Vampire the Masquerade : Thaumaturgical Rituals

[Yorkblack]

Hello everyone !

I'm pretty new at vampire, I only started a few weeks ago. Until now, we were two players and a GM (well, ST), in Paris, trying to become the ultimate criminal masterminds. I was playing a ventrue, my friend was playing a toreador. However, I got myself destroyed by the prince, and now i'm creating a Tremere.

The idea behind the character is to make a bookish wizard, passionate about magic. He was a very rich heir, and devoted his money, when he was alive, to learn about the occult, which is how he got spotted by the tremere and embraced.

So, in terms of gameplay, I put a lot of points into knowledges, some in social talents, and very few in skills, and he is taking Path of Blood 4 and Dominate I (since I reroll, I start with some xp), and I want to go Movement of the Mind later.

But there's one thing for which I don't really know what to do : the rituals.
My GM allowed one ritual for each dot in thaumaturgy (so I have one lvl 1 ritual, one lvl 2, one lvl 3, one lvl 4), but I have no idea what to take.
What are, in your opinion, the most useful rituals I could take ?

And by the way, if you have any advice about anything, I'm always listening ;)

[fishyfishyfishy]

My GM allowed one ritual for each dot in thaumaturgy (so I have one lvl 1 ritual, one lvl 2, one lvl 3, one lvl 4), but I have no idea what to take.
What are, in your opinion, the most useful rituals I could take ?

Rituals are fairly specific in their effects. They can cover up a lot of weaknesses, though many have overlap with Disciplines. I prefer the idea of taking rituals that don't overlap and picking up Disciplines normally.

I think Deflection of Wooden Doom and Defense of Sacred Haven are great for level 1. Which are you more afraid of? Wooden stakes or sunlight?

Level 2 has Principal Focus of Vitae Infusion for backup stores of Vitae. Though there is merit to things like Burning Blade and Ward Versus Ghouls.

Level 3 has the excellent Pavis of Foul Presence. With a decent Willpower and this Ritual the two biggest advantages Ventrue have over you are mitigated.

And finally, we get to the beauty that is Ward Versus Kindred. Kindred spend a lot of time pissing each other off. This is especially true of player characters. This can save your bacon.


Don't neglect your other Disciplines. There's quite a bit of powerful abilities in Auspex and Dominate. The best Tremere keep Thaumaturgy as their plan C, and don't over do it.

[Yorkblack]

I think I'll take deflection of wooden doom for the first level, pavis of foul presence for 3 and ward against kindred for 4. However, for the second one, I saw donning the mask of shadows, which seems quite useful. What do you think of it ?

[fishyfishyfishy]

Useful if you don't think you'll ever sink XP into Obfuscate. Like I said before: I personally don't like the idea of taking Thaumaturgy Rituals that overlap with disciplines since disciplines can be learned through role-playing with NPCs, which can open up all kinds of role-playing opportunities.

[Chen]

I think I'll take deflection of wooden doom for the first level, pavis of foul presence for 3 and ward against kindred for 4. However, for the second one, I saw donning the mask of shadows, which seems quite useful. What do you think of it ?

Is ward vs kindred really that useful? 3 dice lethal damage is peanuts to a vampire who actually wants to take something. Not to mention just throwing the thing into a bag or breaking it (in cases of a door or the like) negates it too. Warding circle vs kindred is MUCH better since it actually prevents kindred from entering at all (though the damage is laughable at 3 bashing).

[Longes]

Is ward vs kindred really that useful? 3 dice lethal damage is peanuts to a vampire who actually wants to take something. Not to mention just throwing the thing into a bag or breaking it (in cases of a door or the like) negates it too. Warding circle vs kindred is MUCH better since it actually prevents kindred from entering at all (though the damage is laughable at 3 bashing).

Ward vs Kindred is really bad at doing its job - stopping kindred from getting into places you don't want them get into. What it is good at is making weapons hit kindred harder and stopping kindred from grabbing your favorite toys without permission.

[fishyfishyfishy]

Exactly. You don't use Ward Vs. Kindred to stop them from going into some place, you use it to stop them from touching things you don't want touched. That can include a whole load of things. Utilized correctly, you and your haven can be really annoying to mess with.

[Anderlith]

I played a very successful Tremere lawyer, I can't remember names of the rituals, but I prefer the Blood Penny one for Vitae reserves. Either learn Visisitude later & place glass beads within your body, or just swallow them & keep them in your gut.

I recommend, the Blood transfer flask as well, just a single touch & suddenly you're blood-bonding others to your will. Lots of other transfer shenanigans.

I also recommend the Aggro weapon ritual, even if you don't think you'll be using it as a self defence weapon, it makes a great bribe to some Brujah's for protection/favors

There is also a ritual that allows you to artificially up your generation. Definitely take that. Combine that with the Blood Penny one & you can up your generation fast & then burn blood pennies to get all that extra blood pool.

Another suggestion for you if you do take Mind over Matter, get things that burn. Molotov Cocktails, or the like. Have a ghoul start the fire, & then launch it at your bloodsucking enemies, or your furry enemies... heck, just toss fire wherever