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The Ash Path allows necromancers to peek into the lands of the dead and even affect things there. Of the three Paths of Necromancy, the Ash Path is the most perilous to learn, because many of the Path's uses increase the necromancer's vulnerability to wraiths.
Level 1
Shroudsight
Shroudsight allows a necromancer to see through
the Shroud, the mystical barrier that separates the living world from the
Underworld. By using this power, the vampire can spot ghostly
buildings and items, the landscape of the so-called Shadowlands,
and even wraiths themselves. However, the odds are that an observant wraith
will notice when a vampire suddenly starts staring at him, which can lead
to unpleasant circumstance.
SYSTEM: A simple roll of Perception + Alertness
(difficulty 7) allows a necromancer
ultilize Shroudsight. This effect last for a scene.
Level 2
Lifeless Tongues
When Shroudsight allows a necromancer to see
ghosts, Lifeless Tongues allows her to convers with them effortlessly.
Once Lifeless Tongues is employed, the vampire can carry on a conversation
with the denizens of the ghostly Underworld without spending blood or causing
the wraiths to expend any effort.
SYSTEM: To use Lifeless TOngues requires a roll of Perception + Occult (difficuly 6) and the expenditure of a Willpower point. The power also grants the effects of Shroudsight, so the vampire can see whom, or what, she is conversing.
Level 3
Dead Hand
Similar to the Sepulchre Path power Torment,
Dead Hand allows a necromancer to reach across the Shroud and affect a
ghostly object as if it were in the real world. Ghosts are solid to necromancers
using this power, and can be attacked. Furthermore, the necromancer can
pick up ghostly items, scale ghostly
architecture (giving real-world bystanders the impression that he
is climbing on air!) and generally exist in two worlds. On the other
hand, a necromancer using Dead Hand is quite solid to the residents of
the Underworld - and to whatever weapons they might have.
SYSTEM: The player spends a point os Willpower and makes a successful Wits + Occult (difficulty 7) for the vampire to activate Dead Hand. For each scene the vampire wishes to remain in contact with the Underworld, he must spend a point in blood.
Level 4
Ex Nihilo
Ex Nihilo allows a necromancer to enter the Underworld
physically. While in the lands of the dead, the vampire is essentially
an extra-solid ghost. He maintains his normal number of health levels,
but can be hurt only by things that inflict aggravated damages on ghosts
(weapons forged from souls, certain ghostly powers, etc.). A vampire
physically in the Underworld can pass through solid objects (at the cost
of one health point) and remain "incorporeal" thus for a number of turns
equal to his stamina rating. On the other hand, vampires present in the
Underworld are subject to all of the Underworld's perils, including
ultimate destruction. A vampire killed in the Deadlands is gone forever,
beyond even the reach of other necromancers.
SYSTEM: Using Ex Nihilo takes a tremendous toll
on the necromancer. To activate this power, the vampire must first draw
a doorway with chalk or blood on any available surface. (NOTE: Doors can
be drawn ahead of time for exactly this purpose.) The player must then
expend two points of Willpower and two points of blood, then make a Stamina
+ Occult roll (difficulty 8) as the vampire attempts to open the chalk
door physically.If the roll succeeds, the door opens and the vampire steps
through to the Underworld.
When the vampire wishes to return to the real
world, he needs to merely concentrate (and the player spends another Willpower
point and rolls a Stamina + Occult, difficulty 6). At Storyteller discretion,
a vampire who is too deeply immersed in the Underworld may need to journey
to a place close to the lands of the living in order to cross over. Vampires
who wander too far into the lands of the dead may be trapped there forever.
Vampires in the Underworld cannot feed upon ghosts:
their only susentance is the blood they bring with them.
Level 5
Shroud Mastery
A bit of an exaggeration, Shroud Mastery is the
abiltiy to manipulate the veil between the worlds of the living and the
dead. By doing so, a necromancer can make it easier for bound wraiths in
his service to function, or make it nearly impossible for ghosts to contact
the material world.
SYSTEM: To exercise Shroud Mastery, the necromancer
expends two points of Willpower, then states whether he is attempting
to raise or lower the Shroud. The player then makes a Willpower roll (difficulty
9). Each success on the roll raises or lowers the difficulties of all nearby
wraiths' actions by one, to a maximum of 10 or a minimum of 3. The Shroud
reverts to its normal strength at a rate of
one point per hour thereafter.