Magick Sings Through the Blood
There is a long, long history of blood sorcery among the Kindred. Indeed, its a common occurrence in the community social circles that surround this game, to have multiple references to blood magick of all types come up in a discussion.
In this article, I’m going to do my best to go into a deep dive of Thaumaturgy the Discipline, as well as Thaumaturgy the ‘catch-all’ term for blood sorcery in V20, its practitioners, and the Clan that makes use of it the most.
As well as this, I’m going to attempt to refine all of this information from a long-time Storyteller’s perspective, as well as a Player of nearly 30 years, and how to effectively utilize Thaumaturgy’s wealth of Player and ST options into a new or currently-running Chronicle. This article isn’t so much a breakdown of the individual Paths and their powers, those are detailed well enough in the books they’re contained in. The purpose of this article is to view Thaumaturgy from a more creative standpoint, and to explore the Discipline as it can be creatively used by a Player or ST within a Chronicle, and to broaden the understanding of what Thaumaturgy is capable of.
Because that’s what really makes a TTRPG absolutely sing, especially when the ambiguous art of Magick is included into a game, is the capacity of having a ton of different options available. Because an overly homogenized game, where there’s no real differences from one Class/Clan to another, is a boring game. Variety and a wealth of options allow for an entire universe of creativity and individuality to mature, deepen, and expand what is possible within a game.
So, let’s dig in by starting with the most well known of the blood magick Disciplines, Thaumaturgy.
Thaumaturgy
Though the Tremere Clan of vampires codified the Discipline of Thaumaturgy well back in the Dark Ages (during their war with the Tzimisce and Gangrel Clans, shortly after stealing vampirism for themselves), they aren’t (and have never been) its sole practitioners, but they are by far the most well-learned and practiced in its craft.
Blood magick of various different flavors has been in use since the earliest recorded times of the Second City, and even more obscurely referenced as far back as the First City, Enoch.
Due to the Tremere’s mastery of Thaumaturgy (and their standing claim that it is the propriety of their Clan and theirs alone), as well as the other Clans who practice blood magick of their own variety, “Thaumaturgy” has also become a catch-all phrase for all blood magick.
Indeed, aside from a few other Disciplines that stand alone (such as Necromancy and Abyssal Mysticism), the updates to the game with V20 and DA20 has often retconned the various blood magicks of the other Clans to reflect that they practice “a style of blood magick ‘similar enough to’ *insert Thaumaturgy Path here*, that the writers and developers just have you refer to that specific Path(s) of Thaumaturgy for that other Clan’s use of blood magick.
But that was the past editions. In V20, Disciplines such as Assamite Sorcery, Koldunic Sorcery, Abyssal Mysticism, etc., are definitely differentiated from Thaumaturgy as a whole. I’m not including them in this article because they’re mechanically similar to Thaumaturgy, and they’re still yet distinct enough on their own that they deserve articles of their own, to be explored in depth as they so richly need.
Though, it is still a truism that the other Blood Sorceries are often, and mistakenly, lumped in with Thaumaturgy as if they were inseparable from it.
What that unfortunate line of thought does, is further cement the Tremere’s moniker of ‘Usurpers’, they are seen as trying to claim that all blood magick “belongs to” them, and for their part the Tremere have done little to dissuade and distance themselves from that image. While they definitely created the codified Discipline of Thaumaturgy, their codification was more akin to creating a “blood magick encyclopedia” that more or less just took a bunch of disjointed and disparate Paths of blood magick, redefined and compiled them, and joined them together into one rote Discipline.
Yes, the Tremere do deserve their due for the work they put into the Discipline, and without a doubt, Thaumaturgy wouldn’t be nearly as potent or widespread in the modern nights as it is without the necessity-driven research of the Tremere.
And, if you like the Dark Ages versions better, theres also nothing preventing a Storyteller from using those rules in their Chronicle, regardless of the time period its set in.
It is, after all, your Chronicle and World of Darkness. Do what is the most fun.
But, I digress…
What I love about the Discipline of Thaumaturgy, is the sheer amount of options it gives to Players and ST’s alike, to create distinct, memorable, deep characters and NPC’s. With such a wide variety of powers available for use, one would have to work pretty hard to create the same character twice.
