Castigation

Castigation functions as a merit rated 1-5, requiring either Backing (Lucifuge), Backing (Les Enfants
Diabolique) or either one or both as an enemy. Each dot in castigation allows the character to learn one
rite to a maximum of five at Castigation 5.

Gifted by the blood of their infernal ancestor, the hunters of the Lucifuge call upon the very powers of
darkness they struggle against to make the world safe for humanity. Though the rites

of Castigation are powerful, many Lucifuge fear to use them too freely, lest the seductive power of Hell
ensnare their souls. Hunters of the Lucifuge are right to fear, as the dark “blessing” of their forefather’s
power can taint even the strongest soul. Whenever a Lucifuge rolls an exceptional success on the
activation roll for a Castigation rite, he must roll his dots in Castigation vs his Resolve.. If he fails, he gains
a derangement, if he already has a mild derangement, it becomes major instead. If he has a major
derangement, his derangement is upgraded to defining. The Storyteller and player should work together
to choose this derangement; narcissism, suspicion and irrationality (along with their severe
counterparts) are especially common.

Calling Forth the Pit

According to the Lucifuge’s infernal lore, when Lucifer was cast into Hell, it was an empty, endless void.
Only by the light of the Morningstar’s will was it transformed into a kingdom suitable for his demonic
followers. The very act of willing the unholy city into being, however, bound up its existence with
Lucifer’s. The First of the Fallen is a part of Hell now, and it is a part of him. His mortal descendants carry
a bit of that connection in their blood, and through application of the proper ritual acts, a Lucifuge may
draw a portion of Hell to himself, commanding the pit to either disgorge one of its demonic denizens into
the earthly realm or to swallow up one of its children and drag it back to Hell.

The Lucifuge may attempt to summon a random demon or a specific entity whose name he knows. If he
knows the name of a demon he tries to banish, he receives a +2 bonus to his dice pool. A named demon
can even be summoned from elsewhere in the material world. This has no function on demons of the
third circle, such hell gods are beyond their might.

Cost: The Lucifuge must perform a blood sacrifice that inflicts 2 points of lethal damage. This damage
may be inflicted on himself or on another intelligent being.

Action: Extended ([10 + demon’s resolve] successes; each roll requires a minute in time) to summon a
demon, extended and contested to banish one. The first competitor to accumulate the required

successes wins

Dice Pool: Charisma + Presence versus the subject’s Resistance.

Roll Results

Dramatic Failure: The ritual or resistance fails outright and all accumulated successes are lost. If the
attempt was a summoning ritual, the Lucifuge may try again; if the Lucifuge rolls a dramatic failure on a
banishment roll, he cannot try to banish that demon again for one month. If the demon fails dramatically
on a banishment resistance roll, it is immediately banished to the netherworld from whence it came.

Failure: No successes are accumulated at this stage of the contest.

Success: Successes are accumulated toward the total required. If the total reaches the appropriate
successes for the Lucifuge on a summoning ritual, a demon manifests in the physical world at a point
specified by the hunter. The hunter has no control over the summoned demon unless he knows the
Mandate of Hell Castigation ritual. If the hunter reaches appropriate successes first on a banishment
ritual, the demon is swallowed up by the yawning black gulf of Hell and immediately banished from the
mortal world. If the demon acquires the appropriate successes first, it is not banished and is immune to
further attempts for 24 hours.

Exceptional Success: Tremendous progress is made or resistance is shown. Upon an exceptional success,
the entity may not return to the mortal world for one month.

Familiar

Descendants of Lucifer often attract tiny, lesser demons to themselves, willingly or unwillingly. These
imps and familiars are drawn to the infernal spark in the blood of a Lucifuge, and are compelled by the
divine right of Lucifer’s blood to serve and obey. Some do so willingly, so slavish in their devotion to their
earthly masters that they are willing to oppose the edicts of
Hell. Others serve reluctantly, disgusted to see the seed of the Morningstar debase itself as a servant of
humanity but nevertheless bound by their master’s blood. Still others are insidious, pretending to give
loyal service while seeking every opportunity to seduce their “masters” into

the open service of evil.

A familiar comes in one of two forms, Twilight or embodied. The Lucifuge chooses which

type he will have when he learns this rite; the only way to change the type of a character’s familiar is to
unlearn the Familiar ritual and then relearn it later. At the player’s choice, this might

represent the dismissal of one servant and the summoning of another, or the swap might represent an
elaborate ritual to clothe a Twilight familiar in flesh (or release an embodied one from its fleshy prison).
The altered familiar might have similar Traits in its new form, but

it might just as easily be radically different in form and powers, with only the personality and memories
remaining the same. A character may only have one familiar at a time.

