stone must then be buried under a Cray and not unearthed. Tapping the energies of the Cray the stone conveys a protection on the warded area, imposing a difficulty increase equal to the level of the Cray on all actions within the warded area meant to attack or invade the area or those within its protection including all combat actions against those defending said area as well as supporting actions with that intention.

The area of this effect is dependent upon the power invoked into the stone, often being cast by a full Druidic Circle for maximum effect. This ritual wards a radius in miles equal to the combined successes of all those casting this effect. If any participant botches this ritual, all are treated as though they botched, usually producing a horrific effect as an attempt at warding spells great doom for the area. Druids are cautious of including too large an area however, because the protection granted by this ritual only applies against outside invasion, not internal strife within the borders of the effect.

Should the stone ever be unearthed from where it is buried, the effects of this ritual immediately end.


Battle Rituals

Druids were not only the priests and sometimes even gods to their people, they often served important roles in battle as well. In the days before the rise of the Masquerade, great Druids usually joined battle with their opposites during war, wielding tremendous and terrible magics devastating the opposing forces. This practice gave rise to the creation of the Battle Rituals. These were specifically created to be used during battle, thus taking far less time than ordinary rituals. The Druid performs the steps of the ritual, usually taking between 3 and 5 rounds and then unleashes a terrible effect. The usual ritual roll is made on the last turn of the invocation of the ritual. If the Druid is interrupted during the casting of a Battle Ritual, he must make a reflexive Wits + Occult check at a difficulty of 5 + the level of the ritual to prevent the ritual being treated as a botch. If he scores at least 3 successes on this roll, he may continue the ritual where he left off rather than needing to start again. Quite a few Battle Rituals are woven in with specific paths, requiring their use as some of the necessary steps and altering the magic to greater or different effects.

Battle rituals are never subtle. The Druid is taking a shortcut to the normal ritual process and invoking grand forces requiring a great deal of gesticulating and chanting. Anyone observing a Druid performing a battle ritual will immediately be able to tell that the Druid is performing magic if he has even a single dot in Occult.

Those listed below are meant as a sampling of the myriad of Battle Rituals that were developed in nights past for the Druids to aid their mortal armies. Many more may yet be rediscovered and new ones may always be created.


Explosive Growth: Level 2 (Green Path 2 or Four Seasons 2 in Spring Only)
This ritual shows the power of nature over artifice in a rather immediate and extreme fashion. Jokingly referred to by younger Druids as the “Tree Bomb”, the druid enchants a handful of acorns that upon contact with the ground will immediately grow to the full size of a hundred-year oak tree, ripping through anything in their path of growth.

System: The Druid takes a handful of acorns and begins an invocation to Sucellus, taking one turn per acorn as he spends a blood point on each, dripping it onto the acorn and repeating his incantation to speed the passing of time. The Druid may enchant a maximum number of acorns equal to his successes on the ritual roll. The acorns remain affected for the remainder of the night.

When one of these enchanted acorns touches the ground it immediately grows into a full size hundred-year oak, hundreds of feet tall and nearly 10 feet in diameter, its roots breaking through any building foundation to take root in the soil beneath. The growth takes only a single combat round (3 seconds) to complete, and destroys any structure in the way of the growth, ripping apart foundations, toppling walls and tearing through ceilings.

Clever Druids who have also mastered the third level of the Path of Earth’s Gifts have learned to use this as a quick method of travel into the heart of an enemy encampment, behind any battle fortifications they might have, planting one tree at their feet and another at their destination.


Woodland Sprite: Level 3 (Elemental Mastery 3)
This ritual gives temporary physical form to a nature spirit, allowing them to affect the physical world for prolonged periods without a constant expenditure of Essence at the price of performing a single specified task for the Druid. Most spirits are capricious however and will take any opportunity to trick those giving them their orders, especially vampires who they don’t like anyway.

System: The Druid spends a variable number of blood points, spilling the blood onto any patch of vegetation, either living or dead. This process takes as long as the Druid wishes, spending the maximum amount of blood per turn allowed by his generation. The following turn the Druid invokes the name of Sucellus, calling on his minion to inhabit the plant matter. One turn after the invocation a nature spirit will inhabit the vegetation, twisting it into a roughly humanoid form approximately 2 feet high.

The physical form has a number of dots of physical attributes equal to the blood points spent while creating it. A stronger spell will call a stronger spirit and thus the creature has mental and social attributes each equal to half of the Druid’s successes on the ritual rounded up. The spirit still retains access to all of its natural charms while in this physical form, though has no need to manifest to affect the material world with them. It has 4 health levels and takes no wound penalties, but may soak all forms of damage with its Stamina.

The Woodland Sprite is bound then to perform one task for the Druid. This task must be one that can be accomplished within the scene, though it may be any task. However, the spirit is capricious and will try to twist its orders if given the opportunity. The Druid must make a Manipulation + Law roll at difficulty 6 and score more successes than he scored on the casting of the ritual to phrase his order in a way that the spirit cannot twist. If he does not score enough successes, the spirit will obey exactly the letter of his orders, but attempt to twist them away from their intent.