And not all Paths of Thaumaturgy are created equally. Some are very much more suited for certain or specific situations better than the others; but every single Path is written kind of “open ended”, which leaves a lot of wiggle room for the creative Player or ST to allow the various spells and rituals to perform a wide variety of effects, uses, and for many different situations.
And its that very versatility that makes Thaumaturgy so beloved.
Now, there are … other editions of VtM that have arbitrarily removed nearly all of this Discipline, and dismembered it down to just having one Path with only five set powers and a few meager, impotent Rituals. In some earlier editions of the game, Thaumaturgy was similarly bereft of options, but not nearly as much as the newest edition, and mostly because it was still new. I won’t dwell on these “crimes” against Thaumaturgy too much. Suffice to say that to neuter such a versatile Discipline such as Thaumaturgy in this manner only leads to a vast misunderstanding of the value in that versatility that Thaumaturgy represents, and dies a massive disservice to the very concepts of Magick and the versatility of the Blood of Caine itself.
Which is one of the multitude of reasons why I stick with V20 and earlier editions. Because in TTRPG’S and video games, having a wealth and overabundance of options, even if you dont use all of them in each game or Chronicle, is never, never ever ever, a bad thing.
More options are never bad!
EVER!!!
Now, before I get into the part of the discussion where I go through somw of the individual Paths of Thaumaturgy and the creative uses for them, I want to go through some of the downsides to the Discipline.
With all of this variety that Thaumaturgy offers, there still needs to be balance to the game. While Thaumaturgy is definitely a powerful Discipline, the costs and risks are exponentially high for the practitioner as higher and higher level powers and rituals are invoked and cast. Some powers and Rituals, if failed/botched, will kill the Kindred outright, or cripple/maim them. Thaumaturgy is not a Discipline for the faint of heart.
Couple that with the inherent limitations of chasing Mastery of the Discipline, and the dedication necessary to do so helps keep the Discipline nicely balanced with the other Disciplines that Kindred can call upon.
While versitile and containing many Paths, each Path of Thaumaturgy must be learned separately, often at the cost of foregoing refinement of the Kindred’s other Disciplines. The time spent dedicated to learning Thaumaturgy, especially if a Kindred is working on more than one Path at once, directly and negatively stagnates the development of other Disciplines.
There are, after all, only so many experience points to go around. So the Kindred and Player are forced to make some difficult decisions in the advancement of their Disciplines. And thats how such a potent Discipline is kept “in balance” with the rest of the game.
Sure, with enough time and research, your vampire could become an undead Gandalf. But the sheer number of experience points this would require, on top of the lack of training in your other Disciplines, means that this is highly unlikely for any long-running character to do. This necessity to spread out experience point expenditures across the breadth of several Disciplines, is a “hidden mechanic” in order to keep the raw potential of Thaumaturgy in comparable power levels to the other arsenal of Disciplines that the Cainites have available.
Sure Thaumaturgy has the potential to be game-breaking in its potency and versatility, but that potency and versatility is kept in check by the limited amount of resources available to advance study in the Discipline, and at the cost of developing other abilities/Disciplines.
The balance for Thaumaturgy, is very much in the sacrifice it requires to master it.
Thaumaturgy has never been “broken” or “overpowered”. Thaumaturgy doesn’t now, or ever, need to be neutered to be “reigned in”. If Thaumaturgy is understood fully, and run properly by both ST’s and Players, it reigns itself in by its very nature, and balances itself alongside the other Disciplines pretty fairly evenly.
Now, on to the discussion of the Paths.
Thaumaturgical Systems
Before we begin, let’s take a look at the rules/systems in order to even use Thaumaturgy.
Every single Path power of Thaumaturgy uses the exact same system and roll. This is because it is the level of the power that determines its efficacy.
In order to use a Path power, the Player must spend a Blood Point and make a Willpower roll, difficulty is equal to the power’s level +3. This means that the difficulties range from the minimum 4 difficulty for a level one power, to needing to hit an 8 for a level 5 power.
While that may or may not be daunting to a player, only one success is needed to make the power work. As with all rolls though, the Storyteller is free to add extra effects for multiple successes such as getting 3 or more successes on the activation roll. Indeed, quite a few Path powers can have some truly awesome effects with the more successes that are rolled.
