Sorcerous Rituals

By James Walker(s9300088@student.anu.edu.au)

A large number of rituals either exist in mythology and legends, or are simply practical abilities which In Nomine sorcerers would be expected to develop. Here are a few that I thought would arise.

Most banishment rituals belong under Summon; this is the one exception:

This ritual is always a religious ritual, as each version of it calls on a different pagan god to grant peaceful sleep. The ritual is a contest between the sorcerer’s Banishment skill & the Will + Ethereal Forces of any nightmare fragment native to the sleepers’ dreamscape. The level of the ritual is equal to the number of nightmare fragments present in the dreamscape — yes, this can go above 6. Those nightmare fragments losing the contest are banished to the domain of the pagan god to whom the ritual is dedicated — and who will destroy, employ or sell the nightmare fragments to Beleth, depending on their personality.

Time: 15 Minutes

Essence: the check digit

Half of the Command rituals given in the Corporeal Players Guide give bonuses to the Will-War; however no rituals exist to control humans, despite the fact that sorcerers can challenge each other, while undead and dead souls must be challenged if they are to be Exorcised.

• Commanding ghosts and dreamshades in the corporeal realm requires Command/1

* Commanding dreamshades with < 9 forces in the ethereal realm requires Command/2

* Commanding undead requires Commmand/3

* Commanding mortals (including animals) requires Command/4

* Commanding dreamshades with 9 or more forces requires Command/5

• Commanding Saints requires Command/6

This ritual allows the performer to challenge a legal target to a will-war. As any sorcerer is capable of doing this anyway, this ritual is rarely performed unless it is to be bound into an alchemical creation and given to some poor dupe. Occasionally it is performed as a formal challenge or to impress an opponent.

Time: one round

Essence: None

Despite its name, this ritual has nothing to do with demonlings, but instead allows the sorcerer to engage an animal of a specific species in a will-war, so as to turn the animal into his servant. This ritual does not give the sorcerer any particular skill at communicating with his new servant. The animal must have a will above zero, and uses Will + total forces. The most common versions are Bind Cat, Bind Rat & Bind Snake.

Time: 1 Minute

Essence: the check digit

This ritual allows the sorcerer to impress other humans, adding the check digit to the human’s reaction roll.

• Awing a magician, or other human who believes in but does not understand magic is Command/1.

* Awing a mundane without mentioning sorcery is Command/2

* Awing a number of mundanes equal to the check digit requires Command/3

• Awing a human with 6 forces but no songs requires Command/4
• Awing a human with songs but no attunements requires Command/5

* Awing a human with attunements but no distinctions requires Command/6

* Awing a human with a distinction requires Command/7

Time: 1 round

Essence: None

With only three rituals associated with skill it is the one which most needs development — a fully trained exorcised would only have Exorcism/2 & Necromancy/1.

This simple rite is performed over corpses to prevent them ever being raised as a zombie. The exorcist rolls Exorcism + Necromancy; the roll is unresisted and failure merely means that the exorcist cannot attempt the ritual again on these corpses. The exorcist can affect a number of corpses equal to the check digit.

Time: 1 hour

Essence: 1

This simple ritual destroys the vessels of slain Celestials & Ethereals. The exorcist rolls against Exorcism + Necromancy. It will affect an angel’s vessel — the angel is no longer in it, making it a non-angelic construct. The vessels shimmer into non-existence at the conclusion of the ritual, along with any items that they carry.

Time: 5 Minutes

This rite takes advantage of the inability of targets of exorcism to attack the exorcist. A number of beings that the exorcist could exorcise using other rites he possesses are prevented from the exorcist. The exorcist can protect others if he wishes; this makes an Exorcism/5 ritual. The exorcist can hold at bay a number of creatures equal to the check digit.

Time: Special; the effect remain as long as the exorcist continues the ritual.

Essence: the check digit + 1 essence for every other person protected.

This ritual severs connections to the target, including the resonances of Djinn & Cherubim, and the Songs of Attraction. The ritual destroys all links whose check digit when created was lower than the check digit of this ritual.

Time: 10 Minutes

Essence: The check digit

This ritual allows the take advantage of the Will-less nature of zombies to destroy them more quickly. The exorcist rolls against Exorcism + Necromancy. Destroying a single zombie is rolled as a Exorcism/4 ritual; destroying up to the check digit is rolled as a Exorcism/6 ritual.

Time: One Round

Essence: the check digit

This can be performed on any sleeping target, including the exorcist. A successful roll of Exorcism + Lucid Dreaming will allow the exorcist to engage any other being (except angels and the Dreamscape’s owner) currently in the dreamscape to a Will-war, adding the check-digit of the roll to his Will as normal. Celestials & mortals defeated by the exorcist are ejected from the dreamscape and cannot return for a year, as are ethereals who are not native to the dreamscape. Ethereals native to the dreamscape, undead, ghosts & dreamshades are permanently destroyed.

