Thaumaturgy

How Many Rituals?

The rules of Exalted aim to make thaumaturgy as multipurpose as possible, but weaker than Charms, sorcery or necromancy. An experienced magician might know scores of rituals, each designed for a specific limited purpose. Technically, a thaumaturge can use any ritual for which she possesses the proper Degree in the appropriate Art, but things aren't really that simple. Even the greatest thaumaturge cannot automatically produce an alchemical mixture he has never seen simply because he is a Master of Alchemy. Knowing the underlying theories of an Art to a particular Degree does not mean that a character instantly knows every ritual within that Degree.

Players should work with their Storyteller to decide which rituals their characters reasonably know already, and keep track of new ones learned during play. A thaumaturge character from the West would need a good reason to justify knowing the secret ritual that Eastern shamans use to harden ironwood. By the same token, why would an Eastern shaman know rituals to call storms at sea?

Common sense and character concept may be enough for players and Storytellers to decide what rituals a character may know. The need to buy separate Arts and Degrees goes a long way to keeping thaumaturgy broad-based yet limited in scope. If you want a stricter guideline (as an option), you might limit starting characters to a maximum number of rituals per Degree based on Intelligence, Lore or Occult rating. The thaumaturge then can learn more rituals as game events allow.

Through their Charms and spells, the Exalted wield power that mortals can never hope to match. Even so, mortal savants, scientists, holy men and shamans can learn minor miracles that set them above their peers. Collectively, such magic is called thaumaturgy in the texts of the First Age, and it is unique among magical disciplines in that its rituals draw upon arcane truths embedded in the natural laws and principles of Creation. Where Charms impose new states and events through Essence, thaumaturgical rituals coax the existing Essence patterns of the world to do something they are naturally prone to do, obviating the need for personal Essence expenditure. Thaumaturgy fails utterly before the spells of the Exalted, though, so any form of sorcerous or necromantic countermagic completely destroys any form of lingering thaumaturgical effect or enchantment without any backlash of scattered Essence.

The study of thaumaturgy is broken down into Arts, which are Occult specialties that deviate slightly from the usual specialty rules. A character can study as many different Arts as he wants, purchasing the same art up to three times. In order of tiered ascendance, each purchase is called a Degree: Initiate (+1), Adept (+2) and Master (+3). Learning each Degree demands a commensurately higher Occult rating, so Initiate requires Occult 1, Adept requires 3, and Master requires 5. Every ritual possible with an Art has a listed Degree requirement from 0-3. Tasks with a Degree requirement of 0 are called Apprentice-level and require only that a character have at least one dot of Occult to attempt the action. Characters cannot ever apply more than +3 specialty dice to an Occult roll no matter how many Arts they study, nor may they add Degrees to Occult rolls not pertaining to thaumaturgy (such as for a Charm or sorcery spell). Conversely, Occult specialties that are not Degrees do not add dice to Thaumaturgy- based rolls.

As an alternative to learning a full Degree, characters can learn a single Procedure, a ritual that the character has memorized by rote without understanding the underlying theory of its magic. Each Procedure costs one experience point (or three Procedures for a single bonus point during character creation). For example, a character might normally need an Adept Degree in Demon Summoning to call any species of First Circle demon from Malfeas. If the character learned a ritual exclusively for summoning blood apes, it would be a Procedure: Summon Erymanthoi. Characters can learn Procedures for any task possible with any Degree of an Art, but must have Occult 1 to learn Adept-ranked Procedures and Occult 3 to learn Master-rank Procedures. Unlike a full Degree, learning a Procedure awards no bonus dice to perform the magic. When a character wishes to learn a Degree for which he already knows subsidiary Procedures, he loses the Procedures and receives an equal number of experience points. So, a budding infernalist who has been taught to summon erymanthoi and neomah through Procedures would regain two experience points upon learning the Adept degree of Demon Summoning.

Degrees in the Arts of thaumaturgy do not have the same cost or training time as normal Occult specialties. Instead, they cost 10 experience points or 5 bonus points each. (For characters with Occult as a Caste or Favored Ability, the cost is reduced to 8 experience points or 4 bonus points.) An Initiate Degree takes one month to learn, Adept two months and Master three months. (Characters for whom Occult is a Caste or Favored Ability drop the interval to weeks rather than months.) Procedures require one week to learn (or one day if Occult is Caste or Favored.) Characters cannot learn a Degree without a tutor or an instruction manual unless they have Occult 5, in which case the training interval extends to years.

