Thin-Blood Alchemy
THIN-BLOOD ALCHEMY
Cooking | Homebrew | The Craft | Mash | Kineticism
The thin Blood of the latest generations holds barely any power of its own. But certain thin-bloods have learned to use it as a catalyst, awakening the latent power in everything from human trauma to gasoline. Born of the street drug scene and cocktail culture as much as it w as uncovered by instinct or in moldering medieval texts, thin-blood Alchemy may be the defining art of the next-millennium lick. By blending strongly resonant human blood, and sometimes other substances, with their own vitae, Alchemists can counterfeit a wide range of powers from other Disciplines – and some unique powers of their own. Rumors already abound of specific elixirs that grant the ability to walk in sunlight, commune with Antediluvians, or achieve Golconda. But for now, the street-level cookers have all they can do to stay out of the Court’s sight – plenty of elders consider Alchemy nothing but watered-down diablerie.
Alchemy can counterfeit some Blood Sorcery powers (those that affect the caster’s Blood), but not Rituals. The Storyteller can rule any other power off-limits to Alchemy if they worry about game balance or the plausibility of the fiction – and reverse themselves later if they wish, or hint at unique recipes developed in Switzerland or hidden in a Cairo library. The Discipline is young, and thin-bloods have hardly explored every possible working or tasted every possible cocktail.
CHARACTERISTICS
- Type: Alchemy
- Masquerade Threat:
Varies as widely as the powers it counterfeits and the method used.
- Blood Resonance:
Required for each formula and varies accordingly.
All formulae require vitae from the Alchemist and human blood of the correct Resonance. The Resonant human blood can be stored in a blood bag, or in a Starbucks to-go cup for that matter. The specific amount needed depends on the degree of the donor’s Resonance and on the Storyteller’s whim.
In these rules, “power level” always refers to the level of Alchemy involved, not the level of the power counterfeited with the formula.
All formulae have a cost to distill, and then the cost to activate. The distillation cost reflects the fact that all formulae include the Alchemist’s own vitae: A single Rouse Check. Activation cost for a formula is the same as using the power normally: free, or some number of additional Rouse Checks.
Once activated, the Alchemist makes a distillation roll to determine how effective the particular mixture was. Each version of Alchemy builds a different dice pool for the distillation roll. The more successes, the more effective the mixture.
Some powers require their own dice rolls to take effect, or to measure the degree of success. The Alchemist makes those rolls where needed, substituting their rating in Thin-Blood Alchemy for the specific Discipline rating where relevant.
To learn a new formula requires research time, whether the Alchemist spends it poring through libraries or in meditation or on tasting expeditions or performing laboratory experimentation. Players should write down which formulae their character already knows, and any special ingredients it requires. A character receives a formula for free for each dot in Thin-Blood Alchemy and can purchase additional formulae with experience and experimentation.
DISTILLATION METHODS
When the first dot in Thin-Blood Alchemy is gained, the Alchemist chooses their method. This is the way they perform their distillation. Learning a different method means starting from scratch, essentially counting it as a separate Discipline. In this case, formulae for one method do not apply to other methods known, and the same formula must be learnt separately for each method.
- Athanor Corporis: The Alchemist uses their own body as the athanor, or alchemical furnace. This might be a bio-feedback routine, the result of an initial elixir consumed at initiation, or simply intuitive understanding of how resonances interact. Ingredients usually consist of different types of resonance mixes, requiring the Alchemist to sample the blood of multiple victims to get just the right blend.
The Alchemist drinks the different types of resonant blood required and the process is performed within their veins with a distillation roll of Stamina + Alchemy, together with a Rouse Check.
Only one power can be active at a time, and a new power must be distilled before it can be activated. This usually takes at least three turns of concentration, during which the Alchemist can do nothing else.
