The roll to activate a Koldunic Sorcery Path is now a Willpower roll with a difficulty equal to (3 + Path rating), and each such roll also requires the expenditure of one blood point. The roll to activate a Koldunic Sorcery ritual is Intelligence + Occult with a difficulty equal to 3 + the ritual rating. These rules supersede those in V20, but if you prefer the original rules, feel free to use whichever you like.

In addition, the default assumption is that Koldunic Sorcery is almost universal among Old Clan Tzimisce, fairly common among Sabbat Tzimisce, and nearly unheard of among all other Clans. The school’s metaphysical connections to Kupala and to the lands permeated by that spirit increase the difficulty by +1 on all Koldunic Sorcery rolls made on behalf of kolduns who work their magic outside the territories of Eastern Europe.

Koldunic Rituals

Level One Rituals

Reawakening the Dead Water

The koldun must drop one point of blood into pool of water and then drink the equivalent of one blood point from that source. The koldun will be able to ingest this water without difficulty.

System: If the ritual is successfully performed (with at least one success), the koldun regains a point of spent Willpower. This cannot raise his Willpower above its normal maximum. This ritual can only be performed once per night.

Level Two Rituals

Invoke the Lesser Sign of Power

The koldun may invoke the authority of the spirits which are the source of her magical birthright. She must concentrate for a single turn and then make the Lesser Sign of Power with her hands. If the ritual succeeds, her eyes glow with power.

System: For one hour per success, the koldun gains a -2 difficulty reduction on all Intimidation or Leadership rolls made against mortals, provided that she can make eye contact with them.

Level Three Rituals

Cowing the Servant

The Tzimisce enjoy the feeling of control over their servants, even more so when those servants quake with fear. This ritual heightens the normal devotion of a ghoul, revenant, or other blood bound servant. The koldun mixes a sheep’s brain with soil from his domain and a point of his own blood, while chanting an ancient Slavic incantation. Then, he forces the servant to eat the foul mixture.

System: For one week per success, the difficulty of any roll made for the koldun to manipulate the servant is reduced by -1.

Level Four Rituals

Ties That Bind

The koldun must spill four points of her own blood onto a patch of earth that she has claimed. Then, she must ritually devour a handful of the blood-soaked soil. Doing so reconnects her with the spirit of the land and facilitates the workings of koldunism. This is often used by kolduns outside of Eastern Europe to offset the distant connections to their homeland.

System: For one night per success, the koldun reduces the difficulty for all rolls pertaining to Koldunic Sorcery by -1. This ritual cannot be performed more than once per week.

Level Five Rituals

The Inmost Tug

The koldun may alter the emotional characteristicsof any blood bond he holds over a thrall. In place of the normal feelings of love and devotion, he can cause the thrall to feel a debased lust, a terrified obedience, a fraternal devotion, or any other emotional context he chooses. The koldun need only speak a word in the presence of the thrall to invoke the ritual’s power.

System: Each success represents one scene in which the thrall is compelled to feel an emotion of the koldun’s choice towards him.

Koldunism

Tzimisce koldun claim they practiced magic before all others. Koldunic Sorcery draws upon primal elementalism, enslaving weak spirits or making deals with stronger ones. Foremost among these elemental spirits is the Carpathian entity Kupala, called “the root of all” by the most ancient koldun. Continued relations with this creature have caused significant difficulties, as trafficking with spirits is only a hair’s breadth from infernalism. Koldun are watched intently by the Inquisition for any sign of demonic taint.

Koldunic rituals were the foundation for the Sabbat ritae, but the two types of magic are not the same. Koldunism is a practice of calling and binding; a ritus is an exercise of faith. The commonality is that rituals of the Sabbat tap into the spirits of their practitioners to fuel the magic, rather than the spirits of the elemental world.

Despite the Sabbat’s adherence to the principles of freedom (for Cainites, naturally), koldun continue to bind spirits and make bargains. Their magic is visceral, primordial, and stoic, melding ancient tradition with the energies of the natural world. It’s also extremely rare in the modern world.