Whenever a character uses an Art, the ritual requires exotic occult ingredients that are consumed, destroyed or otherwise made useless as part of the magic. The Resources cost of such ingredients is typically 0 for Apprentice effects, 0 to 1 for Initiate, 2 to 3 for Adept or 4 to 5 for Master. Reduce these costs by 1 if a character has access to a major metropolis where such goods may be obtained or if the ingredients in question are native to the area. Increase the required Resources cost of a ritual by 1 (to a maximum of 5) if the ingredient can be found only in the opposite direction of Creation (such as when a Southern thaumaturge performs a ritual requiring rare glacier lichens that grow only in the Far North). Using superior or unique ingredients, such as those that would qualify as exotic ingredients for the purposes of artifact creation (see p. 133) add one to three bonus dice to a ritual casting (depending on their appropriateness). Characters must also have a laboratory, workshop or sanctum full of reusable tools in order to practice thaumaturgy reliably, with a Resources cost of 1 for Apprentice rituals, 2 for Initiate, 3 for Adept and 4 for Master.

Exalted and other Essence users have a distinct advantage when wielding thaumaturgy, as they can directly power rituals with their own spirit instead of coaxing motes from bizarre formulae, blood and reagents. For every two motes spent, reduce the total Resources cost of a ritual by one dot. Such expenditure does not obviate the need for ritual behavior, just ritual ingredients and tools. For example, an Adept-level ritual with a disposable Resources cost of 2 and reusable Resources cost of 3 would cost an Exalt 10 motes to eschew those materials entirely. Furthermore, every ritual requires that a thaumaturge spend one Willpower point at the final moment of casting. Exalted cannot substitute Essence for this cost. When multiple thaumaturges trained in a Degree or Procedure work together to cast a ritual, use the limited cooperation rules rather than full cooperation.

Oadenol's Codex

Savants classify thaumaturgical rituals into 11 Arts, each of which constitutes its own Occult specialty: Alchemy, Astrology, the Dead, Demon Summoning, Elemental Summoning, Enchantment, Geomancy, Husbandry, Spirit Beckoning, Warding and Exorcism, and Weather Working. Most of the Arts have existed in one form or another since before humanity existed. Three were created after the Primordial War: the Art of the Dead, the Art of Demon Summoning and the Art of Elemental Summoning. Rituals within an Art share common elements. If one knows several rituals within an Art, others become easier to learn. A thaumaturge who learns a single Procedure, and stops there, may never make these connections. Once she learns multiple related Procedures, she can piece together the principles of an Art. The Degrees of the Arts express how well a thaumaturge understands those principles.

Rituals within an Art share common elements. If one knows several rituals within an Art, others become easier to learn. A thaumaturge who learns a single Procedure, and stops there, may never make these connections. Once she learns multiple related Procedures, she can piece together the principles of an Art. The Degrees of the Arts express how well a thaumaturge understands those principles.

Rituals on this page are divided according to their Arts and are presented in the same format as the sample rituals from Exalted Core Rulebook. To recap:

Name (Minimum Degree, Attribute, Difficulty, Casting Time): Effect.

Any special considerations, such as unique tools, expenditures or non-standard dice rolls, are described along with the Effect. Some rituals' names use "Wild Card" forms such as Summon (Species) or Ward Against (Creature). These entries represent groups of rituals with similar effects and game mechanics, such as Ward Against Elementals, Summon Demons, and so on. The standard classes for thaumaturgy are Beasts, the Dead, Demons, Elementals, Exalted, Fair Folk, Gods and Humans. The (Species) term means that a ritual affects a particular sub-class within these broader classes, such as Summon Erymanthos or Beckon Solar Exalted. Characters with an appropriate Degree can learn rituals that affect all members of a single class; isolated Procedures can only affect a single subclass. Many of these rituals, however, can be learned as part of at least two Arts. A Ward Against Demons, for instance, could be learned either as part of the Art of Demon Summoning or the Art of Warding and Exorcism.

The Art of Alchemy

Magical Material Refinements

The Procedures that smelt moonsilver, orichalcum, starmetal and soulsteel are all part of the Art of Alchemy. See Smelting Procedures.

The greatest of all First Age alchemists was almost certainly the Twilight Caste Tarim, who surpassed thaumaturgical mastery of the Art and devised a means to condense the shaped Essence of sorcery into physical formulas. Thaumaturges cannot match the might of Tarim's creations, but the Art nonetheless produces miraculous feats.

Alchemy combines aspects of pharmacy, metallurgy and other Crafts that combine and transform different ingredients. The "rituals" of the Art—which alchemists often call formulas—take place in a laboratory stocked with equipment as mundane as a mortar and pestle or as exotic as the occult mirrors used to smelt orichalcum.

As well as commonplace techniques such as boiling and crystallizing, alchemists employ strange operations such as calcination, rubification and insufflation. An alchemist may combine herbs, minerals and animal parts into magical medicines transform lead into gold, or even grant mortals some of the inherent qualities of the Exalted. In addition to the Occult Ability, alchemy requires knowledge of diverse living and unliving substances, so an alchemist needs at least Lore 2 to gain a Degree, and Lore 4 to become an Adept. For most formulas, the practitioner must have at least one dot in Craft (Water) for each Degree, unless that procedure is a healing one, in which case it requires at least one dot of Medicine per Degree. Some formulas might require dots in other Crafts, instead. Unless otherwise indicated, assume that a formula requires Craft (Water).

