HIGH RITUAL
Description: You’ve studied not only the techniques and trappings of ritual practices but also the symbolic, psychological, and metaphysical principles behind the core observances of your chosen Affiliation and Practice. In general, this Talent reflects a familiarity with rituals appropriate to your spiritual or magickal pursuits; a Catholic priest from the Celestial Chorus understands the various Church ceremonies as they interweave with the Chorus’ magickal techniques, an Eleusinian priestess knows her way around Greek mystery rites and every Hermetic Apprentice spends most of their waking hours memorizing tomes of such material.
Allowed Specialties*: The Practice associated with this Ability is a required specialty.
Rules: Game-wise, this one is easy. It replaces Stamina (in every particular) for most Great Works, and it takes a lot of time and experience to learn it.
- Note that not every sect, affiliation or sub-faction has put together an equal body of literature and technique when it comes to working the greatest and most complex feats of magick. You have, say, the Order of Hermes on the extreme ‘high ritual’ end of the spectrum, and are so iconic in that respect, that the ability itself is named after their Practice of ‘High Ritual Magick’. And then at the low end of the spectrum, you have random Orphans, Hollow Ones, solitary Dreamspeakers and any unsophisticated or mostly instinctual pursuit. (Don’t feel bad for these guys: Their Focus often lets them get away with other things that more technical Practices don’t.)
- Most (non-Hermetic or Celestial Chorus) Awakened don’t think of what they’re doing as ‘high ritual’ at all. Indeed, this ability could just as easily be called ‘Due Diligence’ for say, the NWO or Iteration X data analyst.
- It requires a relevant Practice to learn, and a relevant teacher. Most Tradition Affiliations can justify it up to around 3 dots, except for the most isolated subfactions.
- High Ritual-relevant Practices always have a lot of other components to them, like material (altars, robes, wine, communion vessels – or a lab, garage, skunkworks, etc), an audience (congregation, cult, etc) or specific restrictions (timing or taboos). It usually takes some kind of infrastructure or funding to make them happen. Where they don’t require much in one thing (like a rain dance), they tend to require a lot more of other things (like participants or exact seasonal timing).
- In some cases, uncovering magickal artifacts or ancient lore, or some kind of spirit quest, might be required to either increase a character’s High Ritual (especially if they’re not part of an organized faction) or to achieve a temporary bonus for a specific Great Work.