The Way of Earth

Capable of great destruction and great healing, the earth is the womb of life and the sepulcher of death. It drinks all blood violently spilled upon its soil, and so mirrors the vampire. It is by association with the earth as a source of strength that a koldun enacts his will.

Rank 1 - Grasping Soil

A koldun invoking this power may command earth to rise in a spray of dirt and crawl up a victim’s legs. This power can only command soil, not stone, and may only target victims standing on the earth.

System: The koldun may direct any patch of earth within a 100-foot/30-meter radius to ensnare a target for two turns per success rolled. Animated dirt ascends and constricts midway between the victim’s knees and hips, holding her fast unless her player scores five successes on Strength + Survival roll (difficulty 6). It is also possible to use this power as an attack, in which case the grasping earth crushes once and then releases. Used in this manner, each success on the casting inflicts one level of lethal damage.

Rank 2 - Endurance of Stone

Drawing the essence of earth into himself, a koldun may gain a measure of its preternatural resilience. Un- der the effects of this power, a vampire’s skin resembles a horrid fusion of flesh and stone that cracks and flows impossibly with every movement.

System: A successful activation roll grants the kol- dun two extra dots of Stamina for the rest of the scene. These dots are considered part of the character’s natu- ral Stamina and may aid in any uses of that Attribute, including soak.

Rank 3 - Hungry Earth

Expanding on the power of Grasping Soil, a koldun may use this power to drag a victim into the earth. He need only gesture and the soil beneath his victim opens like the maw of a great beast. This power may ensnare any victim who stands upon the earth within 100 feet/30 meters of the koldun.

System: Like Grasping Soil, every success on the ac- tivation roll leaves the victim immobile for one turn. However, the difficulty of the Strength + Survival roll to break free increases to 8 and doing so still requires five successes. As the earth continues to shift and grasp while the power remains active, this roll must be made as a single (though repeatable) attempt rather than an extended test. In addition, beings trapped in the crushing pit suffer one level of lethal damage each turn. Beings capable of soaking this damage may do so, but at difficulty 7. At the end of the power’s duration, the earth yawns once more to release the victim.

Rank 4 - Root of Vitality

As with Hungry Earth, the koldun may direct the land to bury any target standing on the earth within a 100-foot/30-meter radius. Yet this power is far more benevolent in its intent, if no less disturbing in its manifestation. The soil ripples, parting and closing like some obscene womb as it draws the target a full yard beneath the surface. Living beings entombed in this fashion do not suffocate, as the enchanted soil pumps air from above in undulating breaths. Better still, the fertile essence of the earth presses upon her flesh and restores it to new health. Still, the process is highly disturbing and unnatural, especially as targets remain wholly aware in silent, helpless immobility for the full duration. It is possible for a koldun to heal himself with this power.

System: The player spends as many blood points as desired (which may require multiple turns depending on Generation) and makes the activation roll. Each success permits the earth to heal two levels of bashing damage or one level of lethal damage. Healing aggravated damage requires two successes per level. The total number of health levels that may be restored with each use of this power is the number of blood points invested or the number of successes on the activation roll, whichever is lower. Any blood points spent beyond the number of successes drain away to no effect. The actual healing process takes one turn per bashing level, one minute per lethal level, and one hour per aggravated level. Once the healing is complete or the power is interrupted through determined excavation, the earth expels the target back to the surface.

Rank 5 - Kupala's Fury

Mortals pray in fear when the mountains shake. They fear the wrath of the Old Gods, and rightfully so. This is not a power used lightly or capriciously, because it represents one of the greatest weapons available to Koldunic Sorcery.

System:This power requires a Willpower point in addition to the usual cost and activation roll. The kol- dun smites the earth with his fist, and his anger flows through the soil to any target in his line of sight. The quake erupts outward from that point, inflicting 10 dice of lethal damage on everything and everyone in the area of effect. Most wooden structures collapse entirely and even buildings of concrete and steel may grow cracked and pitted with superficial damage from the shaking earth. This tremor lasts one turn and af- fects an area determined by the number of successes rolled. It is not possible to apply fewer successes than those rolled.