Alchemical formulas that add to Attributes or Abilities count as dice added by Charms. Most alchemy cannot affect spirits or the dead. Some formulas do not affect the Exalted, especially those designed to temporarily give mortals Exalted characteristics. Unless otherwise specified, the effects of an alchemical formula typically last for one scene. Drinking or applying an already prepared alchemical mixture is generally a miscellaneous action.

Alchemical Touchstone

(0, Perception, 1, one action): When expertise at Lore isn't enough to identify a substance, an alchemist can rub it against a specially treated ceramic plate—a touchstone—and glean clues from the streak left behind. Other “touchstones” are fluids dripped on an unknown substance. Each alchemical touchstone detects the presence or absence of a single substance or property, such as jade alloys, Wyld-taint or snake venoms. Compounding a touchstone may take days, but once made it can be used quickly. A touchstone stays usable for a season.

Life's Little Luxury Blends

(0, Intelligence, 1, one hour): Numerous minor formulas lie within the alchemist's grasp. She might concoct such things as deodorant, superior cleaning agents, dyes that resist fading or trick powders that foam when introduced to alcohol or vinegar. Storytellers should consider other similarly innocuous formulas. Each formula is a separate Procedure.

Blood-Staunching Compress

(1, Intelligence, 3, one hour): Bandages steeped in this compound automatically cause a wound to stop bleeding, and wounds wrapped in these bandages do not re-open unless the character's player botches a combat or Athletics roll. The compound retains its potency for one year, unless used. Requires Medicine.

Draught of Blessed Respite

(1, Intelligence, 2, one hour): This potion lets its user get a full night's sleep under nearly any circumstance. A half dose, mixed with wine, puts the imbiber into a half-sleep for four hours. During this time, the user can function if necessary, though all of her dice pools involving Perception, Wits and Dexterity are halved (and that's after Excellencies and other Charms). Every full hour of this state counts as two hours of sleep.

Each use of this formula creates five doses, which retain their potency for three years. Blessed Respite addicts people who use it more than (Stamina) times in a week. Use the Wyld Addiction rules from Exalted, page 288, substituting references to the influence of the drug for that of the Wyld, and using a difficulty equal to (half the doses taken during the week). Requires Medicine.

Eagle's Eye Potion

(1, Wits, 3, one hour): This preparation grants preternaturally clear sight, giving one extra die to all vision-related Perception rolls. The effects last for five hours. Other potions exist for other senses: Fox's Ear, Bloodhound's Nose, Exquisite Chef's Palate and Blind Courtesan's Caress Potions for hearing, smell, taste and touch respectively.

Hero's Recovery

(1, Intelligence, 3, one hour): This potion's effects last for half a day per dot of Stamina the recipient has. During this time, a mortal recovers from injuries as an Exalt does. Serious injuries may require more than one dose over the course of recovery, but mortals cannot stand more than (Stamina) consecutive doses without doubling their healing times instead. Requires Medicine.

(Type) Venom-Allaying Draught

(1, Intelligence, 2, one hour): Each of these draughts is a different formula, specific to a particular poison or venom. Once applied, it allows a mortal's player to make a (Stamina + Resistance) roll to resist a toxin at the same difficulty as though the character were Exalted. These antitoxins retain their potency for five years. Requires Medicine.

Wound-Cleansing Unguent

(1, Intelligence, 1, two hours): If a patient is treated with this unguent after surgery, his player does not need to roll for infection unless the surgeon's player botched. Dressing wounds with it reduces the difficulty of rolls to resist infection by 1. The unguent retains its potency for a decade if carefully stored or 90 days on an unused bandage.

Age-Staving Cordial

(2, Intelligence, 3, one hour): The alchemist brews a dose of Age-Staving Cordial.

Ardent Embrace Resin

(2, Intelligence, 2, one hour): Despite its romantic name, this formula is a lethal weapon. The recipe creates a goo that bursts into flame on contact with air or water, and sticks to whatever it touches. It is typically used by packing it into fragile vials or capsules and throwing it at an enemy. If it hits, the enemy suffers environmental damage equal to a bonfire (see Exalted, p. 131) for the next minute.

Final Vengeance

(2, Wits, 3, one hour): Final Vengeance is a powerful painkiller and euphoric. Used mostly by fanatics and assassin cults, this mixture causes the user to ignore all wound penalties and receive automatic success on all Valor checks (whether he wants to succeed or not) for one scene. When its effects end, the user's Stamina drops to 1; he regains one dot per day of complete rest. While his Stamina is reduced, all healing takes place at half normal rate and non-magical methods cannot increase this.

Munificent Antivenin

(2, Intelligence, 3, one hour): This powerful elixir can negate even the deadliest poisons, though it does not repair damage already done. Once ingested, the antivenin purges all poison from the user's system. The poison sweats from his skin and is vomited forth violently, painfully rendering the user Inactive for 5 ticks per dose of poison in his system. Afterward, the subject is fatigued, suffering a -2 internal penalty until he can rest for at least four hours.