- Calcinatio: The Alchemist uses the body of a human as the athanor, adjusting their biophysical state by means of emotional pressure and spoken incantations. (Some practitioners of Calcinatio use drugs on their subjects instead.) The Alchemist then feeds their Blood to the chosen human, paying the distillation cost, and makes the distillation roll with Manipulation + Alchemy.
The human’s entire body distills the formula. The Alchemist then drinks their blood to use the power (required Hunger slaked equals power level minus 1).
The Alchemist can only distill one power per victim, though the victim retains the formula within them as long as they’re kept in the same emotional state; each power takes as long to activate as it takes to drain that quantity of blood (p. 212).
- Fixatio: Lacking the physical or social predilections of the other methods, the Alchemist uses a conventional athanor such as a kiln, a metalworking furnace, a meth cooker, a repurposed propane tank, or the like. This method most resembles “classical” alchemy: the Alchemist pours their Blood as well as inert, usually rare, ingredients into the athanor, pays the distillation cost, and distills them inside it with an Intelligence + Alchemy roll.
The resulting formulae are fixed, meaning that the Alchemist can carry them around on their person and imbibe them to activate their power. (Roll the distillation roll upon consumption, not upon production.) However, without a laboratory, they cannot make any more – at most, they might be able to “one-pot” a weak (Level 3 or less) formula using a pressure-cooker or other field expedient. Using such unsuitable equipment reduces the distillation dice pool by 2 dice.
The Alchemist can carry a number of fixed formulae (of any level) equal to their Wits or Dexterity – keeping the vials safe, stable, hidden, and leakproof is not a trivial task. (The Storyteller can decide if each vial takes up the space of a syringe, a can of Red Bull, or a thermos.) The Alchemist can store a number of fixed formulae (of any level) equal to twice the sum of Alchemy plus their dots in Haven: a refrigerator is almost a necessity. Fixed does not necessarily mean shelf stable, after all.
The Alchemist can activate one power per turn.
LEVEL 1
FAR REACH
Thin-Blood Alchemy •
This formula allows the alchemist to use their mind to grab, hold, and push objects or people without touching them. While few can employ enough mental force to actually cause direct harm, a clever applicant can find many ways to get an opponent into, or themselves out of, harm’s way.
Ingredients: The alchemist’s Blood, choleric human blood, melted nylon fibers or a grated refrigerator magnet or weird nootropics ordered off the internet.
Activation Cost: One Rouse Check
Dice Pools: Resolve + Alchemy vs Strength + Athletics
System: The alchemist can lift, push, or pull a physical object or person under 100 kg, within their sight and closer than 10 meters. The object moves swiftly, but not rapidly enough to injure a person with the blow; the object may break if it is fragile. The exception: knives or other small metal tools, which the alchemist can wield with a Resolve + Alchemy test, at a two dice penalty because of the need for precision. A knife used this way does only one point of extra damage.
Trying to move someone actively resisting requires a contest of Resolve + Alchemy vs Strength + Athletics. On a win, the alchemist can pull the victim within grabbing or clawing range, or throw them one meter for each point of margin on the contest, doing an equal amount of Superficial damage. They land prone. Keeping someone or something floating in mid-air requires a Resolve + Thin-Blood Alchemy (Difficulty 3) roll every turn. Fine manipulation (such as pulling the pin of a grenade) requires a Wits + Alchemy roll at a suitable Difficulty, as determined by the Storyteller.
Duration: One turn unless held (see above).
Core Book, pg. 284
HAZE
Thin-Blood Alchemy •
This formula creates a field of mist that follows the user, rendering them more difficult to target with ranged weapons and concealing their identity.
Ingredients: In addition to the alchemist’s Blood and phlegmatic human blood, dry ice or cigar smoke or auto exhaust
Activation Cost: One Rouse Check
Dice Pools: Resolve + Alchemy vs Strength + Athletics
System: Upon activation a cloud of mist-like vapor surrounds the alchemist, masking their features and obscuring their silhouette. Anyone attempting to identify the user or hit them with ranged weapons suffers a two-dice penalty to their pool. The user can extend the cloud to encompass a group of up to five people by making another Rouse check.