1 success — One house or single storefront.
2 successes — Five lesser structures or a small city block.
3 successes — An entire side street or a large city block
4 successes — Multiple square blocks or a large structure (like a stadium)
5 successes — An entire neighborhood or massive industrial complex

The Way of Wind

Subtler than mastery over earth, this way evokes the air in the breath of the living and last rattle of a dying man. In stillness or motion, koldun turn all aspects of air to their unliving design.

Rank 1 - Breath of Whispers

Even in their absence, koldun instill deep fear in their servants. This power carries the vampire’s words on a light breeze and returns with the target’s reply. The vampire need only address the target by name and forcibly mimic a deep exhalation of breath as he speaks his message.

System: Every time the koldun wishes to send a new message via this power, his player makes the usual activation roll. However, the player need only spend blood the first time the power is used during a given scene. Each success permits one turn of speech. After the vampire concludes the message, swift winds carry it to its destination. Within a minute, the target hears the koldun as if the vampire whispered in his ear. He may reply or remain silent, but anything he says within a number of turns equal to the koldun’s successes flies back to the koldun. This power may bring words to anyone within a mile (one and a half kilometers) who is not in a sealed room. While using this power, a kol- dun must concentrate fully. Any disturbance breaks the communication.

Rank 2 - Biting Gale

Vengeful koldun sought to invoke a wind as chill as air atop the Carpathian Mountains. This power achieves that end, unleashing a cutting wind that can freeze a man’s blood in his veins as it swirls through an area of his choosing. Besides its obvious combat applications, this power also facilitates a dramatic entrance for those so inclined.

System: With a successful activation roll, the kol- dun summons a freezing wind within a maximum of a 100-yard/meter radius. Anyone caught in this frig- id blast suffers one die of bashing damage each turn (which may be soaked normally), loses two dice from all Dexterity pools, and moves at half normal speed. The winds last as long as the koldun wills, provided he maintains concentration. Any non-reflexive actions on the part of the vampire cause the winds to still and dissipate. This includes any movement.

Rank 3 - Breeze of Lethargy

TAlthough they cannot induce immediate sleep, the winds evoked by this power bring growing exhaustion and numbing weariness through every muscle. Victims of this power often smell a hint of bittersweet smoke before they fall entranced.

System: For two turns per success, the koldun cre- ates a wind inflicting extreme lethargy within a 200- foot/60-meter radius. Players of characters caught in this wind must roll Stamina + Survival (difficulty 8). This roll is made once every ten minutes of exposure. Failure means the character halves all dice pools involving physical actions for the remaining duration of the wind and halves all movement rates for the scene. A botch puts the character to sleep (or a state of light torpor for vampires) for the scene. Sleeping characters awaken if prodded, shaken, or otherwise manhandled, though they move slowly and may suffer halved dice pools if the wind persists.

Rank 4 - Ride the Tempest

A koldun employing this power moves at incredible speeds as he rides along the winds. While traveling with this power, a vampire assumes a blurred form that coalesces as he reaches his destination.

System: With a successful activation roll, the koldun fades into the wind and flies at 250 mph/400 kph to his destination. This power cannot effectively function in caves, buildings, or other enclosed areas. Outside, the vampire’s flight navigates all obstacles. Once the kol- dun arrives at his destination or the scene ends, the vampire descends to earth and solidifies.

Rank 5 - Tempest

Applying fury magnified by blood and will, a koldun may project the full measure of his anger into the night sky. Churning gray clouds blot out stars and moon, unleashing spiraling gusts and a driving downpour of freezing rain. Lightning arcs overhead, with each thun- derous flash casting jagged shadows. .