A Twilight familiar is a spiritual entity with no proper physical body of its own. A Twilight familiar

is also known as a “fetch.” Twilight familiars can temporarily manifest like ghosts (see “Manifestations,”
p. 210 in The World of Darkness Rulebook), but their ephemeral bodies are otherwise invisible and
intangible to the physical world. A Twilight familiar must manifest or use Charms to affect anything in the
physical world — except for its master, whom it can touch at will (its master can also see and speak with
the familiar freely, even if he cannot see or hear into

Twilight).

An Embodied familiar is one that has taken an animal form to blend into the mortal world.

The master and familiar have an empathic connection; each can automatically feel the emotions of the
other. (Magical effects that damage or manipulate the familiar through an emotional attack don’t
damage or manipulate the master.) The familiar can always understand its master, no matter what
language the master speaks, and vice versa.

TWILIGHT FAMILIAR TRAITS

Build a spirit of equal rank to the character's essence. Twilight Familiars also gain the following abilities in
addition to their other traits:

Born of Sin: The Twilight familiar is a base creature, born of sin and capable of calling that sin out in
others. Choosing a sin at creation, such as pride or wrath. With a special reflexive Read Intentions rolling
Power + Finesse, the spirit can detect any intimacy that resonates with it. Upon finding one it may spend
3m to roll Power + Finesse versus the target's resolve. If successful the target treats that intimacy as one
higher. If it was already at defining strength they must act upon it in the scene. This is considered a
Psyche effect and can be resisted by spending 2 willpower.

EMBODIED FAMILIAR TRAITS

Choose an appropriate 2 dot familiar, the Storyteller gets final call on what is appropriate. In addition the
creature gains:

It has an essence score equal to the characters. They also have the influence dots appropriate to a spirit
of that essence, however they only have half the motes that would be available to a spirit of that
essence. If the familiar is taught any magical abilities it may spend the motes for itself.

The creature is also sentient and can speak old realm, as well as communicate telepathically to it’s
master while in close range. It gains a skill in Demonic Lore of 8 dice and further lore specialties may be
bought with xp.

Ban: The familiar has one Ban, chosen by the Storyteller.

Innocuous: Embodied familiars are very good at not being noticed by others. Anyone but its bonded
master suffers a -2 penalty on perception rolls to notice the familiar, unless it does something to draw
attention to itself. It also subtracts 2 successes from attempts to recognize the demon is not a normal
member of it’s animal species.

Through the Eyes: By spending a point of Willpower, the master of an embodied familiar can shift his
perceptions to the familiar. He sees what the familiar sees, hears what it hears, and so on, at no range
limit. He is oblivious to his own surroundings while viewing through his familiar, but still possesses tactile
sensation (thus he is aware of any damage or physical sensation to his own body). Ending this viewing is
a reflexive action and requires no roll.

Gaze of the Penitent

Hell is a place of fire and torment, but also, according to many philosophies, a place where the evil is
scourged from the soul so that it might pass on to the next world. The torments of the Pit are not
punishment, but an encouragement to repentance. Tortures are tailored to the

soul’s particular sins to remind the damned of what brought them there in the first place. Whether any
soul actually escapes the iron walls of Pandemonium is a matter of philosophical debate, but Lucifuge
who know this ritual are capable of drawing on that same affinity for the sins of an individual and laying
them bare, wracking mortal man and unholy monster alike with the pain and guilt of past transgressions.

The Gaze of the Penitent ritual requires eye contact; if the target moves about or actively avoids

making eye contact, or if he wears dark glasses, the activation roll suffers a -1 penalty. The Lucifuge must
also possess a bit of blood, hair, or similar substance from the target. This corporal requirement is
waived if the Lucifuge has witnessed the target committing one of the seven deadly sins in the last 24
hours.

Cost: 1 Willpower.

Action: Contested.

Dice Pool:Perception + Socialize vs. Guile

Roll Results

Dramatic Failure: The hunter’s power is reflected back on herself. She suffers a penalty to

all dice pools equal to (Castigation) for the rest of the scene. She may spend a Willpower

point to negate this penalty for a turn.

Failure: The ritual fails to take effect.

Success: The target of the ritual is wracked with guilt and the imagined torments of Hell that will be
visited upon him for his sins. He suffers a penalty to all dice pools equal to (Castigation) for a number of
turns equal to the successes rolled on the activation roll. He may spend a Willpower point to negate this
penalty for a turn and act normally.

Exceptional Success: The guilt and pain last for an entire scene.

Hellfire

Hell has been associated with fire and brimstone, especially in Western culture, for hundreds, if not
thousands, of years. Lucifer himself is called the Morningstar, which has implications of fiery radiance.
The Lucifuge is at home with heat and flame, and through the power of their infernal parentage, some
learn to control and conjure these hellish flames to scourge their enemies.

