Gilded Cage Rituals
„I hereby submit these sacred rituals to the perusal of the our most esteemed Madame Charpentière in the
city of cities that gave birth to our most noble line. I pray that she may find the fruits of both my personal
experimentation and diligent research into the sadly curtailed past of our great work within the English borders
enlightening and deserving of an eternal place in the libraries of our fellow Architects.
Louis de Montagne, Scholar of the Sanguine Curse, Kogaion of London
Hunting Lodge (Gilded Cage ⚫⚫)
The rolls to activate this ritual are penalised by
the size of the structure to be affected (use Haven
Size dots). If successful, add the successes to all
hunting rolls made on the premises for that night, or
to other rolls that are required during hunting and do
not involve fighting (e.g. Stealth, Athletics,
perception rolls, Intimidation, or seduction).
Shadows seem to conceal Kindred or draw back to
reveal vessels, while floorboards sing out or become
muted depending on whether a vampire or a mortal
steps on them. Lights dim to romantic levels for
seduction attempts, or corridors seem to lengthen to
frighten potential vessels. This ritual can only affect
a number of vampires equal to the caster’s dots in
Gilded Cage (see Ways and Means). If an additional
vampire tries to hunt, or a roll that is made as a part
of the hunt fails, the ritual’s effects end at once. The
ritual can only be cast once per night on a single
building.
Ways and Means: A map of the building and a
calling card for each vampire (a simple cardboard
rectangle with the vampire’s name is sufficient).
Splendid Manor, Foul Hovel (Gilded Cage
⚫⚫)
This ritual either enhances or warps the
appearance of a building, making it appear either
more splendid and in better repair than it is, or the
other way round. Needless to say, this ritual is
extremely effective in facilitating the acquisition or
sale of property. The rolls to activate the ritual are
penalised by the Size of the property (use Haven
Size dots). If successful, the caster may shift the
appearance of the house in either direction, and all
rolls that would benefit from such shifts (be they
seduction rolls in a beautiful place, Intimidation rolls
in a dark and haunting house that suddenly smells of
rot, or haggling rolls during a purchase or sale) gain
a bonus equal to the caster’s successes. The ritual’s
effects last until the next sunset or sunrise, which is
its only drawback – if the broker comes in during the
day, the vampire has to conduct the ritual during
daytime. The ritual can only affect man-made
structures.
Ways and Means: A small cube of marble and a
carved piece of wood for the splendid manor, or a
crumbling cube of plaster and a piece of wood full
of rot and woodworm for the foul hovel.
The Golden Key (Gilded Cage ⚫⚫)
The roll to activate this ritual is penalised by the
Size of the premises to be affected (use Haven Size
dots). It is possible to restrict the effect to smaller
areas of larger estates, thus lowering the difficulty of
the ritual. While the ritual is active, any door in the
affected building will unlock or lock at the caster’s
touch, though he still has to open them manually.
Even electronic locks open and bars lift when the
sorcerer knocks, though the locks of pieces of
furniture or even of safes are unaffected (unless a
safe door leads to a vault, in which case it is fair
game). Supernaturally locked doors are unaffected
by the ritual. The ritual lasts for one scene.
Ways and Means: A gilded or golden key (a
small key-shaped amulet is sufficient).
Voice of the House (Gilded Cage ⚫⚫)
The Masons are considered masters of the
special brand of ritual magic taught by the Dragons,
and this ritual is one of the reasons behind that
reputation. Sometimes the Dragons’ fontal rituals
(see the Ordo Dracul sourcebook) require specific
resonances of specific intensities. While this ritual
cannot alter the resonance of a Wyrm’s Nest, it can
strengthen or weaken it. The roll to activate the
ritual is penalised by the current intensity of the
resonance. If it is successful, the resonance’s
intensity can be increased or decreased by up to the
caster’s dots in Presence, for a number of hours
equal to the ritual’s successes. After this time, the
original resonance reasserts itself at a rate of one
point per hour, though it remains in turmoil for a
number of days equal to the ritual’s successes.
During this time, all supernatural activities that draw
on the Wyrm’s Nest and require rolls (be they mages
drawing Mana or werewolves and spirits drawing
Essence from a locus, or spirits attempting to hide in
a locus) take a -2 penalty. This ritual cannot be
repeated during this time span.
Ways and Means: Five different items that
represent the “taste” of the nest’s resonance (e.g.
five bloodied weapons if the resonance is murder or
violence) that must be placed at the points of a
pentagram at the centre of the nest.
Scent of the Prey (Gilded Cage ⚫⚫⚫)
Submitted by Marcus_Krohne on 19th January
2009, with alterations by Wordweaver05.