System: With a successful activation roll and a point of Willpower (in addition to the usual blood), a koldun may conjure a terrible storm. It takes six hours for the clouds to gather and thicken overhead, minus one hour for every success rolled. If this results in a duration of less than one hour, the clouds blossom outward from directly overhead like a black canopy, filling the sky in mere minutes. Once the clouds form, the rain begins to fall in torrents and the lightning begins. The storm persists at full strength for one hour per success rolled. It gradually dissipates over the hour following that. During the peak of its fury, the storm may cause flooding and certainly chills any exposed mortal to the bone (1 die of unsoakable bashing damage every five minutes of full exposure). Lightning strikes regularly, far more than a usual storm. Indeed, for a cost of one Willpower point, a koldun may direct lightning at a foe using his Percep- tion + Occult (difficulty 6). A successful strike inflicts 10 dice of lethal damage (which can be soaked normal- ly). Only one such attack may be made each turn

Rank 1 - The Way of Water

Largely practiced by koldun with havens near a large water source, this way can raise watery spirit slaves and dash a ship to splinters. More subtly, the vampire may lurk in the depths or conjure illusions to confound and dazzle his foes.

Rank 2 - Pool of Lies

This versatile power creates three-dimensional illu- sions along the surface of a water source. How a koldun uses such illusions depends on his temperament and will. It is just as easy to feign a divine visitation as a cunning seduction.

System:

With a successful activation roll, the kol- dun may project an illusion on any water surface in line of sight. The illusion may speak and move however the vampire wishes, though it has no substance and can- not step beyond the bounds of the water. The phantom lasts one turn per success rolled, after which it slowly dissipates into fine mist. It is possible to extend this lifespan with subsequent activations of the power, each of which stack in determining final duration. Rolls to extend an illusion’s duration add one to the base dif- ficulty, but require no blood. Once an illusion fades away, it must be cast anew.

Rank 3 - Watery Haven

Just as the Gangrel meld with the earth, so may a koldun with this power sink beneath the water to es- cape the sun. The vampire does not so much submerge as merge with the water. Though his slumbering form may be visible at odd angles from above, only the most determined splashing can disturb his rest.

System:

This power requires no blood. If the player gains two or more successes on the activation roll, the vampire sinks into the water as per the Protean power Earth Meld. A body of water must be at least two feet deep and as large in other dimensions as the vampire’s body to contain him. Catching a glimpse of a hidden koldun in the water requires a successful Perception + Alertness roll (difficulty 8).

Rank 4 - Fog Over Sea

Moving with the unnatural grace of a ghost, a koldun employing this power may stride across water as readily as land, leaving nary a ripple to mark his passing. Some vampires delight in using this power in conjunction with Pool of Lies to conjure phantasms to attend them.

System:

For every success on the activation roll, the koldun may walk on water for one scene or one hour, whichever is longer. A koldun may choose to drop the effects of this power in order to submerge or swim; however, the vampire may not walk on water again un- less he reactivates the power.

Rank 5 - Minions of the Deep

By dripping his blood into a body of water, a koldun may summon or rouse embodied water elementals to serve him for a night. Such minions are infallibly loyal, if not especially clever. Despite their liquid form, they are solid enough to grab a man and drag him to a wa- tery grave or pummel him like the crashing surf.

System:

The player spends one Willpower point and makes the standard activation roll. With success, the player may spend blood to summon elemental minions. This blood must be dripped or flung into a body of water, which may require multiple turns depending on generational limits for blood expenditure.

Once the last drop of blood falls, the water rises into whatever form the koldun desires. The caster may create as many minions as blood points spent, though not more than the total number of successes rolled. Regardless of their form, the spirits have a rating equal to the vampire’s Wits in all Traits. These beings have no Knowledges and no Skills apart from Stealth. Furthermore, their Mental and Social Attributes are considered to have a rating of 1 except in passive or defensive situations (such as to resist persuasion or mind-control).