Cost: - (1 Willpower and one point of aggravated damage)

Drawing on infernal heritage the hunter may call forth flames, sending them streaming from her eyes,
fingertips, or mouth. She might use this to light a campfire or incinerate ropes that bind her hands, and
can also use it as an attack, rolling ([Charisma, Dexterity, or Intelligence] + [Athletics, Thrown, Presence,
or Occult]) to direct the flames, which are treated as a light mundane weapon with the lethal, thrown
(short), and mounted tags. By spending a willpower and taking an aggravated damage this attack deals
aggravated damage instead.

Infernal Visions

The Luciferan blood that courses through the veins of the Lucifuge often carries with it the gift of
prophecy. This “gift” is dubious at best; often the insight of this ritual comes in the form of terrifying
nightmares and visions of the infernal court of their “father.”

Whatever form the insight takes, the character has a connection to primordial forces in the world,
ancient truths that can be seen and comprehended only in dreams. He gains insight into secrets through
reverie and visions, finding answers to questions he couldn’t normally get by mundane means. He might
dream of a hellish future in which all he loves is burned to ash, or he might meditate until his soul is cast,
screaming, into the Abyss, to converse with Lucifer and his chief ministers, or he might just shut his eyes
tight and listen to the snarled wisdom of the thing that lurks outside his window every night.

Once per game session, the Lucifuge can use his Infernal Visions ability to gain a supernatural insight
concerning a question or topic. Activating this ability requires at least one hour spent in sleep, trance or
an activity exclusively focused on accessing an altered state of consciousness.

Cost: None, but the nightmares associated with the visions prevent the character from regaining a
Willpower point from the next night’s rest.

Action: Instant.

Dice Pool: Wits + Integrity. The Storyteller should roll in secret so the player doesn’t know if he is
receiving useful clues or meaningless imagery.

Dramatic failure: A nightmare. The character can interpret it any way he wants, but it probably leads to
more trouble than solutions.

Failure: Meaningless images.

Success: One or more clues (one per success), although they must be interpreted.

Exceptional success: One or more clues (one per success), and a suggestion about their interpretation
provided by the Storyteller.

The information conveyed is hidden behind allegory, symbols and archetypes. Infernal Visions rarely
answer questions directly, typically relying on symbolism and imagery to convey information. A sorcerer
seeking a specific person’s location wouldn’t see his address, but landmarks nearby could lead the way: a
river, a tower or even the face of a man walking by at dusk. The answer has the potential to resolve the
problem. It’s a tool for the Storyteller to help

drive events of the story, not the answer on a plate.

Mandate of Hell

No matter how diluted, the blood of a Lucifuge contains a tiny spark of the blood royal of Hell. By dint of
their ancestry, members of the Lucifuge have the ability to master demons and bend the legions of Hell
to their will. Some manifest this bond by possessing a familiar spirit, others

learn to summon or banish demonic entities, but still others draw upon their infernal sovereignty to
dominate lesser demons and bend them to their will. The merest glance and a harsh word of command
forces demonic beings to obey their mortal masters.

Cost: None or 1 Willpower (see below).

Action: Contested or extended and contested (see

below).

Dice Pool: Charisma + Presence vs. subject’s Resolve

The Mandate of Hell can be used in two ways: a short, simple, one- or two-word command (“Bow
down,” “Kill him!”) is an instant action. More complex orders can also be given, but this requires that the
demon be stationary (either willingly or bound in the Shackles of Pandemonium) and requires an
extended action. The Lucifuge must spend 1 Willpower to enact a complex order.

The number of successes required is equal to three per “step” of the complete command, plus the
demon’s resolve. For example, the command “Go to the corner of 7th and Maple, kill the man you find
there, and afterwards, return to Hell and do not return” requires 12 + Resolve successes, because it is a
four-step command. The demon’s contested roll, on the other hand, must reach a total number of
successes equal to (10 + Hunter’s Essence).

Each contested roll represents one turn in this scenario.

Roll Results

Dramatic Failure: The command fails and the subject is immune to all further commands from the
Lucifuge for 24 hours.

Failure: A simple command fails to take effect, or no progress is made toward a more complex command.
Success: The demon is compelled to obey a simple command for one turn, or progress is made toward
giving the demon a complex command.

Exceptional Success: A simple command is obeyed for a full minute, or exceptional progress is made
toward a complex command.

Sense of the Unrighteous

Wickedness and sin are everywhere in the World of Exalted. More immediately, wickedness and sin are
in the Lucifuge’s nature, no matter how they try to deny it. Rather than seal away that aspect of
themselves, some Lucifuge choose to acknowledge it and embrace it as a tool. Sin calls to sin, as the
saying goes, and by meditating on his own wicked nature, a Lucifuge can develop a sense for the sins of
others.

Individual hunters experience this sense in different ways. Some feel the taint of wickedness as an
overpowering, nauseating stench; others see chains of sin winding around the unrighteous and dragging
them down to Hell. Still others taste a foulness on their tongues or feel a throbbing pain behind their
eyes or hear the screams of the damned surrounding them.