Philtre of Desire

(2, Intelligence, 2, one hour): These potions inspire emotional reactions in the desired target. One version gives the imbiber a two-die bonus to Performance, Presence and Socialize rolls made against the victim. Another version reduces the imbiber's Mental DV by 2, making Social attacks easier. Creating a philtre of this type normally requires an arcane link to the victim as part of the formula, although this can be ignored at the price of a +1 difficulty. For +2 difficulty, a philtre can be brewed that gives bonus dice to the imbiber's Social attack rolls against any target. Botches while using a philtre increase in severity, leading to decades-long hatred or all-consuming jealous obsession. Once created, these philtres retain potency for only a month.

Tiger's Heart Elixir

(2, Wits, 3, one hour): This elixir emboldens the spirit and drives away fear and doubt, giving the user +1 Valor for all purposes for the rest of the scene. Other formulas boost Compassion, Temperance and Conviction.

Valiant Warrior Formula

(2, Wits, 2, one hour): This formula appeals to mortal soldiers who wish to compete with great heroes. For one day after its use, the user is no longer treated as an extra. She has the full complement of seven health levels, can spend Willpower for bonus successes or through Virtues, counts 10s as two successes, requires damage to be rolled and is capable of stunts.

Deathlord's Breath

(3, Intelligence, 4, 20 hours): The alchemist brews a dose of Deathlord's Breath. A ghost cannot cross a line of this magical dust unless its player succeeds at a Valor roll at difficulty 3; hungry ghosts cannot even try unless some entity of greater power compels them. The barrier of dust retains its potency for one month, after which the difficulty on the Valor roll falls by one per week until the powder is spent. When it touches the living, however, Deathlord's Breath acts as a slow but deadly toxin (Damage 7L/day, Toxicity 4L, Tolerance —/—, Penalty -3). Worst of all, a person slain by Deathlord's Breath doesn't stop moving: his body becomes a zombie (see Exalted, pp. 314-315), while his lower soul becomes a hungry ghost (see Exalted, pp. 317-318). Deathlord's Breath is illegal in the Realm and most civilized countries. The toxin remains potent for decades.

8-Scream Devil Powder

(3, Intelligence, 4, one hour): The alchemist brews a dose of 8-scream devil powder (see Wonders of the Lost Age, p. 74).

Heavenly Transmutation Processes

(3, Perception, 7, one hour per Resources 4 quantity of final material): The alchemist masters the secrets of turning base materials into more noble ones. He can turn lead into gold, pig iron into finest steel and pale, flawed corundum into rubies. Each process is a different Procedure. Transmutation takes about one hour per unit of material (one hour minimum) and results in half as much total material, with a final value of Resources 4. An alchemist cannot make more than one unit of final material at a time.

Internal Alchemy

(3, Stamina, 3, two miscellaneous actions): Mastering this technique enables the character to create another alchemical thaumaturgy formula he has mastered using his own body. Casting this ritual requires one miscellaneous action spent consuming the requisite materials and one miscellaneous action spent processing them inside the thaumaturge's body. If the alchemist is successful, he is affected by the formula he created. Botches result in the caster being poisoned (default to coral snake venom if the Storyteller doesn't feel some other poison is more fitting). Using Internal Alchemy costs 1 Willpower in addition to that required by the other formula. Requires Medicine.

Seven Bounties Paste

(3, Intelligence, 4, one hour): The alchemist brews a dose of Seven Bounties Paste.

Sweet Cordial

(3, Intelligence, 4, one hour): The alchemist brews a dose of Sweet Cordial.

Wind-Fire Potion

(3, Wits, 4, one hour): Soldiers who have used it say this potion makes them as quick as the wind and ferocious as fire. Commanders are careful with its use, though, because it makes people harder to control and can have serious side effects. For one scene, the mortal user gains +1 die to all actions involving her Physical Attributes, Wits and Valor, but loses one dot of Compassion, Temperance and Intelligence. Furthermore, the imbiber no longer counts as an extra (see Valiant Warrior Formula). Heroic mortals gain two additional -4 health levels.

Once the potion wears off, the positive effects go away, but the negative effects remain for an equal number of scenes. Wind-fire potion can addict someone who uses it more than once in a month. Use the Wyld Addiction rules from Exalted, page 288, substituting references to the influence of the drug for that of the Wyld, and using a difficulty equal to (doses taken during the month + 2).

The Art of Astrology

Compile Chart

(0, Wits, 2, one hour): This ritual requires access to star charts (Resources 2) and detailed personal information about the subject, or it automatically fails. Pertinent information may be obtained freely or uncovered through investigation. Success creates an astrological profile necessary for greater astrological rituals.