Time: 1 Hour

Essence: the check digit

This ritual is performed to protect a site of worship, veneration or respect — churches, graveyards & war memorials, mostly. The target number for this ritual is the Exorcist’s Exorcism + Necromancy skills. Any demon, ethereal or undead entering the Consecrated grounds must make a Will-roll each round. Success means they are unaffected. On a failure they lose a point of Will (as to a Will-war) and must make another Will-roll; this continues until they either succeed in a roll or are reduced to zero will. Undead reduced to zero Will are destroyed, demons & ethereals are forced to return to home plane and cannot use the vessel they were in (if any) for a year. Once performed this ritual lasts forever — unless the guardians of the site cease treating it as a Holy site eg opening a church to tourists.

Time: 3 Hours

Essence: 1 essence per square foot of area consecrated.

This ritual allows the exorcist to gain an ongoing benefit from the immunity the exorcism skill grants to attack while performing it. On completing the ritual the exorcist may resist any demonic attunements or resonances with his Exorcism skill if they would normally be resisted by Will. This effect lasts for (check digit) hours.

Time: 1 hour

Essence: the check digit

Despite its name, this ritual cannot destroy a demon. What it does do is destroy the vessel of any being that the exorcist has just successfully exorcised. The demon or ethereal will know that their vessel no longer exists. Failure reduces the time before the target can use their vessel by CD months.

Time:1 hour

Essence: the total forces of the exorcised spirit.

As the only Sorcery skill not based on Will, Focus is the only skill in which sorcerers are likely to seeks Mastery. Therefore, I have included rituals that have mastery as the minimum skill level. Focus based rituals are also the most likely to require the meditation skill, as both Focus & meditation are based on Precision.

Once a sorcerer realises that they only create disturbances while using essence for sorcery, the question arises, how can I mask my sorcery as a focused effort? The target number for this ritual is the sorcerer’s Focus + Meditation skills.

If successful, essence equal to the check digit creates no disturbance. The number of points of essence masked cannot be greater than the sorcerer’s Precision and must come from the Sorcerer.

Time: 10 Minutes; this is added to the time for the other ritual.

Cut allows a sorcerer to open a Ward to allow an ethereal or celestial being to pass without destroying the Ward. If the sorcerer is Cutting a Permanent Ward, this is rolled as a Command/4 ritual; Cutting a Protective Ward is rolled as a Command/1 ritual. Although not able to actually perform this ritual, a demon or spirit who knows it has the ability (when breaking through a Ward) to ‘personalise’ the break so that the Ward will still function against other celestials & ethereals.

Time: 1 round

This simple ritual allows the sorcerer to check another human for potential forces. On a success each potential force human has will draw a point of essence form the sorcerer, allowing him to judge the applicants potential. This is in addition to the base essence cost. The ritual has one important side effect that is not widely known; the essence remains within those potential forces, which can disrupt any attempt to turn the applicant into a mummy. The necromancers check digit must exceed the potential forces of the applicant, rather than his actual forces, to avoid destabilizing the applicants forces.

Time: 1 round

Essence: 1

Night Song can only be performed directly before midnight. On a success the sorcerer will gain a point of essence at midnight as if he was an ethereal spirit. However, this essence must be either spent, stored or given away before dawn — if this is not done, or if the ritual fails, the sorcerer will not gain his daily essence at noon (or dusk, for undead). A version of this ritual exists which allows a sorcerer to gain essence at dusk, however that version is effectively a demonic rite and will draw the sorcerer’s soul to Hell when the sorcerer dies. Other versions are possible; some undead and dream-shades have access to a version that allows them to gain essence at noon, and a version that granted essence at dawn is theoretically possible (but would not function for any sorcerer who had any demonic rites or attunements).

Time: 1 hour

Essence: None

This holy ritual was created under Novalis’ supervision many thousands of years ago — long before Dominic declared sorcery to be an infernal practice. The ritual is still performed throughout the world during Spring, under the noses of sorcerers who have searched the world for rituals.

If performed over the literal first fruits of the season, this is a Focus/3 ritual. The sorcerer gains one essence from each tree or bush that has contributed fruit, to a maximum of the check digit. On a failure, the sorcerer loses essence equal to the check digit; this essence goes into the fruit, which if planted, will grow into particularly strong & healthy plants. The ritual may be performed once for each type of fruit each spring.