Cost: None.

Action: Extended; each roll represents one minute of meditation on one’s own wickedness.

Dice Pool: Wits + Integrity; This roll should be penalized by a virtuous intimacy if the hunter has one,
while an intimacy of vice adds dice.

Roll Results

Dramatic Failure: The hunter is overwhelmed by his own sins; he loses all accumulated successes and
must spend a Willpower point every turn in which he takes an action other

than retching and cowering from his own nature.

Failure: No progress is made toward reaching out to sense the unrighteous.

Success: The Lucifuge makes a metaphysical connection between his own base nature and the
wickedness of the world. He can sense the presence of sin in creatures and even locations within a range
band per 3 successes. Characters without a sinful intimacy do not register to the character’s sense.
Characters with a minor sinful intimacy register as a mild sensation — a faint odor, ghostly image, and so
on. Characters with a major sinful intimacy register as a moderate sensation — sounds about at
conversational volume, a painful but not crippling headache, and so on. Characters with a defining sinful
intimacy register with extremely strong sensations: clear, realistic hallucinations, the smell of a
slaughterhouse, and so on. Characters with multiple defining sinful intimacies, or unnatural creatures
entirely lacking morality, register as overpowering sensations: a blinding headache, terrifyingly real
hallucinations, and the like. The

Lucifuge suffers a -1 penalty to all actions for the remainder of the scene after witnessing such shocking
depravity.

The Lucifuge can also sense the lingering presence of a sin committed in an area. With minor actions
leaving minor feelings for a few days to serial ritual mass murder could staina region for centuries. The
hunter knows the source of the sins he senses (the person in question or the precise location and
approximate time where a past sin occurred), but not the nature of the sin itself.

Exceptional Success: If the player rolls five or more successes on a single roll, the hunter gains a general
sense of an individual’s most severe sin or the nature of a lingering past sin.

Example: Herr von Murnau, a Lucifuge hunter uses Sense of the Unrighteous while sitting in the
audience of a play that has been connected to some strange disappearances. On his first roll, he scores
three successes, allowing him to sense wickedness within close range of his seat. Most of the audience
consists of average people with no sinful intimacies, and do not register to his senses. One man in the
next row, though, gives off a mild sense of sin; the smell of burned asphalt mingled with sulfur. Von
Murnau continues to expand his senses, rolling four more successes on his next roll. Now he can sense
out to short range, enough to reach the stage and sense the severe wickedness of the lead actor — the
man flickers in his sight, sometimes appearing normal, sometimes drenched in blood and smiling
blandly. Hoping to gain some further clues to go on, von Murnau rolls again, this time getting an
exceptional success. Not only do his senses now reach backstage, allowing him to feel the lingering
presence of a severe sin that occurred three months ago — he feels an oppressive weight bearing down
on him, and hears the echoes of a woman’s scream — but he also now has a general sense of the nature

of those sins. He knows that the man in front of him once stole a car, the lead actor has murdered
casually, and three months ago, an actress was raped in her dressing room.

“Sinful” Intimacies: Not every intimacy of lust is sinful, nor every instance of revenge. A sinful intimacy
represents a purposeful driven need to darken, corrupt, or destroy, even if it’s oneself. Addiction to pills
for the fun they bring, no matter the cost; An ex you can’t escape no matter what she asks;A need to be
so dominant that everyone knows you are king.These are examples of sinful intimacies. Of course some,
like an addiction to murder, are easy to adjudicate, while others may be trickier. The Storyteller is given
final say, but should err on the side of the player.

Shackles of Pandemonium

The Shackles of Pandemonium ritual allows a Lucifuge to bind a demon to a particular place by trapping
it within a ritual circle. The particulars of the ritual circle vary from Lucifuge to Lucifuge — some draw a
simple chalk loop with a few ancient sigils of binding; others use cornmeal to draw elaborate veves or
mark out a complete Solomonic Circle. Whatever form it takes, the circle requires 10 minutes to draw
and infuse with infernal power. As long as the circle remains intact, it can lie dormant indefinitely,
waiting for a demon to enter it.

A binding circle can be used like a trap, drawn in a place the demon is likely to cross, or it can be
prepared in advance of a summoning (see Calling Forth the Pit, above) to ensure that a called demon
can’t go anywhere once it arrives. A circle can even be concealed (for example, drawn onto the
floorboards under a carpet or marked in the dirt and loosely covered with brush), although this incurs a
-1 penalty on the activation roll. Some Lucifuge mark the entrances of their homes with permanent
circles — carved, etched or inlaid on the floor, walls, or even ceiling — to trap infernal intruders. A
permanent circle is harder to break, but it must still be “reset” by performing a 10-minute ritual after a
bound demon is released. A single binding circle can only bind one demon at a time.

