Benediction

Arcane rituals and rites codified within the Catholic

Church from before ancient times, Benediction rituals serve
as a bulwark between man and monster. Used throughout
history to protect the masses from the darkness, from ex-
orcism rites to the creations of holy and blessed weapons,
Benediction is not just a toolset the Catholic Church uses, it
is a holy scripture the Malleus Maleficarum use to smite evil.
With the aid of God and the intercession of the saints,
the Malleus Maleficarum’s hunters produce miracles in their
war against wickedness. In modern times, knowledge of
these rituals is not enough to perform them; a hunter must
be Catholic and receive the pope’s blessing to get a hotline
BENEDICTION103103
to Heaven. Should any hunter fall from grace, the penalty is
the revocation of their membership in the Catholic Church
and, as a result, the Malleus Maleficarum conspiracy as well.
Malleus Maleficarum hunters are not required to be clergy
members, but they are expected to walk the path of the just
and righteous by maintaining the Code, their Integrity, and
their Touchstones.
Virtuous Rituals
Benediction comes in the form of rituals. The Lucifuge
must spend time, effort, and possibly even small material
sacrifices to draw upon the blessed. Malleus Maleficarum
hunters learn their Endowments slightly differently than
others. When the player purchases Benediction she gets a
dot in the Benediction Endowment (each dot costing three
Experiences) and learns a ritual. She can purchase additional
rituals for three Experiences each. Her Benediction rating
affects both her activation roll on rituals, and how powerful
her rituals are. The highest her Benediction rating can ever
be is 5.
Additionally, Benediction requires the user to be appro-
priately virtuous to work properly. The hunter’s Benediction
rating is modified by her Integrity beyond 5. Each dot below
5 subtracts one from her effective Benediction rating for pur-
poses of roll results and ritual benefits.
When the hunter wishes to cast a ritual, she must spend
a Willpower and say a specialized prayer. Each ritual speci-
fies a target success total the ritualist must gain to complete
it. Rituals last until the next day unless otherwise noted in
the text. A hunter cannot benefit more than once from the
same ritual at a time. For example, she may be able to call
upon the blessing of St. Luke multiple times a day to heal
someone, but she can only gain the blessing of St. George
once a day.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult + Benediction
Action: Extended. Target successes are listed per ritual.
Ritualists may roll as many times as their unmodified dice
pool. The base time per roll is one hour. A ritual must be
completed in one attempt. The ritual automatically fails if
interrupted, and the ritualist does not gain the benefit of
her Defense while casting. Many rituals are also contested or
resisted, as noted in their description.
She gains the benefit of Merits that may reduce the time
it takes to take an Extended action.
Duration: One day (or variable)
Roll Results
Success: The ritualist accumulates successes as normal.
If the target number of successes is met, the ritual finishes
immediately.
Exceptional Success: The ritualist makes great strides
in finishing the ritual. The player decides which of the fol-
lowing effects takes place in addition to accumulating suc-
cesses. If the target success total is met, the ritual finishes
immediately.
• Reduce the target success total by her dots in
Benediction.
• Reduce the time per roll by 15 minutes.
• Apply the Steadfast Condition if and when the ritual
succeeds.
Failure: The ritualist is having difficulty and accumu-
lates no successes. The player decides whether to abandon
the ritual or continue. If the ritualist continues, she gains
the Stumbled Condition.
Dramatic Failure: The ritualist is having a crisis of
faith. Not only does the ritual fail, but she gains the Shaken
Condition.
Armor of St. Martin
Target success total: 7
The forces of darkness against which the Malleus
Maleficarum hunters stand are numerous and dangerous,
with claws, fangs, and terrifying powers that shred the faith-
ful. The hunter prays to St. Martin, the patron saint of sol-
diers, to provide a shield against the darkness. The hunter
gains an armor rating equal to her Benediction rating against
both general and ballistic attacks, with full-body coverage.
When the Armor of St. Martin is active, its presence is im-
perceptible to the natural senses. This armor does not stack
with other forms of armor.