Lesser Divination

(1, Intelligence, 4, three hours): By observing the night sky using star charts and a target's astrological profile, the thaumaturge makes a prediction about the target's future, splitting successes between duration and accuracy. Duration: 1 (one month), 2+ (one season). Accuracy generates predictions that are extremely vague (1) or vague (2+). Botches result in false predictions. (Targeting a Primordial or a native of the Wyld, Malfeas or the Underworld results in an automatic botch.) The Storyteller creates the prediction, assuming no interference from Heaven or beings that trigger automatic botches. Such interference spoils predictions.

Divination

(2, Intelligence, 4, three hours): As Lesser Divination, but more successes may be applied to Duration: 3 (half a year) or 4+ (one year), or Accuracy: 3 (woefully incomplete but enlightening) or 4+ (somewhat accurate).

Greater Divination

(3, Intelligence, 4, three hours): As Divination, but more successes may be applied to Accuracy: 5 (mostly accurate with details) or 6+ (accurate with details).

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The Art of the Dead

During the early First Age, this Art was largely restricted to laying ghosts to rest, and some thaumaturges called it the Art of Lethe. Over time, the practice took on darker connotations, becoming more feared respectively with the discovery of necromancy, the Great Contagion and the rise of the Deathlords.

In the Time of Tumult, only a few places in Creation permit open dealings with the dead and the Underworld. The Morticians’ Order in Sijan uses the Art of the Dead to facilitate their covenants with the deceased; inhabitants of the Skullstone Archipelago also use its rituals for similar purposes. The Raiton Academy on Nightfall Island teaches the Art alongside true necromancy. Beyond those three bastions of the Art, merchants who travel near established shadowlands sometimes hire savants who can deal with the dead.

Both the reusable tools and consumed ingredients of this Art's rituals frequently are made from parts of corpses: bone amulets, crowns and rods, cups and braziers fashioned from skulls, cords of mummy-hair, candles of human fat and the like. Rituals also employ substances used in embalming, such as pitch, bitumen, natron and myrrh. Only the rituals of warding and banishing, which rely more on salt, incense, bells and other emblems of purity and the sacred, are likely to eschew materials and operations that would not offend most community standards.

In addition to the rituals here, see Exalted, pages 315-317, for information about the exorcism and summoning of ghosts.

There are Art of the Dead versions of the following Art of Warding and Exorcism rites: Alarm Ward Against (Creature), Lesser Ward Against (Creature), Ward Against (Creature), Greater Ward Against (Creature), and the relevant Ward Maintenance and Keyed Ward rituals. These wards only work against ghosts, zombies, necromantic beasts and the like. The Art of the Dead's versions of Dishonest (Creature)'s Rebuke, Expulsion and Banish (Creature) only work against ghosts. See the relevant Art of Warding and Exorcism rules, pages 141-144.

Pierce Shadowland

(0, Wits, 2, one minute): This quick ritual involves intense concentration and perfect timing while dripping a bit of blood on a shadowland's border. The ritual enables the thaumaturge to pass through the shadowland's border into either Creation or the Underworld at any time of the day or night. Each additional entity brought through the border adds one minute to the ritual.

Proper Funerary Practices

(1, Manipulation, 3, three hours): Various societies throughout Creation have dozens of variations of this rite. Most Western isles attempt this ritual, though many lack a sufficiently knowledgeable priest. Even the Realm habitually works a variant on these thaumaturgic funeral practices into the last rites given to its Exalted dead. The funerists of Sijan know virtually all recorded versions of the funerary rites of Saturn, and are willing to perform them for an appropriate fee. Properly performed, this ritual encourages the spirit of one who has died in the last three days to peacefully pass on into the next life. While it regrettably has no influence over the individual's po soul, the rite does carry considerable weight with the hun of the newly dead. If the target of the ritual passes on into the Underworld as a ghost, he is immediately subjected to a powerful unnatural Compulsion to pass on immediately into Lethe. Resisting costs three Willpower.

Summon Ghost

(0, Charisma, 2, 15 minutes): Ghosts are frightfully easy to summon, as virtually any apprentice of the occult can tell you. At a location important to the deceased, a thaumaturge may call a ghost through offerings of grave goods and fresh blood. The roll's difficulty decreases by 1 if performed in a shadowland or the Underworld; increase it by 1 for each 100 years the person has been dead and if summoning a ghost by its qualities rather than its name. When performing this ritual in a shadowland, failure means that five (usually unwelcome) ghosts show up for each success by which the attempt falls short. Ghost summoned by this ritual manifest visibly and audibly but remain immaterial unless the ghost can materialize on its own or the summoning takes place in a shadowland.

Blood Magic

(1, Stamina, 3, five minutes): Blood is a powerful conduit for living Essence. Thaumaturges who are willing to sacrifi ce themselves or others can tap into a powerful source of magical energy. For each level of lethal damage the thaumaturge suffers, or that she ritually infl icts upon a helpless sacrificial victim, she generates one mote of Essence that she must channel immediately. This might allow her to do such things as: activate (but not attune) an artifact, cast another ritual using reduced resources, or replenish her Essence pool (if she is enlightened or Exalted).