Each Ritual has its own systems that apply to that specific Ritual in order for it to succeed. Unlike the Path powers, each Ritual has its own activation costs like Blood/Willpower expenditure requirements, and its own activation roll as well as time commitments to perform the Ritual successfully.
Whereas the Path powers are meant to have an immediate effect, Rituals can potentially sit for years until the necessary requirements are met for its effect(s) to take place. And there’s a good trade-off for the Discipline. While the Rituals take quite a bit of time and expenditure in order to be cast correctly, that time commitment is balanced by the very potent effects most Rituals have.
More time and resources to cast, greater magickal effects and power from the ritual casting.
But now, let’s start exploring some of the Paths that make Thaumaturgy the juggernaut that it is. Thaumaturgy itself has an exhaustive list of Paths available to the budding Thaumaturge, so I will only touch on some of my absolute favorites in this article.
The Path of Blood
By the description in V20 and DA20, The Path of Blood is most commonly the very first Path that a Neonate Tremere learns when breaking into learning Thaumaturgy, and for good reason.
As Thaumaturgy itself begets all of its power from the mystical properties of Kindred vitae, The Path of Blood sits as one of the most powerful Paths available to a thaumaturge.
Its powers, while not specifically combat oriented, do have their uses for combat purposes. The Path allows the Kindred to feed from a distance, which can steal the very vitae that another Kindred might use for their own Disciplines or healing of wounds. And it makes feeding… different when stealing the blood of mortals.
It can, with but a few drops, allow a practiced Path adherent to not only tell if a Kindred has committed the heinous crime of diablerie recently, but also tell if they’ve ever committed the act, even if it happened centuries or millennia prior and the telltale black streaks in the aura have long since faded. This makes for quite useful leverage for blackmail or extortion for the Tremere who holds such information.
Some powers even allow the Kindred to kill with but a glancing, feagher-loght touch, boiling away the targets reserves of vitae and causing excruciating damage. This power is always fatal to mortals, and is a prime method of committing a necessary assassination, or to cover up a whole host of other blood related crimes.
The Rituals analagous to this Path are no less devious, malicious, or potent. A practiced thaumaturge, with a little bit of blood from their target, and enough time, can create an entire encyclopedia worth or effects on other Kindred, and they do not even have to be in the target Kindred’s presence for most of the time!
Truly, this is one of the most feared Paths among Thaumaturgy’s arsenal, if for no other reason than the sheer flexibility of effects that it offers.
The Path of Neptune’s Might
In my humble opinion, this is one of the most underappreciated Paths in all of Thaumaturgy. Often seen as a joke by most Kindred who know of it, that view of this Path is promoted since most of Kindred society has very little interaction with large bodies of water, lakes, rivers, ponds, etc.
However, that dismissal does an injustice to what is actually a very versatile Path, especially since over 75% of the planet is covered with water.
In my ongoing Chronicle and Meta for V20, the Tremere chantry in Kansas City is named ‘The Fountainhead. The Regent of the chantry is a master of this Path, and has been in the city since its inception as a trading post at the very edge of the American Frontier during its westward expansionist days.
Modern Kansas City, Missouri has the distinction of being the city in the world with the largest number of Fountains, second only to Rome. When that Regent founded the chantry here, over the following decades and century and a half, he had a direct hand in not only the design and placement/location of every single fountain in KC, but he and his Acolytes have hidden Thaumaturgic glyphs of power carved into the very stones that the Fountains are built upon and with.
In the deepest recesses of the chantry interior, he has had built a massive fountain that serves as the nexus of a thaumaturgical “web” that criss-crosses the entirety of the Kansas City Metro area. Since KC has Fountains both inside of buildings as well as outside (and some buildings have Fountains on multiple floors…), he has patiently crafted an entire network of Fountains that are used to spy and listen in on conversations that other Kindred think are secret. They are used for divination on a city-scale level, and in times of great necessity, can be used for combat and transportation. Tremere who know this Path at the right levels can step into a fountain in one location, and step out of a fountain at their desired location.
This is another Path whose uses and potential for new Rituals, is vastly underrated and under appreciated.
I’m rather fond of allowing Players and my NPC’s to create new rituals that are direct reflections of this Path. With the sheer availability of water around the world, really the only limitations to this Path are the limitations imposed by the user’s creativity. While low level rituals are fairly easy to drum up, for those higher level effects we should focus on the microcosm as well as the macrocosm.