The ritual may also be performed on a flowers. This is a Focus/5 ritual. The flowers do not need to be of fruit bearing plants. Again, on a failure, essence equal to the check digit will travel into the fruit, resulting in healthier seeds. (This version of the ritual only takes a round, as the sorcerer smells the flowers). The ritual may be performed over the flowers & fruits of the same type of plant.

Time: 1 Hour, or 1 round

Essence: 1

This ritual allows a sorcerer to mark a demonling or ethereal spirit, making it easier to summon in future. It cannot affect a being with more than 6 forces. Success means that the being can be summoned either by name or using an appropriate Summon Random [being] ritual as a Summon/3 ritual.

Time:15 Minutes

Essence: the beings’ forces.

This ritual was designed by Hatiphas to allow her to find potential sorcerers. The performer does not need to be a sorcerer to perform this ritual, or even to have 6 forces. Sorcerous works describing this ritual normally include descriptions of how to use meditation to improve the performers chance of success.

If successful, the budding sorcerer’s essence will travel through the symphony to Hatiphas, informing her of the performers name & location. She will normally arrive within a few hours to begin training the new sorcerer. The level of the ritual depends on how developed the performer is:

• A sorcerer only requires Focus/1
• A Symphonically aware human requires Focus/2
• A 6 Force Human requires Focus/4
• A Human with 5 or fewer forces requires Focus/6

Time: 1d+2 hours

The source of this ritual is unknown; what is known is that Hatiphas is going out of her way to destroy every copy of it she can find. This ritual burns away any forces that the sorcerer acquired from Hell, freeing him from the certainty of damnation (maybe). The ritual inflicts 5 soul hits every round, and on a successful performance ends after it has destroyed all forces which the sorcerer acquired from Oathtaking etc. (This also destroys an equivalent number of potential Forces). On a failure the sorcerer loses forces equal to the check digit.

Time: 1 hour for every force the sorcerer has

The handful of sorcerers who know how dangerous this ritual is refuse to use it; those who do not know never live long enough to perform it twice. However it is occasionally used, either by a sorcerer who has outlived his usefulness to his master, or more often, it is bound into a alchemical creation and given to an equally expendable Soldier or zombie.

This ritual must be performed near a Tether (within the area affected by the Tether’s existence) and the target number for this ritual is the sorcerer’s Focus + Meditation skills. If successful the essence which would normally be drawn into the tether flows into the sorcerer; further, the sorcerer draws essence equal to the check digit from the forces bound into the tether. Unfortunately, the sorcerer is now part of the Tether; the Seneschal can affect the sorcerer with Songs, attunements or his resonance as if he was touching the sorcerer — even if he only possesses the Seneschal attunement. The ritual ends with the sorcerer’s death and does not draw essence while the sorcerer is unconscious; probably the ritual would end eventually anyway but no sorcerer has ever lived long enough to find out. The attunement can be used on a wild or ethereal tether. Using it on a wild tether destroys the tether within d6 minutes.

Essence: The check digit + 6

There are already an unlimited number of Summon rituals, so I’ve only included those that I think add flavour.

This ritual calls a dream fragment or item out of the sorcerer’s dreamscape. Calling a dream fragment is rolled as a Summon/1 ritual; the spirit must already have a vessel but the ritual usually includes a description of the essence costs ethereals have for forming vessels. No control is granted over the dream fragment. Calling an item is rolled as a Summon/4 ritual; giving the item a physical form must have been done previously, and requires one or more rolls of Summon + Focus; each successful roll allows the transfer of essence equal to the check digit, failure cost essence equal to the check digit. The item requires an amount of essence equal to its hits times its protection before it will be summonable. Unless the summoner knows how to create the item or has a copy with him while he sleeps, the item will only be a rough copy of the real thing, and probably be unusable.

Time: the check digit in rounds

This ritual calls or sends a mortals into his dreamscape, depending on where the sorcerer is. If the sorcerer is in the Marches and in sight of his target’s dreamscape the ritual is rolled as a Summon/4 ritual. If the Sorcerer is in the corporeal plane the ritual is rolled as a Banishment/4 ritual. Either way the ritual is a contest between the sorcerer’s skill and the targets Will or Lucid Dreaming skill. If the sorcerer does not know the target’s name, the target may add his Celestial Forces. If the target loses and has a dreamscape, he is sent into his dreamscape and has a penalty to wake up equal to the check digit of the sorcery roll. This penalty diminishes by one every hour. If the target succeeds (or does not have a dreamscape), the sorcerer can engage the target in a Will-war to put the target asleep; if the target loses the Will-war he goes to sleep, and regains a point of Will for every hour of sleep. If the target wins the Will-war both parti! es regain all their Will, and the sorcerer cannot attempt to use either Summon or Banishment on the target for a number of days equal to the targets Will. Note that Remnants and zombies will automatically lose the Will-war; the sorcerer will not be informed by this ritual that they are anything other than normal humans. The fact that they might never wake up might. This ritual can be performed in reverse to wake someone up.