Body Preservation Technique

(1, Intelligence + Medicine, 1, one hour): Through various occult and medical methods, the thaumaturge preserves a cadaver so that it does not suffer any decay for one day per success rolled. The ritual may be repeated sequentially and indefinitely, but the effects do not stack. Some thaumaturges perform this ritual for legitimate purposes related to burial rituals, while others merely preserve the corpse for use in making zombies or necromantic war machines.

Deathsight

(1, Perception, 3, five minutes): After anointing her closed eyes with blood and certain rare herbal juices, the thaumaturge opens them to perceive immaterial ghosts with all senses for the rest of the scene.

Speak with Corpse

(1, Perception, 2, one minute): This ritual requires the whole skull of a corpse; if there isn't enough meat on the bones to hold the jawbone, the thaumaturge must wire the jaw using human sinew and iron pins. The ritual itself involves a period of osculation that most would consider abhorrent. Afterward, the thaumaturge may ask and receive an answer to two questions, plus one question per threshold success. Corpses entreated with this ritual only know what their bones have seen since the day before their deaths; to learn what it saw while alive, the necromancer must seek the extant spirit.

Raise Corpse

(2, Intelligence, 3, one hour): To reanimate the dead, a thaumaturge must whisper several things the deceased once held secret. The corpse rises as a zombie (see Exalted, pp. 314-315). The zombie follows the thaumaturge's instructions as a simple person would. After one week per threshold success, the enchantment falters—though the ritual can be performed again.

Three Days of Hun and Po

(2, Charisma, 5, one hour): When a vengeful soul dies, the higher soul or hun remains with the lower soul—the po—until the end of the third night, granting it increased intellect. (See Exalted, pp. 317-318, for further details.) Through this ritual, the thaumaturge convinces the hun to continue helping the po for one additional night per success rolled (so a successful casting always grants at least five days' effect). This ritual only works when a death results in a hungry ghost, which doesn’t necessarily mean the hun won't decide to reincarnate once it has helped its vengeful lower soul. However, use of this ritual does encourage the hun to join the ghostly population of the Underworld.

Summon Nephwrack

(3, Wits, 4, one hour): Only the most skilled mortal thaumaturge dares trying to summon the Neverborn's loyal spectres all the way from the Labyrinth. The ritual uses a dust from the Underworld and blood from several rare creatures, dried in a jade crucible, and then mixed in a mortar fashioned from a skull. The thaumaturge prays over this abhorrent mixture, and then eats it. The ritual projects a call to the Labyrinth's depths. If the ritual succeeds, the nephwrack comes within the next three nights. When a thaumaturge's player botches, that thaumaturge is rarely seen again.

The Art of Demon Summoning

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The Art of Elemental Summoning

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The Art of Enchantment

Least Wonder

(1, Intelligence, 3, 50 hours): This ritual may be interrupted and resumed without automatically failing, so long as the caster spends at least five hours per day working on it. The caster must have the target object on hand and own it, and the item cannot have Resources value greater that the thaumaturge's Occult rating. Each success gives the item the properties of being exceptional for one decade. Each individual item that a character could categorize requires a separate Procedure, if the ritual is learned as such (e.g., swords, plate armor, blacksmithing tools, etc.).

Lesser Wonder

(2, Intelligence, 4, 100 hours): As [Least Wonder], but an exceptional item (including an item already enchanted with [Least Wonder]) can be made perfect for one decade per success (see p. 366). Errata: perfect items aren't used any more, exceptional items are the epitome.

Talisman

(3, Intelligence, 5, 200 hours): Before beginning this ritual, the character physically builds an artifact with a rating of 1, using one more exotic ingredient than usual. See artifact-creation rules. Because the item is not made from one of the magical materials, it cannot socket hearthstones, nor is it indestructible. This ritual provides the magic that powers the artifact, lasting one decade per success. Such artifacts are called talismans, and they lose all magical power if they are targeted with a countermagic spell or if the item itself is significantly damaged. Every different artifact must be learned as a separate Procedure, if learned as a Procedure rather than through Degrees.

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The Art of Geomancy

Geomancy is the art of detecting and manipulating Essence flows. At its basic levels, this allows thaumaturges to perceive Essence. Eventually, a master might even become enlightened and gain access to her own Essence pool. More surprisingly to those who do not understand the Art, the thaumaturge may tamper with the Essence flows of others or sense them from afar. This might allow her to smooth or frustrate the interaction of the target with Creation or even grant a limited ability to scry upon distant locations.

The most distinctive tool of the geomancer's trade is the compass plate, a bronze plate engraved with concentric circles and marked with the elemental poles, the constellations and other symbols. Detection rites often involve spinning a spoonlike instrument of jade-infused magnetite on the plate. Geomancers also use pendulums, weights and globes of various metals and minerals, as well as theodolites and other surveying equipment. The geomancer's greatest instrument, however, is the land itself. Rituals with long-term effects usually involve constructing special buildings or reshaping the local landscape with small hills and valleys, creeks and ponds, trees, boulders and other features.