Duration: One scene or until voluntarily ended.
Core Book, pg. 285
PORTABLE SHADE
Thin-Blood Alchemy •
Portable Shade, or even more irreverently, “suntan lotion,” is a formula developed by Cainites on the Path of the Sun to augment a thin-blood’s already substantial resistance to sunlight to near mortal levels. While it doesn’t render the subject completely immune, it extends the time they can endure daylight while masking immediate burns sustained by the sun.
Ingredients: Blood of the Alchemist, sanguinic mortal blood, fresh plant leaves. Some alchemists also use various off-the-shelf sunblock ointments in the mix, though it is unknown whether they contribute significantly to the formula.
Activation Cost: One Rouse Check
Dice Pools: Stamina + Alchemy
System: Make a Stamina + Alchemy test when ingesting the formula. The user is able to endure sunlight without taking damage for a number of hours equal to the number of successes on the test. At sunset, make another test with the same pool, this time with a Difficulty equal to the number of hours spent in daylight. A failure causes the user to sustain a level of aggravated damage, while a total failure has them sustain two, as the accumulated sunlight boils the Blood in their veins.
Duration: A number of hours equal to a Stamina + Alchemy test, or the next sunset, whichever comes first.
Sabbat Sect Book, pg. 53
GAOLER'S BANE
Thin-Blood Alchemy •
By imbibing this formula, the alchemist enables their body to accomplish unbelievable feats of contortion and dislocation, allowing for escape from even the most cunning of physical restraints.
Ingredients: The alchemist's blood, sanguine human blood, two weeks' worth of contents of a regularly used grill's grease trap.
Activation Cost: One Rouse Check
System: Upon activating this ability, the alchemist can twist, bend, or stretch their bodies in minor wats to free themselves from physical bonds or grapples. Dexterity + Larceny checks for the purpose of slipping one's self free of handcuffs, zip-ties, or other ligatures get a two-dice bonus. Additionally, any Strength + Brawl rolls made to escape a grapple also receive a two-dice bonus.
Duration: One scene or until voluntarily ended.
Winter's Teeth, vol. 2
LEVEL 2
At level 2, the Alchemist can develop formulae to counterfeit level 1 powers of other Disciplines. Each of these formulae take at least a week to research.
ENVELOP
Thin-Blood Alchemy ••
This formula creates a field of mist that follows the user, rendering them more difficult to target with ranged weapons and concealing their identity.
Ingredients: In addition to the alchemist’s Blood and phlegmatic human blood, dry ice or cigar smoke or auto exhaust
Activation Cost: One Rouse Check
Dice Pools: Resolve + Alchemy vs Strength + Athletics
System: Upon activation a cloud of mist-like vapor surrounds the alchemist, masking their features and obscuring their silhouette. Anyone attempting to identify the user or hit them with ranged weapons suffers a two-dice penalty to their pool. The user can extend the cloud to encompass a group of up to five people by making another Rouse check.
Duration: One scene or until voluntarily ended.
Core Book, pg. 285
RED'S FLAMIN' HOT SAUCE
Thin-Blood Alchemy ••
This formula, discovered by accident, turns any amount of spilled or drawn blood or vitae into a dangerous accelerant. This concoction is capable of turning blood-bags into Molotov cocktails, and an otherwise enticing feeding opportunity into a potential death traps.
Ingredients: The alchemist's blood, choleric human blood, 2 mL of canola oil, a dash of lemon juice, cayenne seasoning.
System: Contrary to most formulas, this formula is not imbibed by the user, but added to inert or spilled blood. Adding it to any amount of human blood, or vampiric vitae, creates a heavily flammable slurry. While this does not automatically cause the blood to combust, any introduction of flame to the spilled blood creates a slow-burning, yet powerful, inferno. This fire cannot be extinguished for the duration of the effect, though fires spreading from it can. For each success gained from the distillation roll, the alchemist creates one usage of this power.
