Alchemy

Thaumaturgy has some of its roots in the early practices of Hermetic alchemy, which concerned itself with changing the properties of given ideals. Indeed much of Thaumaturgy's codified structure and basic principles are very similar to those of alchemy.

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In the near-millennium that has passed since the Tremere's earliest efforts with blood magic, alchemy has fallen by the wayside, however. Modern technology makes possible almost anything this path can do and far more — it is easier and more reliable to mine for god for example, than it is to create it by transmuting other materials. Still, old habits die hard among vampires and the Tremere are no exception. A few elders still practice this path, and of these some still teach it to their childer to illustrate the basic tenants of modern blood magic.

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System: The number of success on the activation roll determines how radically a thaumaturge may alter a given compound's form. He need not use all his successes - a thaumaturge wishing to effect only a simple change of form need not turn lead into gold if he accumulates five successes. The thaumaturge must, however, acquire at least the minimum number of successes suggested by the table below to generate the effect he seeks.

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Changing one element into another requires familiarity with both elements. One cannot suddenly decide he wants to change a balloon's worth of helium into a sphere of solid titanium if he has never deal with either of those elements before. Simply knowing an atomic number is not enough to warp the laws of nature so radically. It is worthwhile to note, however, that Alchemy makes no distinction between naturally occurring and man-mad elements - if affects Einsteinium as readily as it does carbon.

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Note also that this path has fallen out of practice because it is less useful in modern nights than it was in the past. Transmutations create Hermetic "ideals" rather then perfect real world resources, which cannot be broken down into lesser constructs. A hunk of gold is a hunk of gold — an attempt to cast coins with it will reduce the hunk to a pile of inert sludge. Before you ask — yes, this means that your Tremere Anarch will not be able to create nuclear bombs by turning the prince's shoes into uranium. There's nothing wrong with converting lead into gold and selling that hunk of gold to someone else, however — caveat emptor.

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Note: Storytellers are encouraged to apply this principle to the use of Path of Conjuring as well. Characters who try to conjure "antimatter" or create weapons of mass destruction magically should be subtly but reasonably discouraged.

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Also, use of this path assumes the thaumaturge works with the elements in a laboratory-style (or at least controlled) environment. No vampire will be able to walk down the street and turn the iron in people's blood to helium with a simple touch.

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A vampire's knowledge of Alchemy determines how greatly she may chance a given element.

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Successes       Result

1 Success          Simple changs in form — solid to liquid, liquid to gas, etc.

2 Successes     Complex changes to form — liquid to a specific shape of solid,                                   water to separate hydrogen and oxygen gas clouds, etc.

3 Successes     Complicated changes to form — water to breathable oxygen                                       and loose hydrogen, compounds into separate rate elements,                                     etc.

4 Successes     Minor shifts in composition, such as adjusting an element's                                         atomic number up to five greater or less than its original                                             designation.

5 Successes     Miraculous shifts in composition, such as turning lead into                                       gold or nitrogen into radium.