Cost: The Lucifuge must anoint the binding circle with her own blood. This inflicts 1 point of lethal
damage.

Action: Instant (once circle has been prepared, which may require an Intelligence + (Craft or Linguistics
roll if the Storyteller considers it suitably complex).

Dice Pool: Charisma + Integrity versus spirit’s Resolve

Roll Results

Dramatic Failure: The binding circle is broken, and the demon gains an extra point of willpower.
Failure: The binding circle is broken, and the spirit may escape.

Success: The demon is successfully bound and cannot break free except under a few circumstances:

• If the ritualist who binds the demon releases it with the phrase, “I release you” or something similar.

• If the binding circle is broken by an outside force. The bound demon cannot break the circle itself.

• The Lucifuge must designate one other way that the demon can be freed, and she must express this
method to at least two other entities within an hour of the demon’s binding. One of those two may be
the demon, but it doesn’t have to be. If the condition is a task the demon

must perform, it must be a task that can be performed within the binding circle. For example, the demon
could be ordered to answer three questions truthfully if it wishes to be freed, but not to kill someone in
another city.

Exceptional Success: When the demon is freed by any means, it is immediately returned to the
netherworld from whence it came; it cannot linger to, for example, inflict revenge on the hunter.

Tongue of Babel

Once, the stories say, all humanity was united in a single language; any man could speak freely with any
other, no matter how foreign. But when humankind came together to build a tower that would reach
Heaven, God threw down that tower and cursed humankind to speak a multitude of tongues that
divided them into nations and peoples and tribes and prevented such unity from recurring. The Lucifuge
holds that the whole thing was Lucifer’s idea, one of the Fallen One’s more overt attempts to reopen the
War in Heaven. Whether that’s true or not, the Lucifuge has carefully collected the scattered remnants
of that lost primordial tongue, and through the power of its members’ semi-divine blood, they can learn
to speak it.

Cost: None.

Action: None.

Dice Pool: None.

As long as the Lucifuge knows this ritual, he can speak and understand every human language on earth.
He actually speaks the words in the ancient tongue of the tower-builders, but a vestige
of racial memory coupled with his angelic blood causes listeners to hear him speaking a language they
understand. Even if he addresses multiple people with no common language, each understands him
clearly, and he understands them. This ritual gives the hunter no facility with secret codes or
encryptions, nor does it allow him to understand the written form of any language he cannot already
read. The words must be spoken by someone who understands

them, not just read out phonetically. For example, a character who doesn’t speak Spanish cannot use
this ritual to read a note written in Spanish, nor could he sound it out himself and gain understanding.
He could, however, have a Spanish-speaker read it aloud and

understand it that way. Finally, this ritual does not allow him to translate mystical languages, such as the
tongue of spirits or older forgotten languages.

Infernal Essence

Awakening the infernal blood within, the hunter touches the fundamentale energy of the universe and
gains a personal mote pool equal to (Essence x 5). They may use these motes however they can, to
attune to artifacts, use evocation, or even learn martial arts charms at 12 xp each. However tying their
mortal body to this essence diffuses it through their very being causing them to be detected as if a
creature of darkness, while suffering none of the ill effects from such state.

Sorcery of Hell

The hunter gains a modified version of Terrestrial Circle Sorcery. The powers of hell are confusing and the
weakened blood has lessened the hunters connection to it. While they still gain a control spell, they can
not learn any spell nor perform any working that summons or binds an entity. They also do not gain a
sorcerous initiation, instead treating this castigation as a sorcerous initiation with no ritual nor merits
associated with it. Should the hunter ever go on to awaken proper sorcery, they still keep the control
spell granted by this castigation in addition to the normal amount they may have, and no longer suffer
the limitations of this merit.
Prima Dictum

Blood is the animating force behind the vampire’s impossible life. Some suggest it’s blood that keeps
vampires somewhat human—as a human element, the blood perhaps keeps them from turning into the
mindless dead, shambling toward an open patch of sunlight. It could be said that blood is also the power
of the Lucifuge. Through the veins of every member in their twisted family tree flows the distilled power
of the Prince of Darkness. Such infernal genetics—at times—come with a certain amount of privilege.
Some family members have discovered the ability to deny vampires access to that which they rely on
most—the very fuel that keeps them

going in their cold mockery of life-blood. Generally, hunters who know the dark syllables of Prima Dictum
do not like to linger long on the how’s and why’s of what it does, for fear that its origins contain madness
for the castigator.

By drawing his own blood, the hunter utters a curse that bubbles up from the depth of Hell. She brings
the supernatural authority of her bloodline to bear, denying the vampire access to their precious
animating fluids. It’s unlikely that full rigor mortis steps in, but the creature’s limbs start to tighten—the
mystical transubstantiation of blood into will begins to fail on a fundamental level.

