Assamite Thaumaturgy

By Michael Ortiz (mortiz@world-net.net)

Description

Below is a system if an Assamite player wishes to substitute her Quietus discipline for Thaumaturgy. Also included is a system that allows the character to create the various alchemical weapons, as listed in the clan book, in the field, (i.e., away from the Assamite stronghold). Unfortunately, not all of the alchemical weapons can be created in the field. Included excerpts are from the Assamite Clan book and Players Guide for Vampire: The Masquerade.

Assamites who learn Thaumaturgy have a natural affinity for the Path of Blood, as outlined in Vampire: The Masquerade, but are unable to learn other Thaumaturgy Paths or rituals that do not involve Vitæ. Because of the intense studying necessary to learn this discipline, an Assamite Thaumaturgist character cannot be created knowing the Quietus discipline. They can, through the course of a story, learn it from another Assamite and increase their level in Quietus as a normal clan discipline through the use of experience points.

An Assamite Thaumaturgist will need a minimum of 4 dots in the skill Alchemy and 3 dots in Occult before being able to create any of the alchemical weapons in the field.

After gathering the necessary items, the Assamite Thaumaturgist spends 30 minutes preparing the various ingredients. Afterwards, the character spends a certain amount of time, depending on the alchemical weapon, actually mixing the ingredients and creating the desired weapon.

The Weapons

A powder made of dried blood that has been treated. It can be reconstituted with the blood of a vessel, or introduced into a vessel's bloodstream directly or orally. Any Kindred who drinks the tainted blood must make a Stamina + Fortitude roll (dif 7) or suffer the effects of level 3 Quietus, Disease.

Disease affects all of the Physical Attributes of the target and lowers them by one. The number of successes determines the duration of the effect.

Successes	Duration
1	1 turn
2	1 hour
3	1 day
4	1 month
5	Permanently*

^*The affected Attributes can be raised later via experience points.

If a mortal's Stamina is reduced to 0 they become very sick and their immune system stops working. If a Kindred is reduced to 0 they immediately enter torpor and do not recover until a Stamina point returns. If the Stamina of a Kindred is permanently destroyed, they may only recover from torpor via mystical means. If either Strength or Dexterity is reduced to 0 the target cannot move until a point in one or the other is recovered.

To create Plague Dust the character spends 30 minutes mixing the various ingredients with 3 blood points of the characters own blood. 15 minutes into the processes the player rolls Alchemy + Intelligence (dif 6). At the end of the process the player makes another Alchemy + Intelligence roll (dif 6). A total of 3 successes are needed to successfully create the dust. A failure results in a brownish red paste being created that is completely worthless. A botch results in the character managing to get some of the paste on her skin and immediately absorbing it into her system. The character suffers from the effects of Plague Dust herself. Alchemical weapons are not something to be played with by the inexperienced. This process makes enough dust for 1 target.

Another dried blood product, Bitter Dust can be reconstituted with 1 blood point of the character's own blood. The resulting paste is used to coat a Melee weapon. The weapon causes aggravated wounds similar to level 4 Quietus, Blood Agony, but this effect only last for 3 successful hits or for one hour, whichever is shorter. If a successful hit deals no damage it still counts and the number of hits left is reduced.

To create Bitter Dust the character spends 60 minutes mixing the various ingredients with 3 blood points of the characters own blood. 30 minutes into the processes the player rolls Alchemy + Intelligence (dif 7). At the end of the process the player makes another Alchemy + Intelligence roll, dif 7. A total of 4 successes are needed to successfully create the dust. A failure and a botch are the same as in creating Plague Dust. This process makes enough dust for 1 sword or 2 daggers/knives, or the equivalent thereof. Bullets cannot be used with Bitter Dust because of the high velocity in which then travel. However, arrows and darts can be used since they travel at much slower speeds. This process can be used on the tips of 3 arrows/darts.

This brownish dust renders any blood unusable to a vampire of any kind; the blood's nutritious qualities are completely destroyed. Worse still, any Kindred who drinks the blood must roll Stamina + Fortitude (dif 6). Each failure costs the victim 1 blood point as the Bloodwater Dust corrupts the drinker's own Vitæ. Each botch counts as 2 failures.

To create Bloodwater Dust the character spends 2 hours mixing the various ingredients with 6 blood points of the characters own blood. 1 hour into the processes the player rolls Alchemy + Intelligence (dif 8). At the end of the process the player makes another Alchemy + Intelligence roll (dif 8). A total of 5 successes are needed to successfully create the dust. A failure and a botch are the same as in creating Plague Dust. This process makes enough dust for 3 targets.