See Thaumaturgy (Occult), for more Geomancy rituals, and Chapter One of this book for the massive geomantic operations that affect demesnes and manses.

Dragon Line Compass

(0, Perception, 1, five minutes): The motions of a compass plate or a jade-and-crystal pendulum reveal when the thaumaturge stands within (successes x 10) yards of a dragon line. Once the character locates a dragon line, he can follow it for one hour before needing to perform this ritual again.

Alloyed Essence Indicator

(0, Intelligence, 5, five minutes): This simple ritual identifies an object as an artifact, a hearthstone or otherwise imbued with magical powers. It tells nothing about the nature of those powers.

Magical Attunement

(0, Wits, 3, 20 minutes): By handling and practicing with an item, an enlightened mortal may duplicate an Exalt's innate ability to attune to an artifact by committing the requisite amount of Essence. Mortals never gain the magical material bonus of the item. Enlightened mortals do not require this ritual to use their Essence pool to activate artifacts with an Essence cost but no commitment required.

Bathing in the River Meditation

(1, Intelligence, 1, place's rating hours): This rite duplicates an Exalt's instinctive ability to attune to a demesne or manse. A character who cannot channel Essence gains no benefit from this (unless the character wants to live in a demesne without suffering mutation), but it feels incredible. Such a character can also attune to a hearthstone and gain its benefits, including Essence recovery if the character can channel Essence.

Dragon Nest Compass

(1, Perception, 2, five minutes): Mortals cannot easily sense a demesne from far away, and even the Exalted have trouble locating a manse. This ritual provides mystic detection of greater sensitivity. For each success, the thaumaturge can detect the presence of a manse from one mile away, or an uncapped demesne from two miles away. Put another way, the distance in miles sets the difficulty to detect a manse or demesne. The ritual only gives the direction to the manse or demesne, but spending 1 Willpower suffices to continue taking readings (each taking five minutes) for the rest of the scene.

Pearl-Collecting Rite

(1, Wits, 3, [demesne's rating] hours): This rite enables a mortal to find and collect a demesne's natural Essence tokens the way an Exalt would, as described on pages 48-49. Unlike an Exalt, however, a thaumaturge does not need to attune to the demesne. Even if the thaumaturge cannot personally channel Essence, she may still use the Essence token in other rituals.

Ritual of Dedicated Purification

(1, Perception, 2, one hour): Preparing ahead of another ritual, the thaumaturge (and any assistants) cleanse themselves and the ritual area, using pure elements such as rainwater, unscented soap and sanctified candles. If successful, the thaumaturge's player can reroll a single botch during the procedure that follows, as the sanctification of the site and participants aids in preventing backlash and mishaps.

Open-Eyed Dive Meditation

(2, Perception, 3, [place's rating] hours): This rite enables a mortal to find the geomantic stress-points in a manse or demesne, as described on pages 51-52.

Pulse of the Demesne's Heart

(2, Perception, 3, place's rating hours): The Essence of a manse is linked to its hearthstone at all times, and a perceptive thaumaturge can follow the flows between them. The materials for this rite include a compass needle composed of the magical material appropriate to the manse in question, and the rite must be conducted within the manse's demesne or while holding its hearthstone. Success from within a demesne points the caster in the direction of its hearthstone, while using the rite on a hearthstone points the caster toward its demesne. The indication of direction only lasts for a moment, so the thaumaturge often needs to recast the rite as she travels toward her target.

Rattle the Sanctum's Gate

(2, Manipulation, 5, one hour): This rite can only be performed at the entrance to a spirit's sanctum. By tampering with the Essence flows through discordant techniques, the thaumaturge slows the flow into the sanctum. During the hour-long ritual, the amount of Essence regained by the sanctum's owner drops by one mote per success, to a minimum of one, so long as the spirit remains in the sanctum. Most spirits will not tolerate this, and are likely to come out to deal with the thaumaturge. Yu-Shan is not a valid target for the rite.

Essence Enlightening Sutra

(3, Intelligence, 5, five years): This long ascetic regimen can awaken a mortal's Essence. With success, a mortal becomes an enlightened mortal with an Essence pool. It is much safer than the Essential River Channeling ritual that achieves the same effect (see Scroll of the Monk, p. 19), at the cost of taking five years instead of 24 hours. A little-known Old Realm version of this rite, called the Yoga of Celestial Refinement, requires Lore 4 and Martial Arts 4 to use. For a Dragon-Blood, 10 years of ascetic study and successful use of this modified Procedure enables the Exalt to learn Celestial martial arts (though she must still find an appropriate tutor).

House of Good/Ill Fortune

(3, Perception, 5, one hour): Examining the local Essence flows, the geomancer may create a design that benefits or harms a structure's or landscape's occupants. The rite doesn't actually enact these changes; they must be put into place by building or landscaping according to the geomancer's design. Once the structure or area meets the requirements, those within benefit or suffer from the rite's effect. This might be a Blessing or Curse (as per Exalted, p. 139) affecting one occupant per month. A blessing might reduce the virulence of a disease striking the household, the inhabitants might experience a good crop that year, or the like. The effect lasts at least one month per success.