After the scene is over, the spirit gains its reward, retaining the physical body for the remainder of the night, free to do as it wishes.


Guiding Hand of Camalus: Level 4 (Path of Mars 2)
In battle, the greatest generals know that no enemy is truly unstoppable. No matter how tough, or how much armour he might wear, even the strongest of enemies may be felled by the strength of unity of those who fight as one. This ritual binds a select group of warriors together for a single overwhelming attack, allowing them to truly strike as one and overwhelm nearly any foe.

System: Before this ritual is cast, the Druid must anoint a group of warriors with his own blood, drawing a sigil to Camalus on their foreheads. This costs the Druid one blood point per subject so anointed. A Druid may anoint any number of subjects this way in advance, though the ritual may only be cast simultaneously on a maximum number of subjects equal to the Druid’s Occult score. No individual may bear more than one of these anointing marks and the marks fade at sunrise.

The Druid must spend one turn per subject of the ritual invoking their names and the name of their sire (which must be known to the Druid for this ritual to work) and calling on the blessing of Camalus, the god of war. During this time the subjects may take whatever actions they desire, but all must remain within the line of sight of the Druid or the ritual fails. On the turn following the invocation of the final name, all subjects are mystically connected and must surrender their entire turn’s worth of actions, including those granted by Celerity, for one strike. As they are mystically joined, all may strike on the turn of the member of the group with the highest initiative rating, and all must strike the same target. This strike may take the form of any mundane melee attack, be it melee or brawl based, though it cannot be the activation of a power or other mystical ability. Each rolls to hit and damage normally, using their own dice pools. However, each strike lands perfectly simultaneously due to the effects of this ritual. The victim of this joined attack must then soak all of the damage from all of the attacks as though the damage came from a single source. In the case of multiple categories of damage (bashing, lethal or aggravated), all damage is reduced to the lowest category for the purposes of this attack, so if a Gangrel is attacking with claws but 3 others in the group are using ordinary swords, all of the damage is considered lethal.


Form of the Forest Guardian: Level 5 (Green Path 5)
Masters of the Green Path may animate the ancient trees themselves to fight for them. This ritual expands on that, allowing the Druid to first meld with a tree then make use of it in battle.

System: The Druid must first cut the palms of his hands, inflicting one unsoakable level of lethal damage, and touch the tree in question, which must be of sufficient size to fully encompass the Druid’s body. He must then spend 2 full turns singing an invocation to Druantia to grant her favor and allow the Druid to use her children for war. This requires a Manipulation + Performance roll at difficulty 6. On the fourth round, the Druid steps inside the tree, expanding his own form to fill the body of the tree itself, treating it as though it were his own body. Melding with the tree takes 5 full rounds minus one round per success on the Manipulation + Performance roll, minimum of one round.

Once the ritual is complete, the Druid’s Strength and Stamina increase by an amount equal to his Draiocht rating and an additional 3 Bruised and 2 Hurt Health levels. He is immune to all Bashing damage, and all lethal damage is halved before soak. He also gains the ability to soak any form of aggravated damage other than fire with his Stamina. While in the form of the Forest guardian, the Druid may not wield weapons of any kind, but may rake with his branches for Strength +3 Lethal damage. The Druid’s movement rate is reduced to one half while in this form.

If the Druid ever falls to torpor while in this form, the tree immediately takes root where it stands and the Druid’s body is expelled, falling at the base of the tree. The Druid may also end the effects of this ritual at any time, stepping out of the tree at any point which also causes the tree to take root where it stands.

The Druid may remain in this form indefinitely, however he must spend 2 blood points each dawn to remain in the tree and resist the Sleep. While in the form of the Forest Guardian, the Druid is not subjected to the Weight of the Sun, suffering no penalties for remaining awake during the day, and needing no checks to remain awake. However, if he ever sleeps, the Druid is immediately ejected from the tree. It is notable that as the Druid is not sleeping, he does not need to expend blood to wake each night, nor does he regain Willpower for rising.

The Druid may not drink blood while in this form, however any blood spilled on his roots will be absorbed one hour later as though he had drunk it normally.


Fury of the Skies
This is a set of battle rituals that all are built to work with the Path of Weather Control. All of the rituals below are intended to turn the mere control of the weather into terrifying fury of the heavens in their full force. Each of these rituals requires mastery of the Path of Weather Control equal to the ritual level to learn as the principles of weaving weather must be well understood before channeling these forces of great destruction. Druids often used these arts to aid mortal armies in nights long past and are responsible for many of the tales of Druidic power. All of these rituals are very vulgar and obvious in nature and see little use in modern nights due to the extreme risk their use places on the Masquerade.