Duration: The formulas are preserved until used. The blood-fires last for an entire scene, or potentially longer, depending on the fire's surroundings.
Winter's Teeth, vol. 2
LEVEL 3
At level 3, the Alchemist can develop formulae to counterfeit level 2 powers of other Disciplines. Each of these formulae take at least a night to distill and at least one month to research.
DEFRACTIONATE
Thin-Blood Alchemy •••
This formula results in a homeopathic elixir. When added to fractionated medical-supply blood, the elixir returns it to freshness, allowing vampires without the Iron Gullet merit to obtain nutrition from it.
Ingredients: The alchemist’s Blood, sanguine and melancholic human blood, O-negative human blood (only a few ml), moldy spinach, hot black coffee, sodium octanoate
System: The alchemist taps their vessel (Calcinatio), or their own vein (Athanor Corporis) to get the Defractionate elixir if they do not use Fixatio. For each success on the distillation roll, they get enough elixir to turn one blood bag (slakes 1 Hunger) from fractionated to unfractionated blood. Any vampire can consume this blood and slake Hunger with it.
- Athanor Corporis: The alchemist can tap their own vein once per night for this elixir until their next feeding, or until they reach Hunger 5. They need not pay the distillation cost again.
- Calcinatio: If the vessel survives the tap, the alchemist can tap them again in a week for more elixir. They need not pay the distillation cost again, but the vessel pays the Health cost (3 Aggravated damage) each time they are tapped.
Core Book, pg. 285
PROFANE HIEROS GAMOS
Thin-Blood Alchemy •••
To the Alchemist, rebirth and renewal are not locked behind the ritual of sacred union between two opposites. Through the power of their mercurial vitae the Alchemist can help shape a human body to match the mental self image or desired shape held by the consciousness within it.
With the help of rare reagents the Alchemist can even defy one of the fundamental curses of the vampiric condition by altering the unchanging state to which the undead revert to in their daysleep. This specific formula can be imbibed by mortals or vampires other than the Alchemist, after their ritual purification and deep meditation on their own idealized, or desired, form.
This knowledge makes the expertise of the Alchemist a valuable and desired commodity even to those Kindred who loathe their very existence. Duskborn openly offering services like these are more likely to be coerced to work or kidnapped than paid handsomely.
Ingredients: The alchemist’s Blood, melancholic and phlegmatic human blood, entheogenic substances
Activation Cost: One Rouse Check or One point of Aggravated Health damage for mortals
Dice Pools: Stamina + Resolve
System: Whoever imbibes the formula mixed with a Rouse Check worth of their own blood instantly falls into a catatonic fever dream until the following night, the depths of their psyche plumbed for their personal idealized form, or a form strongly desired. The effects of Profane Hieros Gamos are limited to the external morphology of the human form, the body refusing transformations too outlandish and fantastical to be without the wondrous spectrum of human anatomy.
The imbiber makes a Stamina + Resolve roll against a difficulty of 8 minus the successes on the distillation roll. If the imbiber is a vampire, they add their Bane Severity to the difficulty of the check.
On a win, the transformation process is successful and their physical body molds to the desired shape. A critical win can grant and remove Merits and Flaws of the Looks category, though like all Advantages they need to be paid for with Experience points (p. 180). A messy critical or a bestial failure might cause a new Flaw to manifest, ranging from Repulsive, Obvious Predator, Stigmata or even Organovore as the Beast interferes with the transformation.
Not even the blood of the Duskborn can spare the Nosferatu from their Bane, the process incorporating the clan's hideous affliction despite the user's mental image.
Duration: Permanent until performed again.