The masons discovered that every footstep taken
to a person leaves a form of "psychic footprint" on
the ley lines that an attuned mason can detect. Using
this ritual the Mason can detect these "psychic
footprints". In essence it allows a person to track a
target using a form of "psychic compass".
When this ritual is invoked, the mason gains a
bonus equal to the number of successes when
attempting to locate the target designated when
casting the ritual. These dice both affect perception
rolls or Skill rolls made to directly track the target
and attempts to otherwise verify the target's location
(e.g. asking locals if they have seen the target). The
only way to prevent detection is for the target to flee
the area on the sorcerer’s map (see Ways and
Means), or get into a place that is not yet on that
map (e.g. because it was recently constructed or has
been forgotten). The ritual lasts until sunrise, and the
activation roll is penalised by the target’s
Composure.
Ways and Means: A map of the city, and a
personal object of the target (e.g. a driving license or
a personal picture).
The Golden Door (Gilded Cage ⚫⚫⚫)
The roll to activate this ritual is penalised by the
Size of the premises to be affected (use Haven Size
dots). As with The Golden Key, the ritual may be
restricted to part of the building to make it easier to
perform. While the ritual is in effect, doors open at
the sorcerers approach, and if he so desires, close as
a reflexive action and even lock as an instant action,
as long as he can see them (the ritual may operate
any number of doors at once as long as the sorcerer
can see them with his unaided vision; camera images
and mirrors don't count). The sorcerer may also
name a number of additional characters equal to his
Gilded Cage dots that may also control doors in this
manner, although the sorcerer’s desires always take
precedence. Doors locked by this ritual can be
picked or forced normally, but the appropriate rolls
are penalised by the sorcerer’s Resolve unless the
lock’s normal picking difficulty is higher. The ritual
lasts for one scene. Supernatural means of locking or
unlocking doors are not affected by it.
Ways and Means: A key ring that must contain at
least five different keys to doors inside the building
(if fewer keys are in use, duplicates must be
acquired). Once the ritual is complete, the keys may
be passed on to the characters named in the ritual,
and if they should lose them, they lose the benefits
of The Golden Door.
Pax Domi (Gilded Cage ⚫⚫⚫⚫)
This powerful ritual gives the sorcerer an edge
by making it more difficult to invoke Disciplines in
a house. The activation rolls are penalised by the
Size of the building (use Haven Size dots).
If the ritual is successful, all rolls to activate
Disciplines within the ritually defined area are
penalised by the sorcerer’s dots in Gilded Cage,
except for the sorcerer’s own. In case of Disciplines
that do not require a roll to activate, roll
Resolve+Blood Potency with an equal penalty to see
if the activation succeeds or fails each time it is
attempted. If the activation of a Discipline fails, no
vitae or Willpower is spent. The ritual’s effects
remain in place for one scene.
Ways and Means: The sorcerer must inscribe
sigils and wards in each corner of the area to be
affected. Inscribing a sigil requires four successes on
an extended Intelligence+Occult roll, with each roll
requiring 5 minutes of time. Sigils may be used
again, but if they are erased, the ritual's effects ends
at once.
Prudence Door (Gilded Cage ⚫⚫⚫⚫)
This ritual allows the sorcerer to prepare an
“emergency room” anywhere in his Haven (when
the ritual is used on a building that is not represented
by Haven dots, the roll suffers an additional penalty
of -3 to all activation rolls). The roll to activate the
ritual is penalised by the building’s Size (use Haven
Size dots).
If the ritual is successful, the sorcerer may step
into the emergency room from anywhere in the same
building by spending an Instant action to close a
door (if it is currently open), open it again, and step
through. The sorcerer simply vanishes as he steps
through the door, reappearing through a designated
entrance into his safe room. If the sorcerer is
somehow prevented from stepping through a door he
has opened with the intention of using it to escape,
one use of the ritual is lost. It is impossible to
accompany the sorcerer during this movement; if
currently grappled, for example, the sorcerer simply
vanishes from his assailant’s grasp as he passes over
the threshold. The sorcerer may use this “escape
route” a number of times equal to the ritual’s
successes or until he falls into torpor outside the
building, whichever comes first. The sorcerer may
only prepare one building with escape routes in this
manner.
Ways and Means: A floor and plan of the
building. The sorcerer must draw lines from every
door of the building do the door to the safe room he
wants to reappear through. When re-casting the
ritual, lines already drawn by the sorcerer do not
need to be drawn anew, though erased lines must be
redrawn.
Ward of the Fiery Eye (Gilded Cage ⚫⚫⚫⚫)
This ritual places a ward on a doorway or
window. Anybody trying to pass the ward and not
having the correct symbol of passage on them bursts
into mystical flame that is quit terrifying to
vampires, even though it isn’t as deadly as real fire.