Geomantic Countermagic

(3, Intelligence, 5, one hour): Sometimes called Marble Countermagic by those with pretensions to sorcerous power, this rite enables the caster to disrupt existing thaumaturgical works. The magician must first use Essence Sense to spot the target effect. Each success gained removes one success from the targeted thaumaturgical effect.

Scrying

(3, Perception, 5, one or more hours): Items exhibit an arcane link with their own substance, and a skilled magician can use this fact to sense a target from afar. The thaumaturge must possess a sample of the person or object he wants to observe, which could be the hair or blood of a person or horse, or wood shaved from a ship's prow. Each hour, until the caster chooses to stop, his player makes an extended (Perception + Occult) roll, gathering successes. A botch ends the ritual with all accumulated successes lost. When the thaumaturge chooses to complete the rite, she may observe the target for a single scene provided it lies within a number of miles equal to her successes.

Tripping the Steel

(0, Wits, 2, five minutes): Used throughout the Threshold and occasionally, illegally, within the Realm, this ancient ritual sanctifies duels in the eyes of the Maiden of Battles. The two participants state terms and delineate the field of battle according to the ancient forms. (The precise proto- cols differ; there are many small regional variants on this rite.) If successful, the Essence of the battlefield itself holds the duel that follows sacrosanct. Any individual who breaks its terms or interferes in its outcome finds that the next time he enters battle, any 10s rolled count as only one success. (For non-heroic characters, when they are next in battle, a failed roll will become a botch instead.)

The Art of Husbandry

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First Greeting

(1, Perception, 1, five minutes): This simple ritual is practiced in countless Threshold communities to name newborns. It must be performed within one day of an infant's birth. Beseeching the Maidens for their wisdom, the thaumaturge intently examines a newborn child, attempting to discern the name that would most fit the plans destiny has laid out for it. While it is debatable whether Heaven cares what any individual mortal is called, success on the ritual's activation roll grants the practitioner a flash of insight and a name. If that name is granted to the infant, the child enjoys a +1 bonus on all Resistance rolls for its first year of life.

Harmonious Union

(0, Charisma, 1, one hour): Small variants of this marriage rite are used throughout Creation. A successfully performed ceremony not only makes a union between two beings (regardless of their sex) legally valid in the eyes of Heaven, it also increases the likelihood that the first child conceived by the couple (assuming they are a man and a woman) is free of defect or disease. It also grants a bonus die on all Temperance rolls by the couple to avoid any temptations that might endanger their union throughout its first year.

Sundered Union

(0, Charisma, 1, five minutes): While Venus holds the various marriage and partnership rites of Creation to be sacred to herself, Saturn claims dominion over the small, cold legalisms that end such unions. In its various cultural iterations, this rite is short and curt. Properly performed, it legally dissolves any existing romantic union between the subjects of the ritual in the eyes of Heaven, as long as the individual in the partnership with the highest Essence score consents. (There exists a standing exception from First Age law which has never been stricken from the rolls of Heaven. No divorce or annulment involving a Solar Exalt and a non-Solar entity is legal or valid unless the Solar in question consents, regardless of respective Essence ratings.) The two newly divorced individuals suffer a -1 external penalty to all Compassion rolls with regard to one another for the next year.

The Art of Spirit Beckoning

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The Art of Warding and Exorcism

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Scarlet Passage Idol

(2, Intelligence, 3, six hours): It is a sad truth of the Second Age that even the wealthy and the mighty must contend somehow with the dangers of the Great Western Ocean. The Dragon-Blooded cannot adorn their ships with red-haired mastheads, for to do so would be to admit the power of the Storm Mothers and would violate the Immaculate Philosophy. Instead, through a painstaking ritual, thaumaturges prepare small feminine wooden idols for their clients, hair stained with rare red dyes and body stained yellow to acknowledge the power of Mercury. Secreted away somewhere within a ship, the idol negates the power of Storm Mothers the same way a red-haired female masthead would. An idol retains its power for one season, at which point it must be repainted and re-enchanted.

Things Best Lost

(2, Intelligence, 2, thirty minutes): This ritual helps the thaumaturge hide some object small enough to be lifted with one hand. It requires that she smear the object with a mixture of dust and the sap of certain trees that grow only in the Western Bordermarches before concealing it. Performed successfully, the rite consigns the object into the care of the Maiden of Secrets, imposing a -2 external penalty on all rolls to uncover the object's hiding place for one week per threshold success.

The Art of Weather Working

Foretell Weather

(0, Perception, 2, one minute): Whispering to the winds, offering incense and listening for its answers, a thaumaturge uses this ritual to predict the weather, with each success representing one day in the future. Subsequent events of which the Council of Winds was unaware at the time of the ritual may change the Council's course and render this rite’s results irrelevant.

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Inventing New Rituals

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