Not only should higher level Rituals and powers be able to influence and affect higher volumes of water, but also refine the minute mastery and control over water. When thinking about the breadth of possibilities this opens up, remember that the mortal body is also made up primarily of water.
Though its also fair to mention, as the Storyteller, you have full and final say on what new powers and Rituals are allowed in your game/Chronicle. But while you should definitely keep a close eye on what your Kindred do with this Path, and all other Paths that they toy around with, keep in mind that whatever your Players do to tweak the powers of Thaumaturgy, NPC’s and other blood sorcerers can do as well.
The Path of Movement of the Mind
While this Path is pretty much telekinesis of the rote variety, there’s a ton of different creative uses available for all levels of Mastery of this Path.
Sure, it allows a Kindred to lift and move increasingly heavier weights as mastery in the Path develops. However I am also a fan of having fine manipulation of those objects increase as well.
Just as a mortal increases their manual dexterity over time as the body matures and ages from infant to adulthood, so should a Thaumaturge’s “mental manual dexterity” improve as refinement of the Path grows as well. If a Kindred attains say… level 3 of this Path, it should be no issue for them to lift a pen and write a letter, or in a journal, or a ransom note. Their abilities to manipulate objects while lifted should be increased as a reflection of that growing mastery. Indeed, the Path description even states that if an object can be lifted, it can be manipulated as easily as if the character were holding the object in their hand.
Personally though, as a Storyteller, I like to place a caveat on the use of objects with this power. And that caveat deals entirely with the weight of an object being lifted.
Now, I should also say; while level 5 of the power allows the Kindred to lift some pretty crazy weights, that doesn’t men that they’ll have the same manual dexterity ver an Escalade as they would have over a writing pen. As ludicrous as it may sound, even at level 5, theres no way that they should have the same control over a pen the size of a vehicle as they would have over a regular writing pen. In this train of thought, as the weight of the object increases, it should also equivalently take more of the Kindred’s concentration to keep those ever larger amounts merely lifted.
So, while the Path itself states that once an object can be lifted, it can be manipulated with the same dexterity as if it were held in the Vampire’s hand; i like to place a soft limit on this dexterity once an object is over a certain size. Some items are just… bulky and awkward to handle and utilize effectively.
Objects that can be lifted can also be thrown with this Path, though the Thaumaturge needs to have attained at least level 4 in this Path in order for the object/person to be thrown with any damage-dealing capability. But once that level is reached, the Thaumaturge us not only able to lift some impressive amounts of weight, but being able to chuck them at an opponent can do some very serious damage!
At level 3 of this Path, the Kindred can even simulate flight, to a limited degree. It will never be as effective for flight as the Gargoyle discipline of Flight, but it can be used as a close simulacrum, and the utility of such an ability cannot be underestimated.
This is a fairly utilitarian Path, with many and multiple chances for usefulness at all levels of mastery. Just, you know… be creative.
The Path of Flame
Its a well known fact of unlife that the two primary banks of Kindred existence are sunlight and fire.
What could be more terrifying then, than a Kindred who can generate, control, and throw around fire at will?
Next to the Path of Blood, the Path of Flame is probably the most practiced Path by Players and NPC Tremere alike. Its very obvious combat and Kindred extinguishing uses are jist kinda blatantly “out there” for all to see.
And like I had said with Movement of the Mind, as a thaumaturge’s mastery of this Path grows, he not only is able to generate larger and hotter burning conflagrations, but his finite control over the flames he conjures increases as well. This could be anything from lighting a cigarette by having the tip start a burning ember all on its own, to setting a troublesome Malkavian’s shirt on fire in order to “solve” the issue of said Kindred.
It can also be used for dramatic entrances or exits, causing candles and hearth flames to flare up, die down, or form dancing silhouettes to enhance the Kindred’s entrance/departure.
Depending on the level of mastery, it can also be invaluable in escaping a Haven that has been set aflame by noxious Hunter’s by making the flames die down or move away from an escape route entirely.
