Path of the Quickening Mind (Thaumaturgical path)

By ??? (Send me email if you know who wrote this.)

A new Thaumaturgical Path created by Harcourt Falconet, Tremere

Searching through libraries and archives for the information needed by Harcourt proved a lengthy process, even though time is not really a problem. It would be most helpful though to be able to read books and search for the required knowledge...without having to pick them up. Thus a new Path was created, the Path of the Quickening Mind, enabling the user to employ the following abilities:

* Speed Read: This requires no expenditure of blood, but a roll of INT + Linguistics (Diff 4) determines the amount of time it takes to read the book, although this can be adjusted depending on the amount of information / size of book.

** Shelve the Mind: One blood point must be spent in order to empower this ability, which grants Eidetic Recall as per the Merit. The number of successes rolled on INT + Appropriate Knowledge (Difficulty 6) determines the number of days for which the ability lasts. All information received within this time is retained in perfect detail. After this period elapses, if more blood is not used, then the detail will begin to fade, leaving the Thaumaturgist with 'standard' memory of the knowledge.

*** Illuminating Touch: By simply touching or holding a book, the Thaumaturgist gains instant knowledge of all that is in the book, provided it is in a language she understands. This requires a blood point to use and an INT + Knowledge roll against a difficulty of 7 to determine the level of information recieved:

1 The general subject matter and topics
2 Basic recall of of outlines (little detail)
3 Basic recall of everything (Great detail)
4 Complete recall (Eidetic)
5 Complete recall and understanding

This power may be used to retrieve data from computer databanks, using INT + Computers (Difficulty 9) for the roll.

**** Embrace the Store of Knowledge: This power functions the same as level 3, but may be used on a large amount of books simultaneously, such as in a library. All works must be within sight of the Thaumaturgist, but she is free to move about if neccessary. A blood point must be spent each turn to maintain the flow of information, the number of turns required is determined by rolling INT + Linguistics (Difficulty 8) every turn until a net amount of successes have been accrued. The number of successes depends on the size of the library:

Small box of books 3
Bookcase 6
Small bookshop/School library 15
Large bookshop/College library 25-40
County/University Library 70
National Library 200+

***** Reveal Scribe's Works: The Thaumaturgist can retrieve information from any where within a 10' radius, as per Levels 3 and 4, but the knowledge does not have to be within sight. This includes any item upon which information has been stored, by any physical medium whatsoever, e.g. hand written, printed, inscribed etc, but not computer disks or data chips. The Thaumaturgist need not neccessarily have to understand the information, but can quote or copy it down with eidetic precision. One blood point needs to be expended and a roll of INT + Knowledge/Linguistics determines the accuracy of the recall.