The Boon of Lazarus
Target success total: 8
Calling upon the power of God himself, the hunter
channels his power like he did with Lazarus in the tomb.
The hunter prays over the corpse and imbues it with holy
light and life. The target comes back to life with full health,
but no Willpower. The ritual takes a toll on the ritualist as
well. Instead of the normal 1 Willpower cost, performing
the ritual costs a dot of Willpower. The ritual cannot restore
missing limbs, and if used on someone decapitated or dis-
membered, then they remain so after the ritual is complete.
This ritual can only be performed on the recently de-
ceased and must start within minutes (no more than five)
of death. If the ritualist attempts to perform this on a body
that has been dead longer, it comes back alive, but has the
Soulless Condition, which can never be resolved.
Epipodian Safeguard
Target success total: 7
The ritualist says a prayer to St. Epipodius, the patron
saint of the betrayed, to help protect her mind from attacks
that would cause her to betray her friends. She gains a bonus
equal to her dots in Benediction to resist mental domina-
tion, either by a Dread Power, Numen, or other supernatural
ability. If this is a contested roll, she gains that number of
dice to the roll; if it is resisted, the number is subtracted
from her attacker’s pool along with any other resistance she
may have.
CHAPTER THREE: CHARACTER CREATION104104
Fortitude of St. George
Target success total: 6
The hunter calls upon the blessing of St. George, slayer
of dragons and one who endured great torment and hard-
ship at the hands of the Romans. The ritualist is imbued
by his strength, allowing them to continue forward against
all odds. The ritualist gains a single dot of Stamina (which
increases her Health by one as well). If she would suffer from
a Condition or Tilt from exertion, hunger, thirst, or exhaus-
tion she may roll her Stamina + Benediction to resist having
it applied.
Hands of St. Luke
Target success total: 8
With a prayer to St. Luke, the patron saint of physicians
and surgeons, the hunter can call upon his divine power to
fix limbs and reduce hurt in an instant. Once the ritual is
complete, the hunter immediately heals a number of bashing
or lethal damage either on herself or another target equal to
her dots in Benediction. Or, she can reduce aggravated dam-
age down to lethal damage at the same rate. Additionally, the
target resolves the Crippled Condition. If the hunter spends
a Willpower dot on activation, she can resolve the Persistent
version of the Crippled Condition.
Shepherd’s Blessing
Target success total: 6
The hunter makes a short prayer, though this can go to
any saint. He asks for general protection, sight unseen. For a
scene, people overlook the hunter as though he isn’t there.
This isn’t the same as being invisible. Cameras will still pick
him up on film and people still see him, they just don’t reg-
ister him as there at the time. They may remember him be-
ing there if recalling the scene later, but he does not alert
people or arouse suspicion, even if no one else is supposed
to be around. If someone is using a supernatural power that
lets them see through illusion or protects against mental ef-
fects, it provokes a Clash of Wills, and the hunter adds his
Benediction rating to his roll.
Vade Retro Satana
Target success total: 7
Contested by: Power + Resistance
The hunter calls upon the Vade Retro Satana, a prayer
designed to exorcise spirits and ghosts. Using repeated
prayer, religious symbols, and calling upon God’s aid, the
ritualist damages an ephemeral entity with his holy wrath.
Not only does this ritual count as a successful use of an exor-
cism, abjuration, warding, or binding, but the ritualist in-
flicts lethal damage to the ephemeral entity target equal to
his Benediction rating.
Wrathful Sword of
St. Michael the Archangel
Target success total: 7
The hunter calls upon St. Michael, the general of the
heavenly host, to imbue an Earthly weapon with the divine
power to smite the devils that haunt humankind. The ritual
must be performed in the presence of a melee weapon the
hunter is attempting to bless. Upon success, the weapon
glows with a bright, white light. When wielded against a
monster, the weapon has a lethal damage rating equal to the
hunter’s Benediction rating.
A MALEVOLENT
FORCE WITHIN THE
CHURCH?