Water elementals soak and otherwise suffer damage as vampires, including from sunlight. Fire harms them less, inflicting bashing damage only. Moreover, the watery creatures may extinguish flames with their liquid bodies, though not without suffering injury. An elemental who leaves the body of water that spawned it suffers one level of aggravated damage per hour. Minions regenerate one level of damage of any kind (including aggravated) each turn they remain in contact with a large body of water, but do not otherwise heal. Unless destroyed, summoned minions last until the next dawn before collapsing into inanimate puddles.

Rank 6 - Doom Tide

Many ships lie at the bottom of the Black Sea, shat- tered by the whirlpools of the koldun. Victims of this power must fight with every ounce of their strength or fall into the whirling, airless depths below.

System:

The player spends a Willpower point in ad- dition to the usual blood. For every success on the ac- tivation roll, the resulting whirlpool has a radius of five feet/1.5 meters, centered anywhere in the vampire’s line of sight. Whirlpools have a base Strength of 15, increas- ing by 5 dots per success after the first. Victims must suc- cessfully oppose this Strength with their own Strength + Survival (difficulty 8) in order to break free. Those who fail are sucked into the depths and pounded with crushing currents. Living beings drown normally, while vampires and other non-breathing creatures simply remain trapped helplessly in the vortex. This power lasts for one scene.

The Way of Fire

The ancient anathema of vampires, the element of fire offers the most powerful and dangerous tool avail- able to koldun. The Way of Fire shares aspects with the Way of Earth, in that it focuses more on magma and fiery rock than pure, naked flame.

Rank 1 - Fiery Courage

No vampire can master an element he fears, so this pow- er dims that fear to a mere ember of its former intensity.

System: Once learned, this power is permanent and requires no activation roll or blood. The koldun sub- tracts his rating in the Way of Fire from the difficulty of Courage rolls to resist Rötschreck from exposure or proximity to flame. This power does not aid in resist- ing the panic that accompanies sunlight or any other causes apart from actual fire. If this reduces the diffi- culty of a Courage roll below two, the koldun simply does not succumb to the Red Fear. Koldun never risk Rötschrek from fire and magma they conjure.

Rank 2 - Combust

The Cainite’s eyes flash vivid orange with sorcerous power as superheated air coils around the target. In moments, the target bursts into spontaneous flame.

System: For every success on the activation roll, the target suffers one level of aggravated damage. This at- tack may be dodged, but not blocked, and can affect living (or unliving) beings at +2 difficulty. It is only possible to make one fiery attack per turn.

Rank 3 - Wall of Magma

The koldun raises his hand and the earth splits, spraying a wall of glowing magma 10 feet/3 meters high. Normally, this wall forms a 10-foot/3-meter ra- dius circle around the vampire, although the sorcerer can raise other shapes with practice and skill.

System: AThe wall of magma summoned with this power has a lifespan of two turns per success rolled. If the koldun wishes to release the magma along a shape other than a protective circle, increase the base dif- ficulty by one. Characters cannot approach a wall of molten rock without a Courage roll (difficulty 8), and even then, the close blistering heat inflicts a level of aggravated damage. Actual contact with the lava in- creases the damage to three levels and raises the soak difficulty to 9, assuming any sort of soak is possible. The koldun takes no damage from his proximity to the sum- moned magma (although contact with it still damages him as normal).

Rank 4 - Heat Wave

The koldun acts as a conduit for steam geysers and channels a blast of desiccating air at a victim within line of sight. This fiery wind appears as a rippling heat wave enveloping the victim. Individuals slain with this gruesome power appear as withered, mummified husks.

System: On a successful activation roll, the victim suffers five levels of lethal damage that may be soaked by beings capable of such. Vampire targets also lose five blood points, regardless of the damage inflicted.

Rank 5 - Volcanic Blast

At the final mastery of Way of Fire, a koldun com- mands lava to explode from the ground in a huge gey- ser. The molten rock spews across a wide swath before crashing to earth and flowing in all directions. Any- thing in the path of the molten rock burns, melts, or vaporizes within moments. The caster may direct the lava to erupt anywhere in his line of sight.