Dice Pool: Manipulation + Occult + Castigation versus target’s Resolve + Essence

Cost: 2 Willpower and 1 point of lethal damage (this damage must draw blood, and the blood must
splash the vampire; this may necessitate success on a diff 1 gambit first)

Action: Instant

Roll Results

Dramatic Failure: In drawing the blood and uttering the attendant guttural curse, the hunter evokes quite
a different response, sending the vampire into frenzy with herself as the primary focus of said frenzy.

Failure: The Willpower is spent and the damage is taken, but curse doesn’t come and the vampire is
unaffected.

Success: The hunter wins the contest. The vampire’s body stiffens; it becomes difficult for the creature to
move. The vampire suffers a penalty to all Physical rolls—the modifier is equal to successes gained over
the creature. In addition, any rolls made on behalf of the vampire to use Disciplines are penalized by -1
die. This penalty lasts for the remainder of the scene.

Exceptional Success: As above, except now the vampire may not utilize any Disciplines that cost Vitae.

Giving the Devil His Due

Players of Lucifuge hunters may purchase versions of this power that hinder the movements of other
creatures, but he must purchase this ritual once per type of creature. So if the hunter wanted to hold

sway over vampires and ghosts, the player would purchase Prima Dictum (vampires) and Prima Dictum
(ghosts).

The power works the same, but it’s not necessarily the blood that “rebels” within the creature’s body. A
ghost finds it Corpus turns turgid, inconsistent. A werewolf discover that her bestial musculature spasms
and defies her will. A demon’s body reacts

to the world as if it does not belong here (think of the possessed girl’s herky-jerky movements in The
Exorcist). And so forth.

Abaddon’s Call

Hunters the world over tell tales of encountering undead creatures that aren’t vampires: lurching
zombies, hungry ghosts, vengeful revenants, etc. Many who take up the Vigil are forced to wonder from
whence such creatures come. What wills an otherwise unexceptional corpse to get up and start
shambling around? Sometimes it’s the work of witches, sometimes possessing spirits, and sometimes it’s
the power of the Lucifuge. This Castigation allows the hunter to command a corpse to rise and come to
the aid of its new master for a short duration—though rumors abound of ways to make the effects
permanent.

The use of this power is incredibly vulgar and not publicly tolerated by the Lucifuge, but this is largely a
conspiracy of iconoclasts and outcasts, so rules don’t always apply. The force that animates the corpse is
not necessarily that of the previous tenant. Popular wisdom would suggest a demon inhabits the body
but it could possibly be a compelled spirit or simply the user’s own unconscious that dictates the actions
of the body. Use the Zombie QC from core for it’s stats.

Cost: 1 Willpower, X points of bashing damage (see below)

Action: Extended (number of successes required equals two times the number of days the corpse has
been dead, to a maximum of 20 days; each roll is equal to fifteen minutes, and during each roll the
hunter suffers a point of bashing damage as he is wracked with aches and seizures).

Dice Pool: Wits + Medicine

Roll Results

Dramatic Failure: The body animates as if by a normal success in all ways, except it will focus its attention
solely on ending the one who called it to life, attacking ceaselessly until it is felled.

Failure: The hunter takes the wounds, but nothing occurs: the Castigation doesn’t elicit even a twitch
from the body.

Success: The use of this Endowment wracks the user’s body with pain as she exerts her will over death
itself. The raised body is in all ways a shambling simpleton and is only good for following simple
instructions (“Go get me that book from the second floor,” is fine, but “Drive

my car northbound on Route 22” will be met with gaping confusion). If called to fight it will do so in the
most brutish and straightforward manner possible; it cannot use weapons or tools; it

does not roll for Initiative (automatically joining battle at 3 initiative); and it will pursue its target with no
regard for its own safety or that of the practitioner and her cellmates. If the creature

sustains more damage of any type than it has Health levels it returns to its inanimate state (a lot worse
for wear, but hey, it was already dead) and cannot be used for this infernal purpose again. It only rises for
one hour of time per the hunter’s dots in Castigation, but with the commitment of 4xp, the creature will
remain shambling about for as long as it is able. As above, it doesn’t heal damage and retains any
wounds (even those from, say, accidentally tumbling down a set of steps) for the remainder of its
potentially-short unlife.

Exceptional Success: As above, but the creature doubles its Evasion and Parry scores, as well as adding
the hunter’s castigation to it’s attack. (see sidebar for traits).

Suggested Modifiers

+2 Recently dead (within an hour)

The Mark of Lucifuge

The mythological Mark of Cain made it so all who looked upon the first murderer would know him. Thus
were the wages of sin when angels roamed the earth. A lesser form of this mark is known to the
Lucifuge. By laying a hand on the bare skin of a vampire, the Lucifuge brands its flesh with the merest
stroke of that original mark. True to legend, once the vampire is marked, nothing can be done to rid itself
of it. The char will not wash off long after the wound has healed; its burning cannot be carved out with a
blade, nor can its flickering light be covered by any amount of clothing.