Or, it could be used to set a rival’s haven aflame I guess… but, what kind of honorable Kindred would do such a thing!? 😉
The Path of Elemental Mastery
This is very much a “four elements of creation” style of Path. Despite what one may believe, Thaumaturgy has a number of Paths that are very “nature” oriented, and while this is one of the more generalized ones, it is no less useful in the Thaumaturge’s repertoire.
It allows everything from speaking with the spirits of trees and plants, to manipulating rock and earth for various purposes.
Now, I must admit that I am personally not that familiar with this Path. However; I have seen friends of mine use it in game to some truly genius effects, and so I include it in this article as an homage to those friends of mine, who took this Path to heights that I hadn’t ever considered.
The Green Path
Another nature oriented Path, The Green Path focuses its base of knowledge on plants, both living and dead. Like the Path of Neptune’s Might, this is another vastly overlooked and derided Path in Thaumaturgy, and that dismissive attitude betrays the sheer usefulness of the powers it grants to a Thaumaturge. Often given the moniker of ‘The Botanical Path’, it still has a niche, but dedicated following among the Tremere.
While they may never admit it, there are not a few stories of Tremere caught out in the open as the sun crested the horizon, and it was quick thinking and quicker magick from a practitioner of this Path that allowed them to wake again on the following night.
The core of this Path is the control it gives over plant matter of all types, both living and dead. Thats an important distinction.
This Path can be used to create impromptu shelter as I mentioned earlier, or it can be used to entangle opponents, or any of a host of other applications. For social gatherings or for capturing the heart of someone the vampire wants to get close to, it can even be used for such a mundane task as to cause flowers to blossom to their full beauty when the subject walks into the room.
As I’ve said so many times with other Paths already, the only realy limitations to this Path are: 1) it only affects plant matter, and 2) how creative the user can be.
The Path of Technomancy
In the modern nights, this Path has become increasingly popular among neonate Tremere and those embraced recently enough that they’re still relatively adaptable to the rapid evolution of mortal technology and society.
Relatively unheard of and unused among older Tremere, this Path has proven indispensable to young Tremere vying for promotion in the Clan.
This Path can be seen in direct parallel to the foci of certain Traditions and Unions of Mages, but is obviously nowhere near as powerful as using Sphere Magick through a technological medium. It is however, extremely potent in the 21st century when even younger and “middle age” vampires are relying more and more on technology with each night that passes.
And though they might not readily admit it, even the oldest Vampires are adopting more and more technology as they awaken in the 21st century. While killing all of the technology for a Kindred, or using it to spy or send coded secret messages might hamper and disrupt a younger Kindred; while the Path’s effects might be just as effective regardless of the age of the vampire using it, losing access to their technology isn’t as much of a setback to older Kindred.
This is something that a Thaumaturgical Technomancer needs to keep in mind when using this Path to further their schemes.
Thaumaturgical Countermagick
This Path is pretty self-explanatory, though it is more like a separate Discipline in its own right than a Path mixed in with the rest of Thaumaturgy.
Seen by young and old Tremere alike as the antithesis of all that they do, the secrets of this Path are jealously guarded and hidden away by the elders of the Clan. While a few secrets of its practice have slipped out here and there, it’s existence is largely unknown to the Tremere Clan proper.
The Path has no individual powers on its own, but merely gives a Thaumaturge a number of dice to use to counter other Thaumaturgical and Magickal effects. Included in the description are also mechanics for becoming aware of and/or recognizing Magick and Thaumaturgy effects on an area, as well as recognition of a Path power of Magick effect as it is being woven, then giving the Thaumaturge the dice pool to counter those effects.
This isn’t really a deep, philosophical, or creative Path. It is much more of a Path for Vampires who are intimately Magickally “aware”, and gives them the ability and chance to say “No”.
Obviously, this Path is seen with a gross amount of suspicion among the Tremere as a while,, specifically the Elders of the Clan;a nd quite frankly, who could blame them?
The Tremere hierarchy is equal parts supported by backstabbing and schemes as much as it is by Thaumaturgical mastery and ability. To have a Thaumaturge with the ability to cancel out those Magickal effects that keep the Elders in their primacy running around willy-nilly, can be viewed as a direct affront and challenge to their authority.
If a Tremere or other Thaumaturge were to be seen using this Path, it is almost guaranteed that Tremere Elders around the world would love to “talk” with the Kindred utilizing such a potent path. The Thaumatuge might also be subject to decades or centuries of close supervision by the Clan Elders, if for no other reason that to try to use the Thaumaturge and this Path as their own unwitting pawns against their Clanmatss and enemies.