Time: Ten Minutes

Essence: the check digit

This cheery ritual binds the soul of a dying human to the corporeal realm. The Human must have fulfilled their fate, and have 2 celestial forces. If the sorcerer’s roll of Necromancy + Summon is successful the Damned Soul loses a force and must make a Will roll to stabilize its forces. Failure causes the lose of another force and requires another Will roll. This continues until the soul succeeds or is reduced to only one celestial force. If the ghost survives, it is anchored to a fragment of the corpse chosen by the sorcerer before beginning the ritual. The ghost possesses the Bound disadvantage at a level equal to the check digit of the sorcerers Necromancy + Summon roll, giving it a penalty to resisting the orders of any who possess the fragment.

Time:1 hour

Essence: the check digit times the targets starting forces.

This is the ritual used by the pagan gods to give pagan Dream Soldiers the ability to use ethereal songs. A handful of sorcerers also possess it, but it is still as rare as hen’s teeth. If the necromancer succeeds in a roll of Enchantment + Necromancy, the subject falls into a coma indistinguishable from death and his soul wanders the Marches for a number of days equal to the check digit of the Necromancer’s roll. (If the necromancer fails, the subject must make a strength + toughness roll at a penalty equal to the check digit of the necromancer’s failed roll or die!). While wandering the Marches, the subject is treated as Dream-shade for all purposes. At the end of this time, the subject must make a Will or Lucid Dreaming roll. If the subject succeeds, and the check digit is higher than the number of demonic rites and/or attunements possessed by the subject, the subject may pay ten character points for the Ethereal Connection attunement. (This will remov! e a prior Ethereal Connection, which Grey Dream Soldiers may desire). If the subject fails the roll, or lacks the necessary character points, he returns to consciousness but loses a point from a random attribute. If the subject succeeds, but with a check digit which is not higher than the number of demonic rites and/or attunements her possesses, he is drawn down to Hell. Is body isn’t dead, but his soul will never see it again. The body will remain comatose until it dies.

Time: (7 — Enchantment skill) Days

Why spend so much time to spend a one shot enchantment? That question has a number of interesting answers which will affect the sort of opponents the In Nominee universe can throw at PCs.

An alchemical creation can be used by someone who either cannot or has not learned the ability contained in it. The Command Demon ritual may be a myth, but the Celestial Song of Charm is not: trading for an item containing it well worth a Sorcerer’s time. Similarly, a major ethereal spirit will want the counterspell to Command Major Ethereal Spirit. Beware trying to Summon Isis! Also, you might want to provide the command rituals to an exorcist who has yet to learn them, or never plans to because he uses Banishment. Not that the trade need be beneficial; a mummy sorcerer might arrange for an exorcise undead preparation to end up in the hands of a mortal so that they end up in a Will-war — a simple way of acquiring high status mortal servants, if that version of the ritual allows it.

A number of effects create a huge disturbance — the Permanent Ward ritual comes to mind. Casting the ritual in the Marches or in a wasteland and storing it via alchemy to set up elsewhere simplifies the concealment of your operating base.

Songs & rituals take time. When the bullets are flying you do don’t have ten minutes to banish a demon — you need an item that works NOW.

The Ethereal Song of Dreams affects skills — including sorcery. Performing a sorcerous ritual in your dreamscape allows a higher target number — and check digit — than normal, very important for contested rolls.

Songs and rituals cost essence. Rather than creating a spirit jar, it can be simpler to burn the essence creating the effect and then store then effect.

Theurgy, the use of sorcery is a myth. Or is it?

Yes, I think it is. Not because of the game system, or world view, or anything like that, but because you can make life hell for an angel without developing new rituals. Consider the idea given above in alchemy, the sorcerous undead who binds exorcise undead rituals into items using alchemy. What would happen if an angel got their hands on the item? Could they use it? If so, they have just entered a Will-war with a sorcerer. The undead cannot use Command, but he can use the Celestial Song of Charm. No, he didn’t Summon the angel, but he can use the Corporeal Song of Calling. Focus will work, to either drain the angels essence or to hold the angel; the Ethereal Song of Charm will prevent the angel from escaping a Ward.

As a final note, remember that Asmodeus loathes Sorcerers who can summon Demons —probably because he realises they could do his job far better than he ever could. If he wanted to send Heaven on a crusade to destroy sorcery, he could teach a Sorcerer the Songs of Banishing: with a bit of care an angel would flee back to Heaven screaming about the Sorcerer’s ability to banish him. It’s all in the Game, after all…

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Chris Anthony <edg@sjgames.com>
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