Cost: 1 or 2 Willpower (see below), 1 point of lethal damage

Action: Instant

Dice Pool: None

The hunter spends her Willpower and takes one point of lethal damage as she draws the mark across her
palm (it appears like a second-degree burn). In many cases, the hunter may first need to succeed on a
touch gambit or have a cellmate grapple the creature.

Branding causes one point of aggravated damage to the target. From now on, any and all Lucifuge to
encounter the marked individual will recognize it and its unholy nature even across a crowded room.
What’s interesting, though, is who else can see the mark.

Other creatures can see the mark. Humans—meaning, most other hunters—cannot. Doubly strange is
that hunters of both the Cainite Heresy and the Malleus Maleficarum can see the brand, and in fact the
Cainites claim it as a mark quite familiar to them (they often

leave the mark at the scenes of their hunts).

This ritual works on other creatures besides vampires, but doing so necessitates spending 2 Willpower
points instead of the 1 necessary to “brand” a vampire, unless it is a creature of darkness. .

Familiar Betrayal

Many werewolf packs follow a tradition of binding a spirit to the pack as a whole. This familiar spirit can
aid the creatures by lending them some of its strength, as a liaison to other spirits and as a spy or
guardian. The Children of the Seventh Generation are well versed in the aspects of familiar relationships
and use that knowledge to force pack familiars to turn against their masters.

Cost: 1 Willpower each day in addition to other costs (see below)

Mechanically, Familiar Betrayal works in the exact same way as the summoning aspect of “Calling Forth
the Pit” (see Hunter: The Vigil, p. 164), with the exception that the hunter must know the name of the
Pack Totem he is attempting to summon. Hunters could learn the true name of the familiar by
questioning other spirits in the area, by overhearing the pack talk about the spirit, or by tricking the
familiar into revealing it to them. If the hunter succeeds in summoning the spirit she may immediately
bind that spirit to serve her as a temporary familiar (characters may only have one such temporary
familiar at a time) as per the “Familiar” Castigation. For the next six days the spirit is bound to follow the
wishes of the hunter to the letter, even if it means turning against the spirit’s former masters. To
maintain her hold over the spirit, the hunter must reinforce the binding each evening at sunset by
spending one Willpower. Unless the familiar does something to betray its new allegiance, the werewolf
pack remains ignorant of the

Betrayal.

Mark of the Beast

Though formidable, the strength of a werewolf is nothing when compared with that of true demons of
the pit. As their lord and ruler, the strength of Lucifer eclipses that of even the mightiest of his legion
and his children can call upon that unholy strength. The process isn’t pleasant. To call up the strength of
hell requires the Children of the Seventh Generation to take on the guise of their demonic ancestor in a
painful transformation.

Cost: 2 Willpower; 1 point of lethal damage

Action: Instant

Dice Pool: Wits + Presence

The child of Lucifer calls upon her demonic heritage and takes the form of a demon. The

transformation takes one turn and the hunter twists and writhes in agony as her body changes, resulting
in one point of lethal damage. No two members of the Lucifuge share the exact same features after the
transformation. One member might take the form of a fallen angel with ripped and tattered wings,
weeping tears of blood that mar otherwise perfect features, while the form of another member might
echo the bestial nature of her sire complete with burning red eyes, claws, and fangs. The demonic visage
remains consistent each time the hunter activates the Castigation, leading some of the Lucifuge to
wonder if the demonic version isn’t their soul’s “true” form.

While transformed, the hunter gains a pool of points equal to her Castigation score that she may use to
increase any Physical Attribute in any combination she desires. A hunter with four dots in Castigation
could, for example, raise her Strength by two and her Stamina by two, or instead raise her Dexterity by
two, her Strength by one and her Stamina by one. This effect ignores the usual Attribute maximum for
mortal characters. These points may also be used to buy mutations for the form instead. The character
increases in size granting them the benefits of the Giant merit. If they already have Giant they gain the
health levels a second time in this form.. The hunter may heal wounds of any type by spending one
Willpower (one Willpower spent heals one wound) and she gains an Armor rating of two. The presence
of the demonic form can inspire fear and terror in those who witness it (even other hunters) similar to
the effects of Lunacy. The flesh of a mortal can only maintain the form of a demon for a limited time and
is physically, mentally, and spiritually exhausting. The hunter can only remain in her demonic form for a
number of turns equal to her Stamina + Castigation each day, though she may voluntarily end the
transformation at any time (turns may be divided over multiple uses).

