Rites & Rituals

There is a well-known Necromancy ritual for creating an effigy doll (Baleful Doll, V20, p. 181), but that is not the only type of effigy that can be created. This ritual is performed just like the Baleful Doll ritual, but while Baleful Doll allows the vampire to inflict actual physical damage to the associated target, it is useless for more subtle effects. For that, the Houngan’s Doll is needed. This effigy cannot be used to directly inflict damage on the target, but it will allow the sorcerer to see and hear through the target’s eyes, to whisper things to the target that only he can hear, and to inflict physical sensations on him that are not harmful but certainly feel real. Sticking the doll with a pin still hurts the target even if it inflicts no damage. Holding a lit candle near the doll’s head may cause the target to suffer Rotschreck. One impudent (and reckless) Anarch famously humiliated a prominent Tremere in front of his Prince and Primogen simply by tickling the doll with a feather during a council meeting.

The thought of a powerful elder rolling on the floor and laughing hysterically was one the Anarch treasured... until her brutal murder a few weeks later.

System

The requirements for constructing a Houngan’s Doll are identical to those for the Baleful Doll. However, the Baleful Doll is an instant-use item — the creator fashions the doll, enacts the ritual, and inflicts what damage she can. The Houngan’s Doll, on the other hand, lasts until it is destroyed (which has no effect on the target). Once per week, the Anarch may cast the ritual, which begins when he lights a votive candle and sets it afloat in a cup containing one point of his vitae. If the ritual succeeds, then until the fire blows out (usually 30 minutes unless the ritual is disrupted somehow), any physical sensation imposed on the doll is sympathetically experienced by the target. For that duration, the sorcerer sees and hears only what the target does, so he must be careful to leave any tools or implements where they can be found by touch. The sorcerer is blind and deaf to his own surroundings while the ritual lasts.