Core Book, pg. 286
ON-DEMAND SUNBURN
Thin-Blood Alchemy •••
A dread tool of the Path of the Sun, On-Demand Sunburn traps sunlight in the very body of its user, enabling them to unleash it as a destructive force through their own skin, searing themselves and their prey in a sizzling embrace. While the damage done by a single user is not enough to incinerate a vampire, a group of self-immolating Heliophiles can spell doom for fledglings and elders alike.
Ingredients: Blood of the Alchemist, choleric mortal blood, gold shavings, mercury, as well as assorted halogens (usually chlorine or bromide). The formula also needs to be subjected to sunlight for several hours before use, and alchemists employing athanor corporis usually “juice up” on Portable Shade (see above) for this.
Activation Cost: One Rouse Check
Dice Pools: None
System: On activation, the alchemist becomes an unliving battery of sunlight with a single charge seething in their veins. They can unleash this charge at will, inflicting aggravated damage upon themselves and another vampire whom they’ve successfully achieved skin contact with, as their own skin smolders and blackens. The user takes two levels of aggravated damage, while the victim suffers an amount equal to their Bane Severity, as if exposed to daylight for a full turn. If the victim has the means to reduce the damage (such as through Fortitude) they can do so. If the formula isn’t activated before then, the power automatically activates at the first sunset after ingestion, causing two levels of aggravated damage to the user.
Duration: Until unleashed or next sunset, whichever comes first.
Sabbat Sect Book, pg. 53
CONCOCT ASHE
Thin-Blood Alchemy •••
The process of creating the Ashe drug is a form of Blood Alchemy in itself, and generally takes place in a laboratory or workshop due to the need for an open flame and metal filings.
Ingredients: A destroyed vampire’s ashes, an open flame reaching 1,500°C, aluminum filings.
Dice Pools: Intelligence + Thin-Blood Alchemy
System: The vampire’s ashes are contained in a vessel heated by an open flame and then mixed with aluminum filings. Each success on the distillation roll produces a single Ashe dose. On a total failure, the sample is ruined and a Beast Shard (see p. 39) emerges in the area.
When consumed, all Ashe allows a thin-blood to access more of the power in vitae and ash than is usually within their grasp. Their Blood Potency counts as 1 for the purposes of Blood Surges and Discipline Rouse Check re-rolls until the end of the chapter. The drug is far from lacking in downsides however, see Ashe Addiction (see p. 46).
| ASHE ADDICTION... |
|---|
| Every time a thin-blood takes Ashe, they suffer one Superficial Willpower damage and make a Rouse Check. If they take any Aggravated Willpower damage while experiencing the effects of Ashe, they must roll to resist a hunger frenzy (Difficulty 2) as they suddenly crave the vitae, experiences, and powers of other vampires. This frenzy is pointed at other Kindred. If the vampire ingests any vitae as a result of their frenzy, they recover a point of Aggravated Willpower damage but their Hunger rating increases by one. Addiction to Ashe can be a paralyzing circle of needing more and more blood to survive and Ashe to continue experiencing the buzz of power. |
Cults of the Blood Gods, pg. 45
CHEMICALLY-INDUCED FLASHBACK
Thin-Blood Alchemy •••
Prerequisite: Concoct Ashe
By melting down a vampire’s possessions (the more important the better) during Ashe creation, an alchemist infuses the drug with memories from the destroyed vampire.
Ingredients: A melted-down object belonging to the destroyed vampire.
Activation Cost: One Rouse Check in addition to the cost of using Ashe
System: When using Concoct Ashe, this formula may be used to imbue remains with the memories of the vampire they once formed. When consumed, this altered Ashe provokes a Willpower test at a Difficulty of 1 + the destroyed vampire’s Blood Potency. On a win the user immediately enters a Memoriam (see Vampire: The Masquerade p. 311), reliving an important memory of the destroyed vampire’s past rather than their own. This scene is resolved normally using their own stats, but the shifted perspective will be valuable. If they are meditating in a place of calm at the time they consume the Ashe, the thin-blood adds a one-die bonus to all dice pools during the Memoriam.