Any wounds suffered by the character that exceed her normal Health after she returns to mortal form
are not carried over to her human body. Instead, the twisted nature of the demonic form inflicts the
wounds on the very next person (or thing) the hunter sees before lapsing into unconsciousness (the
presence of extra wounds indicates that the normal Health track of the

hunter has already been filled). Any damage caused by the hunter while in demonic form is considered
lethal damage, regardless of source, unless the hunter does something to change his damage to
aggravated (using silver against werewolves, for example).

After the hunter reverts to her normal form she suffers from a wave of exhaustion that hinders her
ability to act or even think clearly. Until the hunter sleeps for a full eight hours, any action taken by the
character is penalized -3 dice. Potentially more dangerous is the spiritual exhaustion. Calling on her
demon form is recognition of the dark side of her nature and her pool to resist degeneration is reduced
by one for the next 24 hours.

Potential Modifiers: Mark of the Beast is used within six minutes of 3 A.M. (+3).

Roll Results
Dramatic Failure: The hunter fails to transform but still suffers the aftereffects of a transformation.

Failure: The transformation fails.

Success: The hunter successfully transforms.

Exceptional Success: As above and the turns spent in demonic form don’t count against the maximum
number of turns for the day (the character is still limited to the number of turns she can maintain the
transformation for that scene, however).

Gulf of Hades

Underground in a cavern, with no source of light, the blackness is almost palpable. That unyielding
darkness can cause hallucinations, as the human mind creates visual input to busy itself and remain
anchored in reality. The Gulf of Hades, the stretch of spiritual blackness leading to Hell, is dark beyond
that word’s ability to convey meaning — it’s not just the absence

of light, it’s the absence of the concept of light. The hunter using this rite can call up that blackness to
sap the energy out of a target. When used on an electronic device, the Gulf of Hades shuts it off
completely — cars roll to a halt, computers shut down instantly, and doors with electronic locks pop
open. When used on a person, however, the rite induces hypothermia within seconds as the victim
suffers the effects of extreme cold.

When the Gulf of Hades is used on a Promethean, it weakens it by feeding off the Divine Fire that
animates it.

Cost: None

Action: Instant

Dice Pool: Charisma + Occult

Roll Results

Dramatic Failure: The Gulf of Hades turns itself on the hunter. The character immediately loses all
Willpower points, and takes a -2 to all actions for the scene.

Failure: No effect.

Success: The character calls up a tiny fraction of the void. The area grows noticeably darker, and
witnesses might hear faint, mournful howls. The hunter must target a person or object within 20 feet. If
the target is human, this is handled as a unique light thrown weapon using the above dice pool with the
thrown (medium), lethal, energy (cold) tags. Damage manifests as frostbite and blistering cold.

If the target is a device that runs on electricity, it immediately shuts off and cannot be reactivated for a
number of hours equal to the Lucifuge’s successes.

If the target is a Promethean the hunter rolls against their Resolve. If successful the target loses the
ability to heal using electricity for one hour, and loses Willpower equal to the Lucifuge’s overflow
successes.

Exceptional Success: The Lucifuge absorbs a small amount of the energy the Gulf takes. The character
regains a temporary Willpower or may heal up to three points of bashing or a lethal damage.

Unholy Aura

17th century English poet John Milton wrote that it was better to reign in hell than to serve in heaven,
and the Lucifuge agree. Through this rite, they are able to access some of the supernatural magnitude
possessed by infernal overlords, making them physically and emotionally impressive and intimidating.
Wyld creatures — especially those who have escaped Arcadia — recognize a resonance similar to that of
the True Fae in the power this rite bestows. This makes them especially vulnerable to the unholy
authority of this rite.
The hunter using this rite wraps himself in an aura of demonic superiority. Used on a Wyld creature
other than one of the True Fae (Changeling, hedgebeast, hobgoblin), its effects

are doubled.

Cost: None

Action: Instant

Dice Pool: Charisma + Presence vs. Resolve

Roll Results

Dramatic Failure: The Unholy Aura backlashes on the hunter. She gains an Unholy Condition that causes
her to suffer a penalty to Social actions equal to 6-Integrity. As well, others get exceptional successes
against her in Social actions with three successes instead of five. It resolves when she suffers an
exceptional success from another.

Failure: No effect.

Success: The character wraps herself in a demonic aura that others find intimidating, attractive,
ingratiating, or the like, depending on how it is wielded. For the remainder of the scene, all of the
hunter’s Social dice pools against the target receive a +3 bonus and the 10-again quality. Social dice
pools against Changelings, hedgebeasts, or hobgoblins receive a +6 bonus.

True Fae are likely to recognize this aura as similar to their own. Unfortunately, not only does this Rite
not offer the hunter any mechanical bonuses against them, it is possible the True

Fae will target the Lucifuge hunter over others present in the scene, as a rival.

Exceptional Success: The Lucifuge receives the benefit of the effects until the next dusk or dawn,
whichever comes first