Rites & Rituals

One of the darkest rituals in the annals of Punk Sorcery, Bloody Mary summons that malefic urban spirit and allows her to possess a mortal vessel in exchange for a period of service to the summoner. The ritual must be performed in a public bathroom, and the mortal vessel must be persuaded of his own free will to participate in the ritual. He need not know what the ritual’s ultimate effect will be, and few mortals would participate if they did, but he cannot be Dominated or otherwise compelled to take part. Trickery is perfectly fine, however, and many of those who use this ritual will manipulate mortals through means as simple as telling them about the urban legend and then daring them to risk summoning the legendary figure.

Once persuaded, the mortal must look into the mirror and say “Bloody Mary” three times, while the sorcerer flips the lights on and off in a particular pattern and quietly mouths an incantation that offers the mortal’s soul to the spirit in exchange for service. The sorcerer will know the ritual has succeeded when, at one point when the lights are on, the mirror will show the mortal’s reflection as well as that of the hideous crone looming behind him ready to pounce. Then, the vampire must turn the lights off again and leave them off until the screaming has stopped.

System

If the ritual succeeds, then Bloody Mary will possess the mortal’s body and be bound to serve the summoner for one lunar month. The successes on the roll determine how loyal Bloody Mary is during the length of possession, for she is a spirit of violence and murder and will seize nearly any opportunity to kill while wearing a human host. With one success, she will grudgingly obey any direct commands and will refrain from attempting to harm the summoner in any way, but she will have no real loyalty. With five successes, her instinct is to obey every command without question and to refrain from any

activities which might cause problems for the summoner later. If there is any conflict between Bloody Mary’s instinct to maim and kill and the needs of the summoner, roll the vampire’s successes on the summoning roll. If there are any successes, the player decides what Mary will do.

While Bloody Mary is riding the mortal vessel, she gains the equivalent of Potence 2 and Fortitude 2. She knows everything he knew, and she can impersonate him effortlessly. However, animals are instinctively afraid of any mortal ridden by Bloody Mary, and characters who succeed on a Perception + Empathy roll (difficulty 7) find him frightening and off-putting. For children, the difficulty is only 5. Statements from anyone close to the mortal indicating love or affection to him require the player to roll a number of dice equal to the summoning successes (difficulty 7). Failure means that Bloody Mary will frenzy and attack the loved one. When the month of servitude ends, Blood Mary departs, leaving behind a mortal who is irretrievably insane. As noted, this is a dark ritual, and any sorcerer who performs it must make a Conscience roll if his Humanity is two or higher.