Cults of the Blood Gods, pg. 45
LEVEL 4
At Level 4, the Alchemist can develop formulae to counterfeit level 3 powers of other Disciplines. At this level, all formulae also require a drop of vitae from a vampire of a matching clan or from one who already possesses the counterfeited Discipline. These formulae take at least three nights to distill and at least three months to research.
AIRBORNE MOMENTUM
Thin-Blood Alchemy ••••
This formula enables the alchemist to lift themselves from the ground, achieving a state of swift flight or floating. They can fly in any direction, including up or down, though their carrying capacity is limited.
Ingredients: The alchemist’s Blood, choleric and sanguine human blood, champagne, bird blood, helium, scopolamine or belladonna extract
Activation Cost: One Rouse Check
Dice Pools: Strength + Alchemy vs Strength + Athletics (if resisted)
System: The potion enables the alchemist (and only them) to fly or hover at approximately running speed. The flier can carry a human-sized mass, though their speed drops to walking speed. Grabbing and carrying aloft an unwilling subject or pulling the flier to the ground both require a contest between the alchemist’s Strength + Alchemy and the other’s Strength + Athletics.
Duration: One scene
Core Book, pg. 287
DISCIPLINE CHANNELING
Thin-Blood Alchemy ••••
Prerequisite: Concoct Ashe
Counterfeiting Disciplines is part and parcel of Thin-Blood Alchemy’s use, but the ability to channel a Discipline from the ashes of a deceased vampire is a form of necromantic Alchemy, at least according to Dr. Mortius and the Duskborn who practice it. Those who practice this Alchemy find themselves able to use any one of the destroyed vampire’s Discipline powers, even if they typically wouldn’t have access to powers of this level.
Ingredients: Crushed leaves from the indigo plant.
Activation Cost: The same as the channeled power.
Dice Pools: The same as the channeled power.
System: When using Concoct Ashe, this formula may be used to imbue remains with the abilities of the vampire they once formed. When consumed, this altered Ashe provokes a Willpower test at a Difficulty of the destroyed vampire’s highest Discipline rating. On a win, the thin-blood gains the use of a single Discipline power that the destroyed vampire possessed, until the end of the chapter. Use the destroyed vampire’s Discipline rating whenever a channeled power calls for one. The Storyteller may state the Disciplines and specific powers the deceased vampire held so the alchemist can choose from a list, or if the alchemist has a power in mind they can request it from the Storyteller. The Storyteller has final say. On a critical win the thin-blood gains the use of two Discipline powers that the destroyed vampire possessed.
Cults of the Blood Gods, pg. 46
LEVEL 5
At level 5, the Alchemist can develop formulae to counterfeit level 4 powers of other Disciplines. These formulae take a month to distill and at least three years to research.
AWAKEN THE SLEEPER
Thin-Blood Alchemy •••••
This formula results in an elixir which, when added to human blood, can awaken a vampire from Torpor.
Ingredients: The alchemist’s Blood, choleric or sanguine human blood, adrenaline, ammonium carbonate, hartshorn, caffeine or benzedrine, melatonin
System: The alchemist taps their vessel (Calcinatio), or their own vein (Athanor Corporis) to get the Awaken the Sleeper elixir if they do not use Fixatio. They then mix the elixir into human blood. For each success above 2 on the distillation roll, the elixir can awaken a vampire of that Blood Potency.
- Athanor Corporis: The alchemist can tap their own vein once per night for this elixir until their next feeding, or until they reach Hunger 5. They need not pay the distillation cost again.
- Calcinatio: If the vessel survives the tap, the alchemist can tap them again in a week for more elixir. They need not pay the distillation cost again, but the vessel pays the Health cost (5 Aggravated damage) each time they are tapped. The Alchemist can also simply feed the vessel’s blood to the sleeper directly.
Duration: One scene
Core Book, pg. 287