Buried deep within the Order
of St. Ambrose’s archives is
a pamphlet so insidious it is
under constant surveillance
and guard to prevent other
hunters from laying eyes on
it. The tract, published and
distributed in 2012, urges the
Shadow Congregation to abandon
the Vatican and side with a
rising power — led by a so-
called “black pope” or anti-
pope — to end the spreading
darkness once and for all.
The pamphlet goes on to list
the benefits of siding with
the anti-pope, which includes
the stunning proclamation that
hunters who receive the anti-
pope’s blessing may retain use
of Benedictions as a sign that
God favors this new authority.
Malleus scholars have verified
the authenticity of the tract,
but don’t know how many copies
were distributed or printed.
Within the Order of St. Ambrose,
hunters argue, wondering
why this tract must be kept
hidden and why more resources
aren’t being dedicated to its
investigation. Only Malleus
hunters with the highest status
know the truth: A secret order,
named after the patron saint
of desperate situations, was
founded within the last year.
Dubbed the Order of St. Jude,
the hunters have been charged
to go so deep undercover even
other Malleus members don’t
know they exist.
CASTIGATION105105
Castigation
The Lucifuge sit as living contradictions. They pledge
their lives to fighting off the darkness, but they use that very
same darkness in their veins to do so. Using these dark pow-
ers is a struggle for even the oldest Lucifuge. They justify it
to themselves; they tell themselves that if they don’t use their
darkness for the good of all, then no one will. But in the end,
they are addicted to the rush of the power, and simultane-
ously terrified of what that means. No one wants to wake up
in the morning and realize she is the very monster she hunts,
though the Lucifuge wonder this upon waking every day.
Members of the Lucifuge perform the infernal rites of
Castigation by sacrificing their own blood. Unlike other
hunters, a Lucifuge can’t just leave their conspiracy and de-
cide to eschew their Endowments. Sure, they could try to
stop using Castigation rites, but the singing in their blood
brings them right back to wielding its power. They cannot
rid themselves of their blood any more than they could teach
another to utilize their rites.
If and when a Lucifuge attempts to leave the conspiracy,
she becomes hunted, painted as a creature who finally em-
braced her demonic roots. Though this might be farthest
from the truth, the Lucifuge feel they need to keep a tight
rein on their members and the infernal power they control,
for the sake of all humanity.
Using Castigation Rites
Castigation is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand,
the Lucifuge has access to a terrifying and effective set of pow-
ers. On the other hand, the use of those powers marks her as
demonic in the eyes of others, and leaves a mark on her soul.
It’s a balance that all Lucifuge must maintain, otherwise get
hunted by their peers. That mark on her soul is one she cannot
will away, and one that haunts her even as it tempts her. Using
Castigation in a scene in which a character also suffers a break-
ing point counts as a –3 modifier to the roll. Additionally, the
player must immediately roll Resolve + Composure after using
Castigation for the character to resist the temptation to do it
again. This roll suffers a –1 cumulative penalty for each time she
has used a Castigation in the same day. If she fails, she gains the
Addicted Condition for using Castigation. She can shake the
addiction by resisting the urge to use Castigation for a full day.
Despite all this, the Lucifuge have an ally in the Lady
of Milan. She helps them hone their ability, learn to control
their urges, and gives them a path to walk that keeps them
from trouble. The Lady calls the Children of the Seventh
Generation to stand before her and make a terrible choice:
to join her and fight the darkness in all its forms, or to die.
When they join the Lucifuge, she gives them a gift: a virtu-
ous path that may, one day, save them from their unholy
heritage. Hunters who are active members of the Lucifuge
gain the Will of the Lucifuge Condition.
CHAPTER THREE: CHARACTER CREATION106106
DEMONS OR DEMONS
The Lucifuge are the mortal
descendants of Lucifer, a
literal demon and ruler of Hell.
For the purposes of Hunter,
the demons Lucifuge hunt are
monsters with the Infernal
Dread Power. There are other
creatures called demons in the
world, but unless they are
infernal demons, the Lucifuge
have no power to command or
call them.