While simple in what it does, there are few Paths more potent than the ability to deny other Thaumaturges the use of their greatest asset(s).
Thaumaturgical Rituals
Rituals in the Discipline of Thaumaturgy are as varied as the Paths that they support and overshadow.
By nature, while the Paths contain powers that are near-instant in their effect, Rituals take time to mature and take effect. Though because of this, most Rituals have powerful effects that dwarf what the individual Paths are able to offer. Some take merely hours to cast. Others (and the far more potent and high-level Rituals) can take days, weeks, or even years to finish casting.
Thaumaturgical Rituals are also flush with a wider variety of effects than the Paths can produce, and it is far easier to create a new Ritual in its entirety than it is to create a new power for a given Path.
The Rituals in Thaumaturgy do everything from warding and protecting individuals and entire areas of real estate, to enchanting various objects with a wide variety of effects, to scrying, to even potent situational combat uses.
And while there are plenty of Rotuals detailed in most every V20 source books and supplements, Plauers and ST’s are also highly encouraged to create their own Rituals. I cannot champion this enough!
What i like to do and see, as a Player and ST, is broadly expand the Rituals by taking what is already published, creating variants of what already exists, but use them in conjunction with, and as supplemental sympathetic support of the various Paths.
Not only does this give the Discipline as a whole a far more intimate feel for the Player, it opens up some spectacular role-playing opportunities as the Player expands on their individual knowledge of the Discipline, but also expands on and advances Thaumaturgy as a Discipline and Magickal art.
Just running the Chapters and Stories around Players adapting existing Rituals to their chosen Paths, or researching entirely new Rituals, has led to some of the most fun game sessions I can remember.
Truly, alongside the Paths; the Rituals are an inseparably important aspect to the Discipline, and knowledge of and collecting of Rituals should be as important to a Thaumaturge as their overall advancement in their Paths.
As a Storyteller and Player, if you have a character that utilizes Thaumaturgy, I cannot stress enough that I hope you delve as deeply into the Rituals as fervently as you chase after advancement in your chosen Paths! Trust me, if you do, you’ll have a character that you simply will not want to quit playing.
Closing Thoughts, the Tremere, and Thaumaturgy
Thaumaturgy, as I mentioned at the top of this article, is most often associated with the Tremere; and for their part, they don’t refute the claim that they are its creators and sole practitioners.
This isn’t true, as there are several other Clans who utilize Thaumaturgy, though not as a Clan Discipline as the Tremere are privileged to have. They did however, take the disparate Paths of Thaumaturgy that existed before them, as well as creating new Paths based off of their millennia of time as Mages in the Order of Hermes and what they could do with their reality-shaping magicks before their change.
While Thaumaturgy is a Static Magick, and not as powerful as utilizing the Spheres as Mages do; the influences of Hermetical House Tremere can easily be seen in the effects and very core design of the Discipline.
Indeed, its also fair to mention that House Tremere aren’t even the first Mages to make the change from mortal Willworkers to Vampire. The Nagaraja are actually the first Mages to make this transition, but I’ll cover them much more in depth in my next article which will be on the Discipline of Necromancy.
But regardless of what an individual might think of the Tremere, they are a fun Clan to play. They fancy themselves schemers of the same vein as the Toreador, Lasombra, and Ventrue, and they use their Thaumaturgy directly to assist them in the realization of their plots and plans. They’re assholes, and sometimes its just fun to play an asshole, even for a little bit.
While there is a definite argument and a multitude of reasons to despise them for their actions since they forced their way into Kindred society; they are also one of the most adaptive Clans of Kindred in existence, and that adaptiveness can make them extremely fun to play as a Player Character, and the possible character concepts for a Tremere are as open to possibility as the Discipline that they claim as their birthright.
So, go; explore the mystical side of the Blood of Caine, and have the most fun doing it! For there is almost no Discipline that can give the wealth of options and adaptability that Thaumaturgy offers. Master your Paths, create and perform your Rituals, and make your enemies Blood boil in their very veins!
~ Nox
Lasombra, 5th Gen
Morte Ascendo
Nocturnal Gods 