I was one of the authors who co-wrote the World of Darkness book Second Sight under freelance contract with White Wolf Publishing. In one of my early drafts, I included a Thaumaturge Merit called "The Last Spell". The developer asked me to remove it, and I had to write new material to take its place - in other words it was not part of the word count for which I was paid. Unfortunately, somehow, a reference to the Merit remained in the drafts and turned up in the final printing on page 102 of the book. Fans on the White Wolf forums have asked about the Merit, and I indicated that if I could find the text of it then I would post it here on my website.

The Last Spell (•)

Traditions: All

Prerequisite: Thaumaturge template, magic powers or supernatural Merits.

Effects: For supernaturally endowed beings the second sight is a mixed blessing, as the horrors of the World of Darkness are laid bare to them in a manner normal people manage to ignore. For some, insight into the dark secrets of the world is simply too much to bear. Terrified by the truth, or tired of facing it everyday, they turn their backs to the revelation that there is more to reality than might be explained by an unenlightened worldview, and seek to return their previous state of ignorance.

There are no traditions of magicians who actively teach this rite – it is for this reason that the Merit has intentionally not been listed as available to the various thaumaturge paths. Nonetheless, there are always individuals whose eyes are opened to the supernatural and whose reaction is terror, or at least enormous discomfort. For some, merely abandoning the lifestyle is sufficient. Taoist alchemists might bury themselves in the gross materialism of mercantile drudgery, shamans may crush their sacred visions beneath drunken stupors and practitioners of Vodun could forsake their spiritual lifestyle in favor of a prosaic cult of modern fundamentalism. For others, willful pretense is not enough – magic got them into this and it must remove them as well. They seek formal renouncement of magic like Shakespeare’s Prospero breaking his staff. Such unfortunates may record their rituals of escape in discarded journals or those following in their footsteps may be forced to collate this wisdom from scattered records.

To enact this ritual the caster must roll his Resolve + Composure and overcome his own Intelligence + Wits in a contested action. Each dot of Occult he possesses subtracts one die from his roll. If he succeeds in his action, the caster loses all access to magical powers, the thaumaturge template and supernatural Merits. The loss is indefinite – unless the caste somehow regains his power it is gone forever.

Dice Pool: Resolve + Composure vs. Intelligence + Wits (contested)
Ritual Length: Long
Duration: Indefinite
Cost: 1 Willpower

Dramatic Failure: The thaumaturge loses control of his magical powers for at least one day’s time, but does not manage to excise them. The Storyteller should probably have the character exhibit various magical abilities the caster normally possesses in a manner that demonstrates such powers still exist but have passed temporarily out of the control of their user. While the thaumaturge can try again, he cannot do so until his control of magic returns.

Failure: The ritual fails to produce any effect.

Success: The character loses access to all magical traits indefinitely.

Exceptional Success: The thaumaturge removes her access to all magical traits and makes great strides towards truly returning to mundane life. The Storyteller should consider allowing the character to exchange some of her magical traits for Experience to be immediately spent upon suitable mundane traits.

Ritual Details: The caster symbolically destroys his connection to magic in a highly personal demonstration. Some thaumaturges may perform such simple gestures as breaking a sign of power, while others may elaborately bind their magic to a physical emblem and consign it to fire, thereby returning the magical energy to the rest of the world.

Drawback: Forgetting your magical lore doesn’t protect you from the supernatural or from past brushes with the extraordinary. Life as a mundane mortal may turn out peacefully or it may be disrupted by magical beings which still recognize the magician even if she does not recognize them.

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