WILL OF THE LUCIFUGE
(PERSISTENT)
In exchange for a hunter’s vow to uphold the Vigil and
to do the Lucifuge’s bidding, hunters may treat the Will of
the Lucifuge as a second Virtue. When the hunter acts in ac-
cordance with the Lady of Milan’s decrees in a way that poses
difficult or risk to their personal safety, they regain all their
spent Willpower points.
Resolution: When the hunter’s membership in the
Lucifuge ends.
Beat: If the character resists the Lucifuge’s Will, gain a
Beat.
Calling Forth the Pit
The Lucifuge hold a tenuous connection to their dark
ancestor, and as such a connection to all he is and does.
When Lucifer was cast down to Hell, he used his power and
will to create a home for himself and his demonic followers.
He put his own flesh and blood into making the unholy
city, and as such is an intrinsic part of it. This means the
Lucifuge, too, have a connection to Hell and even the very
demons who reside there. A Lucifuge may command the pit
to either bring forth a demon or cast one back into it. This
summoning is, in effect, both within and outside the mortal
realm. Summoned demons may be treated with and bound
to oaths but the Lucifuge does not have control by default
when it arrives — care should be taken, lest the demon break
free and wreak havoc.
Cost: 1 point of lethal damage
Dice Pool: Manipulation + Occult – Resistance
Action: Extended. Each roll represents 30 minutes of
ritual casting and the ritualist must achieve 10 successes to
summon or banish a demon.
Roll Results
Success: The ritual acquires successes. If enough success-
es are gathered to finish the ritual, the demon is summoned
(or banished). If summoned, a demon acts of its own free
will unless the Lucifuge immediately uses the Mandate of
Hell Endowment. In general, the demon will recognize the
Lucifuge as one of its own and not attack her, but that pro-
tection does not extend to her friends. If banished, the de-
mon immediately leaves the mortal world.
Exceptional Success: The ritualist makes great strides
in summoning the demon. Choose one of the following:
Reduce the number of successes required by the character’s
Occult dots, reduce the time between rolls by 10 minutes, or
gain the 8-again rule for future interactions with the demon
once it’s summoned.
Failure: The ritualist falters, and the demon struggles
against the ritual’s pull. The ritualist can continue but must
take the Spooked Condition.
Dramatic Failure: The hunter loses control over the rit-
ual and the demon lashes out (even from afar if a summon-
ing). The ritualist gains the Shaken Condition. The demon
is immune to similar ritual attempts for the next 24 hours.
Forged in Fire
Hell is well-known for its fiery pits and brimstone décor.
The very concept of infernal recalls the idea of burning flesh
and intense heat. It’s little wonder then that the Lucifuge are
also drawn to fire in all its forms. Those who have the blood
of Hell’s creator running through their veins have a bit more
resilience toward it than the average person.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: None
Action: Reflexive
Duration: One scene
A Lucifuge may activate this Endowment to become
immune to damage caused by fire for the rest of the scene.
While her clothes and armor may burn up in flames, her skin
remains undamaged by fire’s effects. And while smoke won’t
burn her lungs if she inhales it, she is not immune to the af-
ter effects of filling her lungs with ash, or the lack of oxygen
that comes along with it. If she is in an area where she suffers
from the Extreme Heat or Inferno Environmental Tilts, she
suffers no damage from the fire itself. She halves any damage
or penalties that come from smoke or inhalation.
Backlash: The Lucifuge’s skin isn’t fire-resistant exactly,
instead her infernal blood acts to shield her from the fire’s
effect. This means that any time she is exposed to fire or the
Extreme Heat Tilt, her skin lets off a soft red glow, which
imposes a –2 penalty to Social rolls with most people.
Gaze of the Penitent
If there’s one thing the Lucifuge know better than any-
thing, it’s a desire to repent. To scour the soul of its stains
and sins and be reborn anew. Hell, to them, is a place not
only of eternal torment, but one where those fires cleanse
souls, a place of penitence and understanding of guilt.
The Lucifuge can draw upon Hell’s burning wrath to
inflict the pain of guilt and the desire for repentance on
someone else.
