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Message no. 1
From: "Robert A. Hayden" <hayden@*******.MANKATO.MSUS.EDU>
Subject: D-001-a: magic, blood-magic
Date: Sat, 23 Oct 1993 14:26:33 -0500
TITLE : BLOOD MAGIC RITUALS
AUTHOR : RAPHAEL LUTA
EMAIL : luta@***.enst.fr or luta@***.enst.fr
DESCRIPTION : Spells and rules related to sacrifices and blood magic
for druids
=====================================================================
Why ?

Blood has been used for magical purposes for hundred years now.
Most famous adepts of blood sacrifice, especially human sacrifices
were the Aztech and Mayas priests and Celtics druids. Blood is also
frequently found in primitive Greek or Roman rituals.
Blood is important in magic because it represents life force in its
most basic nature. By capturing the evaportaing essence of a dying body,
a skilled magician can dramatically improve the energy of its spell by
linking it to the mana of the body. This augmented energy allows the spell
to be more powerful but it is also more demanding to the caster because
he must control the fabrics of the spell and tie it simultaneously to the
mana of the dying spirit.

However for such a feat to be possible, the magician most have an
inner comprehension of the fabrics of the astral space, thus
making this kind of ritual only available to initiates. Another important
component of Blood Magic is faith in the resuilts it can produce. The
sacrifice can't carry more power that the caster thinks it will carry.
In Astral Space, the will and the emotions makes the magic happen, if
you think sacrifices are just abject things you can't get any effects
to help your magic. I don't know if I'm really clear (I doubt it a lot)
but what I want to insist on is that a typical urban dweller bathed with
traditionnal christian morality won't ever be able to use blood magic
because his mind will refuse to think a human sacrifice can produce
something that will be able to help him.
This is important because it is what I think makes it impossible for the
PCs to use this kind of magic. They simply don't have the right frame of
mind.

Anyway, for those who can use it, blood can help in several ways
in the magical process :

First, it can enhance the power of just any spell that can be
cast ritually

Second, it can help in summoning some spirits and even free
spirits

Lastly, it allows the caster to use some specific ritual magic,
which requires blood as a component

Plain spell help
================
Blood can be used plainly to enhance nearly any spell cast during a
ritual. Simply assume that the blood correctly sacrificed during the
casting of the spell allows the caster to add as many dice in its magic pool tha
These dice can be used for any of the tests except drain resistance, in fact dra
For non-human sacrifices, the advantages granted are of course lesser (those who
For the purpose of determining this limit, the grades of magicians within a grou

Dice granted by animals

Animals Dice

Human 5
Cow, Pig, ... 2
Fox, Dog, Chicken, ... 1

Use in conjuring
================
Blood can also be very helpful and potent in conjuring spirits,
because it is the life force of a sentient being, it has the unique
ability to enable the caster to summon a free spirit.
The blood, instead of adding up to the pool of the magician can be used as
karma in ordrer to deal with free spirits. The magician can promise the spirit t
though some individuals may give more karma points (gamemaster
appreciation).

Be careful, YOU CAN'T FORCE A FREE SPIRIT TO CARRY OUT AN ORDER !!

However, he will usually do it because sacrifices are for him an easy way to get
be a little toxic or playing the role of a god/devil. They also tend
to be very powerful having gained lots of karma through sacrifices.

Bloody rituals
==============
Instead of the usual benefits granted for all the spells, blood can be
used in some specific ways, dealing with the fields traditionnally
associated with it : purification and power over life and death.
These "special effects" are always obtained through lenghty rituals
requiring lots of preparation and usually carried out at some holy season or day
They work a little differently from the traditionnal spells in that they have
no force. Thus a magician whishing to use these can only draw dice from its magi
and target number for the spell depends of its nature but it's generally bloody

Note : the rituals provided here are just examples of what I created for my camp

Rituel de la Vraie Renaissance (Ritual of Pure Rebirth)
-------------------------------------------------------
Target Number : 10

This ritual is designed to help metahumans get back their "purity" of
human (the only acceptable form for a druid of Broceliande). In order for this r

Rituel de la Nouvelle Terre (Ritual of the Purer Land)
------------------------------------------------------
Target Number : 8

This ritual is used to purify a small parcel of land from pollution. It takes th
The dices are drawn from Conjuring and Totem modifiers apply (i.e. if a druid/sh

Rituel de la Langue Brisee de Thanatos (Ritual of the Grinding
Tongue of Thanatos)
--------------------------------------------------------------
Target Number : 10

This ritual allows the caster to contact a dying spirit and ask him a
few questions. This requires a body freshly dead (the essence of the body must s

That's all for the moment. Any comments appreciated.


-- CatAclysme

PS : Now that I think about it, perhaps the Great Ghost Dance is just a kinda hu

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