Fog of War: Level 2
In battle, a soldier must keep his eyes open. A soldier who cannot see quickly falls to an invisible blade. This ritual expands upon the Path of Weather Control’s ability to summon fog, creating a far thicker haze that completely obstructs vision and even hampers movement.

System: The Druid must first invoke the Path of Weather control to summon clouds to fill the sky. On the following turn he must make an invocation to Camalus to descend from the sky and grant his favor on this field. On the third turn the Druid must spend a blood point and spit straight up into the sky, which does not come down but continues to fly up into the clouds as an offering to the god. On the fourth turn the cloud layer descends to the ground, blanketing the field in mist far thicker and denser than anything natural.

The clouds cover a radius of 100 yards per success on the ritual. All those within the cloud layer are considered blind, suffering all penalties of that state. In addition, the Fog of War is thicker than normal, and actually hampers movement. This means that all physical actions are at an additional +1 difficulty unless the user has a Strength rating equal to the successes scored on the ritual. Furthermore all movement rates are quartered.

The Druid is automatically immune to the effects of this ritual. In addition, for each additional round he invokes his prayers to Camalus before spitting into the sky and triggering the ritual, the Druid may designate one additional person to be immune to the Fog.


Borne Aloft: Level 3
This ritual carries the Druid aloft on a tightly controlled cushion of wind, allowing him to fly. This ritual has neither the precision nor versatility of Movement of the Mind flight, but looks far more impressive as the winds whip around the Druid as he rises in the air, appearing to sit on top of what appears to be a miniature tornado.

System: The Druid must first use Weather Control 3 to invoke High Winds. On the following turn he must spend the full turn taking in as much air as his lungs can hold, making a Stamina + Occult roll at difficulty 6. On the following turn he must spin as fast as he can in a small circle, exhaling all of that air at the ground and invoking Lugh to bestow on him the gift of Fragarach and shape the winds to carry him aloft. The effect begins that turn after the invocation is finished, carrying the Druid up to 20 yards into the air on the first turn and consumes all of the effect of the High Winds, channeling it into the far more localized area to create this effect.

This effect lasts for a number of turns equal to the successes scored on the Stamina + Occult roll, though subsequent uses of Weather Control to invoke High Winds will extend the duration by a number of turns equal to the successes scored. While riding the winds, the Druid may move up to 20 yards per turn without an action in any direction, or up to 50 yards if he directs his full concentration to controlling the winds, taking his full action to move.

Rain of Fire: Level 4
One of the most terrifying of effects described in legend is the mighty Druid causing fire to rain from burning storm clouds and burn his enemies where they stand. With sufficient mastery of the Path of Weather Control, the accomplished Druid can cause just that. Even the most battle-hardened warriors cannot fight burning rain.

System: In order for this ritual to be enacted, there must first be a severe storm in place, whether this is natural or due to the Druid’s use of Weather Control. On the first round of this ritual, the Druid must catch and fill a chalice with rain water from the storm that has never touched the ground while invoking the gods of storms and fury. On the second turn he must spend a blood point and take a level of unsoakable lethal damage as he slashes his wrist and mixes his blood with the rainwater, beginning a chant to infuse the rain with the power of his blood. On the third round the Druid must light the concoction in the chalice on fire. Due to the vitae and the magic involved the concoction will prove extremely flammable, remaining alight despite the downpour, though lighting it may prove a challenge depending on the method used (Dexterity + Survival dif 8 at ST discretion if sufficient cover is not present). Finally on the fourth round the Druid finishes the invocation to the great flame spirits and flings the concoction from the chalice into the air which will continue to flow up into the storm clouds.
On the fourth turn the Druid makes the usual ritual roll and the effect begins immediately. The clouds will appear to catch fire and burn in the air and all the rain will similarly catch fire, burning as it falls, flame streaking from the sky onto the targets below, setting alight all flammable material in the targeted area. The Druid may target any area within the radius of his storm of a minimum radius of 100 feet and a maximum radius of 100 feet per success. All caught within the effect without cover must soak 3 levels of Aggravated damage each turn of exposure. This is in addition to any damage taken from mundane fire that has been started by the burning rain.

This is not a precise power and the effect will blow and spread and change as weather patterns move the burning clouds. For every turn that the effect persists the ST should make a WoD check. On a fail, the burning cloud moves up to 50 feet in a random direction dictated by the winds. The Druid may use another use of the Path of Weather Control to attempt to control the cloud and move it back on target on his action. This effect will last for a maximum of one scene, though it may be ended at any time by the casting Druid by refilling the chalice with fresh rainwater and making a second Intelligence + Occult roll. Ending the burning rain effect does not end any other fires that may have been caused by it.
Viewed from within the effect, the effects of what is happening are readily apparent. Burning rain is falling from the sky. However, from outside the radius of the effect, this is seen as an extremely intense lightning storm, with many strikes hitting the ground and starting fires.

Needless to say this power is an enormous breach of the Masquerade that should be used extremely cautiously, if ever in these modern nights.