CASTIGATION107107
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Wits + Empathy vs. Resolve
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Success: The hunter’s victim feels a burning desire to re-
pent all his sins and seek forgiveness. The victim suffers from
the Guilty Condition. Additionally, for the rest of the scene,
the Lucifuge gains +2 on Social rolls against her victim.
Exceptional Success: The victim suffers the Broken
Condition instead of Guilty.
Failure: The Lucifuge brings forth the wrath of Hell,
but his victim fails to care.
Dramatic Failure: The Lucifuge brings forth the burn-
ing pain of Hell but inflicts it upon himself. He gains the
Guilty Condition.
Hellfire
In western occultism, the infernal realm called “Hell” is
marked by fire and brimstone that burns ever more. Lucifer
Morningstar, the fallen “Light Bringer,” wields hellfire to
smite his enemies and punish the wicked — and his Children
of the Seventh Generation may do the same.
Lucifuge members bear a hidden flicker, a tiny flame of
white-hot hellfire they may call forth at will. Hellfire is no ordi-
nary incendiary device, however, its flames ache to spread and
burn. Its fires reek of rotten eggs, alerting all who near them
the infernal is nearby. Hunters who are careless (or arrogant)
with hellfire often watch in terror as the flames spread, claim-
ing innocent lives.
Cost: 1 point of lethal damage
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
The hunter summons hellfire, which quickly sets every-
thing else on fire. If the Lucifuge attempts to use this as an
attack, it counts as a +2 lethal weapon modifier to an athletics
attack as he hurls the flame at his target. If the victim is wear-
ing armor, it works as normal against the fire attack, but does
catch on fire. Otherwise, the hellfire catches the surrounding
area on fire. The next turn, the area (size of a small room or
the confines of whatever room the Lucifuge is in) gains the
Inferno Environmental Tilt. The Lucifuge cannot control this
fire once its spread and suffers any ill effects of the fire just
like anyone else caught in the blast unless he has the Forged
in Fire Endowment.
Mandate of Hell
By their very nature, the Lucifuge carries Lucifer’s blood
within her veins. No matter how diluted that blood, every de-
mon recognizes her position as akin to royalty. The Lucifuge
can leverage this blood tie to bend demons to her will. With
time, she can learn how to subjugate these demons, giving a
command with a simple look or single meaningful word used
to convey her desires. Of course, mastering such a trick is
one that most Lucifuge have no interest in doing, as it only
cements their place in hell.
If the hunter knows the name of the demon she is com-
manding, she gains a +2 bonus to her dice pool.
Prerequisite: Calling Forth the Pit
Cost: None or 1 Willpower (see below)
Dice Pool: Presence + Intimidation vs. Resistance
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Success: Without spending Willpower, the hunter can is-
sue a single, short command, no more than a few words. This
command has to be direct and actionable such as “attack him”
or “bow to me” — it cannot be something vague such as “listen
to me” or “do what I say.” If the hunter spends a Willpower
at activation, she can give a more complex command with no
more than two steps in it: “Go to the church and bring me back
the priest” or “attack him, but do not kill him.” The demon acts
immediately to enact the command given, though it chooses its
route or how to go about the action. If the hunter wants to give
it more actions to take, she must use this Endowment again.
Exceptional Success: The hunter may give an additional
command to the demon or add an additional step to a com-
plex command.
Failure: The demon ignores her commands.
Dramatic Failure: The demon listens to the order and
carries out the exact opposite action, wreaking chaos and
havoc.
Sense Weakness
Everyone has a weakness, for most people it’s their
connection to their loved ones, or a vice they can’t help to
indulge. Monsters also have weaknesses, though never as
mundane as vice or love. Lucifer, The Great Deceiver, uses
it to infiltrate, undermine, and tempt. His descendants have
a knack for sensing weakness in their prey and utilizing it to
great effect.
Cost: 1 Willpower
Dice Pool: Wits + Empathy vs. Finesse
Action: Instant
Roll Results
Success: With a quick study of its name or just a descrip-
tion, the Lucifuge learns his foe’s greatest weakness. He can
learn one of the following about his enemy: one of its banes,
any Dread Powers that give it a weakness, or the name of an
infernal demon.