System: This power costs one Willpower point in ad- dition to a blood point. For every success on the activa- tion roll, the initial lava burst lasts one turn. The rivers of burning liquid rock then flow sluggishly for twice this duration before suddenly cooling and hardening. Even if an object survives the heat, it now lies trapped beneath the rock. Anything that makes contact with lava (including the koldun) suffers a minimum of three levels of aggravated damage. For objects that don’t have health levels, the Storyteller must decide how many turns they last before melting or erupting into their own inferno. A botch on this power opens the lava geyser under an unintended target, possibly the koldun himself.

The Way of the Spirit

This Path is rarely found outside of Old Clan Tzimisce, whose members still stalk the same ancestral lands as their sires and their sires’ sires. But it has utility even for Sabbat Tzimisce, and so its knowledge spreads even to more cosmopolitan Clan-mates. The path allows the koldun to diffuse his perceptions across an increasingly large area. If the magic is performed correctly, the koldun will be able to perceive potentially everything that takes place in the affected area (which might be many square miles), though opening one’s self up fully to such awareness is dangerous for all but the most strong-willed kolduns. Instead, most reflexively limit their perceptions to “all intruders” or “all potential feeding vessels” as they desire, and even the most perceptive koldun might miss something important if she has inadvertently excluded it from her gaze. While the power is active, the koldun may also target any location or person he can perceive with any other Koldunic Path power or ritual, provided that the rating of the Path power or ritual does not exceed that of the koldun’s rating in The Way of the Spirit. This power also defeats the use of Obfuscate by any Kindred within the area of effect.

• The koldun can perceive everything within a 50-foot/20-meter radius. •• ... within a 100-yard/meter radius. ••• ... within a quarter-mile/half-kilometer radius. •••• ... within a mile/1.5 kilometer radius. ••••• ... within a five mile/eight kilometer radius.

The number of successes on the activation roll determines how many successive scenes the effect lasts. If activated before the sun rises, the koldun’s awareness can extend into the daylight hours, and the koldun suffers no negative effects from monitoring his lands during the day. He does still suffer the usual dice penalties for taking any other actions during the day.

The Way of Sorrows

While a part of the broader Koldunic school, this Path does not overtly rely upon a direct connection to Kupala. Rather, it invokes a number of curses in the name of various pre- Christian Slavic deities. Then again, some Tzimisce scholars speculate that at least some of those deities are themselves merely aspects of the being which calls itself Kupala. All of these effects require the koldun to be able to directly perceive the target. They cannot generally be used at range through sympathetic magic, but they can be used against a distant target whom the koldun can perceive through powers such as The Way of the Spirit or Scry.

Rank 1 - The Frustrations of Nestrecha

The koldun may destroy her enemy’s resolve, instilling feelings of pessimism and hopelessness. .

System: For one turn per success, the target may not spend Willpower for any purpose.

Rank 2 - The Insults of Krivda

The koldun unleashes a hateful insult towards his foe, thereby provoking her to mindless anger.

System: In response to the insult, the target must immediately roll Self-Control to resist frenzy against a difficulty of 5 + the number of successes on the activation roll, maximum difficulty 9.

Rank 3 - The Weeping of Kruchina

The koldun may instill a crushing despair or nigh- suicidal depression in her enemy.

System: For one turn per success, the target is overwhelmed by intense misery and weeps uncontrollably. She cannot engage in any action that requires concentration, and a Kindred loses one blood point each turn as vitae streams from her eyes.

Rank 4 - The Misfortune of Chernogolov

The koldun taunts his enemy with a prediction of certain doom, which then comes to pass.

System: The target automatically loses two successes on every roll she attempts. The effect lasts for a number of consecutive rolls equal to the successes rolled.

Rank 5 - The Starvation of Marena

The koldun may now inflict direct damage on her enemy in the form of bitter cold and starving hunger.

System: For each success, the target suffers two levels of bashing damage that can be soaked normally. In addition, a vampire targeted with this power loses one blood point per success.