Rotes & Procedures

• Spheres: Just as Spirit 4 can draw a spirit into a body or object, that same Rank can drive it back out again.

• Prime 3 can also offer a “bribe” to the spirit. In this case, the mage channels her personal Quintessence to the spirit, and each point subtracts -1 from that mage’s exorcism difficulty. Of course, the exorcist is then offering part of her essential self up to the possessing spirit – an extremely dangerous (although often traditional) exorcism tactic. (The usual -3 limit applies.)

• Rolls: System-wise, the mage and the spirit enter an extended and resisted roll, pitting the exorcist’s Willpower against the spirit’s Willpower. Each party rolls against difficulty 8, and each roll reflects one hour’s worth of struggle.

• Spirit Victory: The spirit needs to accumulate at least one success for each point of the mage’s Willpower + Avatar. To defeat, for example, an exorcist with Willpower 6 and Avatar 4, the spirit would need to score at least 10 successes.

• Exorcist Victory: An exorcist needs to overcome the overall power of the entity. A minor spirit would require 10 successes to defeat; a stronger one would take 15; a major Umbrood would require 20 or more; and a mighty one would take 30 successes or more before it was banished.

• Botching: A botched roll on the spirit’s behalf drives that entity out of its host immediately. A botched roll by the exorcist allows the spirit to take control of her instead, typically with the Possession Charm (see above).

Both parties can also throw other spells and Charms at one another throughout the exorcism. As a result, exorcisms tend to leave serious physical and metaphysical carnage behind.