Exceptional Success: The Lucifuge also gains the
Informed Condition about his subject.
Failure: The hunter cannot glean any information
about her target.
Dramatic Failure: The hunter looks too far and sees a
darkness within. She gains the Spooked Condition.
Tongue of Babel
Shortly after the flood, humanity was united under a
single language in the ancient city of Babel. But they reached
too far and sought too much and, when God noticed, he
CHAPTER THREE: CHARACTER CREATION108108
dispersed humanity across the globe and ensured they all
spoke different languages. Rumor abounds that this was a
design by Lucifer to grant humanity access to heaven. His at-
tempt failed, though remnants of his language persist today
in everything humans do.
While the language is lost, the Lucifuge can hear it sing-
ing still in their blood. Those who have studied it know it
forms the foundation for all other languages in humanity,
and through their connection can parse understanding from
any spoken language.
Cost: None
Dice Pool: None
Action: Instant
Duration: One scene
The hunter may activate this Endowment to understand
any spoken language for the rest of the scene. He can speak
and understand literally any language on Earth. He does not
necessarily know those languages, but instead knows the uni-
versal language well enough that when he speaks it, his blood
works to allow anyone who hears it to interpret it as their
own language. As well, when he hears someone speak, he
translates it automatically into a language he understands.
This doesn’t always translate to the written word, as the an-
cient humans in Babel didn’t write their language down.
Nor does it allow him to understand languages supernatural
in nature, such as those spoken by demons or monsters, or
incantations used by witches.
Whenever using Tongue of Babel, the Lucifuge can
pick up on all aspects of language use, including social cues
and body language. When she attempts a Social Maneuver
against a person while Tongue of Babel is active, she moves
up one position on the Impression chart (p. XX).
Elixir
Alchemy is the art of transforming one substance into
another. Truly advanced practitioners of the art need no lab-
oratory or tools to perform their miracles — their own body
and enlightenment suffices. The Ascending Ones guard the
secrets of internal alchemy, for they are easily abused and
dangerous to the uninitiated. Many elixirs are highly toxic
without an alchemical touch, and a few may seriously harm
or cause a fatal reaction.
Elixir Endowments represent the knowledge and train-
ing needed not only to prepare the alchemical cocktail the
hunter imbibes, but to transform the reagents within herself
and redirect that energy as needed.
Elixir Endowments require consumable exotic reagents
and substances. The Ascending Ones have stockpiles of
reagents available to their members, and members know
where and how to acquire new reagents for their most used
Endowments. Ingredient lists for elixirs are well-kept secrets
to which members only gain access after demonstrating ability
and knowledge. While members are assumed to have ready ac-
cess to the reagents they need, rouge hunters using elixirs have
a harder time procuring reagents. The Ascending Ones warn
that reagents bought outside of their auspices can be dangerous
or impure. Despite these warnings, there is a growing number
of reports that rogue alchemists are stealing and stockpiling in-
gredients to sell on the black market. At present, the conspiracy
has not revealed how it plans to resolve the issue and appears to
be more concerned about their current members.
When Ascending Ones first learn alchemy, they learn
not only to mix potions and brews, but how to imbibe such
without poisoning themselves. This process is not fast, and
hunters in the field using elixirs have been members for years
before finally mastering the technique. But each new elixir
requires a new skill set. Learning a new elixir, both how to
make it and how to proper imbibe it takes time and training
which is represented by several days of uninterrupted study
(and spending the requisite Experiences).
Developing a whole new concoction used to take
months, if not years, but with access to a few specific lab
spaces, an abundance of reagents, and proper training, mak-
ing new elixirs now takes a matter of weeks. To invent a com-
pletely new elixir (never seen before), the Ascending One
must perform an extended action and net 10 successes us-
ing her Intelligence + Medicine, with each roll representing
a week of time. New elixir creation is subject to Storyteller
approval.
Using Elixirs