To create the ward, the sorcerer must have a
number of symbols of passage equal to or less than
his Willpower dots on him (elaborate amulets are the
norm, but the symbols can be letters, scrolls, tattoos,
or any other object, as long as they look alike). Once
the ritual is cast, the ward retains a number of
“charges” equal to the sorcerer’s successes. When an
intruder passes through the warded area or attempts
to remove the ward, the eye-shaped ward flashes
briefly and the target bursts into flame, suffering
lethal damage equal to the ritual’s successes (even
vampires only suffer lethal damage, but they must
roll for Rötschreck as if they had been burned by
real fire). Mystical armour (e.g. armour gained
through Devotions or magic) reduces this damage by
its armour rating, but a vampire must still roll for
Rötschreck even if he is not harmed. Using
Obfuscate also offers some protection, offering 3
dots of armour at level 3 or higher as long as the
vampire is invisible when traversing the warded
area.
The ward retains its charges indefinitely until it
is destroyed or depleted. It will not attack characters
attempting to remove it by shooting if the attacker is
standing further away than arm’s length, though
most sorcerers place the wards so that they’re
difficult to target by shooting. A single success on a
gunshot attack is enough to deface the ward and
render it inactive, but all attack rolls suffer a -4
penalty because of the ward's small size.
If the warded location is also a Wyrm’s Nest
attuned to sorcerous energies (i.e. a Hallow), wards
will slowly regenerate their charges at a rate of one
charge per day per ward (so two wards will only
gain one charge each every two days, etc.). If the
Wyrm’s Nest’s energies were depleted using a Fontal
Ritual, however, this regeneration is interrupted for a
month, and if the ritual is botched, the wards lose
their attunement to the site and will never
regenerate.
Ways and Means: A small gold triangle engraved
with an open eye. The triangle need only have the
size of a thumbnail, and it must be placed to
overlook the warded entrance.
Stone Guardian (Gilded Cage ⚫⚫⚫⚫⚫)
This ritual animates a stone statue or gargoyle
that is already part of a building. The Guardian
usually stays fused with the stone itself and will not
respond to attempts to damage it unless ordered to
do so by one of its controllers, and it cannot
voluntarily leave the premises. It may detach from
the building as an instant action and wander about if
so commanded. If carried outside, it becomes
inanimate if it cannot return in a number of turns
equal to its Willpower dots, but will become animate
again once it is carried back into the grounds. If the
limits of the grounds change after the stone guardian
has been created (e.g. through sales or acquisitions),
the stone guardian still obeys the limits as they were
in the moment of creation.
To become a controller of a stone guardian, the
right to be so must be granted by one of the other
controllers (the sorcerer automatically is a
controller). A controller cannot relinquish his right
of control or have it withdrawn, even by another
controller, and stone guardians may only be
animated if the vampire has some title to the
building in question (e.g. pertinent dots in the Haven
or Resources Merits).
Stone guardians slowly regenerate as long as
they are attached to their building and have been
repaired (Two successes on a Craft (Stonemason)
roll for a box of Bashing damage, four for each box
of Lethal damage, and eight for every box of
Aggravated damage; each roll takes one hour). Use
twice the human healing times for the guardian’s
regeneration.
Stone guardians use the gargoyle stats from
Vampire: The Requiem, though they may be armed
at the sorcerer’s discretion and will automatically
know how to use the weapons they carried when
animated.
Ways and Means: A ritual circle inscribed with a
mixture of blood and gold dust, and some chippings
from the statue in question at the exact centre of the
grounds to be protected. The circle requires 10
successes on an extended Intelligence+Occult roll,
with one roll allowed every hour. A circle may be re-
used in subsequent castings of the ritual.

A word from the editor

The rituals contained in this file are not part of the official Vampire: The Requiem material, and are
therefore subject to Storyteller approval. Use of the rituals submitted here requires Bloodlines: The Hidden.
The rituals presented here were designed by Wordweaver05, unless otherwise noted in the ritual's individual
entry. Game balance and staying “in character” have been major considerations in developing them, and I
would like to express my heartfelt thanks to everybody who contributed to a more interesting unlife on the White
Wolf website's Vampire forum, where these rituals were previously published, and from which a selection using
the aforementioned guidelines was compiled for this PDF.
 This PDF is meant as a contribution by fans for fans, and is not intended to infringe on White Wolf's
copyrights and intellectual property in any way. If you paid for this file, you were ripped off, since it's meant to
be available for free on the White Wolf Vampire forum.

Wordweaver05
Germany, January 2009.