Page 141 - Chronicles of Darkness

Abjuration from simply floating through the wall while in Twilight, and
carefully drawing a sigil on the floor will serve to trap the
While exorcism is an attempt to tackle the Conditions angel whose name it is.
underpinning an entity’s presence by mundane means or the If the ritualist doesn’t have the proper bane for her ritual’s
use of bans and banes, abjuration fights the supernatural with subject, it fails automatically, so the most important part of
the supernatural, pitting the user’s soul and Resolve against warding is getting that detail right. Once that’s done, and the
the entity he is attempting to force away. area has been marked, the ritualist performs whatever abjura-
Although many exorcists, and therefore many people tion method she knows, focusing on suffusing the area with
knowledgeable enough about the ephemeral to attempt ab- the essence of the entity’s bane. Performing the ritual requires
juration, are religious, abjuration does not require religious a Presence + Occult roll, modified by the ritualist’s Integrity as
faith to work. It’s a consequence of the human soul; by stilling per an abjuration, and further penalized by the entity’s Rank. A
and focusing the mind, and concentrating on the higher self, further modifier depends on the size of the area being warded.
a skilled abjurist can cause his soul to affect Twilight, forcing
ephemeral beings away and clearing an area of Influence. Area Modifier
The abjuration effect must be performed as a medita-
tive exercise that helps the user stay calm, even in the face Small area within a location, up to a six- +1
foot area
of a rampaging, Materialized spirit. Religious abjurists use
repeated prayer, while more secular occultists rely on incan- Single room, or vehicle 0
tations learned from their researches. Anything that instills Two story, suburban building -1
the proper calm and reverence will work, though — a soldier Larger structures levy increasing penalties; an additional -1
might attempt to abjure a ghost by reciting the patriotic oath for every equivalent of a family home. Most superstructures,
of his country. like skyscrapers, trains, government buildings, and hospitals
The abjuration itself is a Resolve + Composure roll are too large to be effectively warded.
contested by the entity’s Power + Resistance. As Abjuration If successful, the entity described in the ritual treats at-
channels the higher self, working the ritual by a means that tempting to move in to or out of the warded area as though
matches the abjurist’s Virtue provides a two dice bonus to it were against its ban. The effect lasts for successes in days,
the dice pool. A strong psyche is also useful — characters or is broken if the marking of the boundary is disturbed — a
with Integrity 10 receive a three-die bonus, Integrity 9 char- determined entity can suffer the injury from touching the
acters gain two dice, and Integrity 8 one die. Conversely, if bane material marker in order to break the ward.
the abjuration calls on the abjurist’s Vice, the dice pool is
penalized by two dice. Low-Integrity characters suffer a one-
die penalty per Integrity dot below 6, -1 for Integrity 5, -2 for Horrors
Integrity 4, and so on.
If the abjuration is successful, all Conditions tagged by the They’re out there. Skulking just beyond the flickering light
entity in the abjurist’s Willpower in yards are suppressed for of the street lamps, glimpsed for a second in the glare of high
one day. On an exceptional success, the abjurist also becomes beams, felt in that tension between your shoulderblades. The
an extra bane for the entity until its Conditions return. freaks. The monsters. The horrors. Some of them want to
kill you, crack your bones and suck them dry. Some of them
Warding and Binding want to ride you around like a puppet made of meat, or lay
their young to incubate in your cavities. Some of them want
Occult lore is full of references to sealing locations from
spirits and ghosts, either to bind them inside or keep them stranger things: to build towers of bone and bile and babies’
from entering. Chalk circles, protective charms in windows, shoes, or to open a door between here and the howling
even a simple horseshoe above a threshold. Most of these tales silence Outside. Still others don’t want anything from you
have nothing substantial to them. Some are half-remembered at all; maybe they want revenge on the seven teenagers who
references to bans or banes, or the weaknesses of supernatural left them to die in that boating accident, or just to tell their
— but still physical — creatures. A few, though, describe true loved ones to move on with their lives. Nevertheless, they’re
warding or binding rituals. out there, strange and wondrous and terrifying, waiting to
Warding and binding are a combination of abjuration be discovered.
and an entity’s bane, empowered to create a temporary ban Creating Horrors for your Chronicles of Darkness stories
that prevents the entity from crossing in to or out of an area is a multistep process not too dissimilar to a player creating
defined by the ritualist. a character. This section provides a step-by-step breakdown
Instead of confronting the entity directly as in abjura- of the process, along with benchmarks and guidelines for
tion, the ritualist marks the boundary she intends to protect assigning Trait values. The guidelines presented here are
with the entity’s bane. She doesn’t have to mark a complete just that: guidelines. Since Horrors aren’t required (or even
boundary — her concept of the area she’s protecting is what’s expected) to have the same rough parity of ability that begin-
important. Marking doors and windows with lamb’s blood ning characters are, you should feel free to adjust or outright
to keep out a spirit that can’t touch it will prevent that spirit ignore the Trait values presented here.
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Horrors and wonders-antagonists