From the Diaries of Constantin Addams, Regent of the Sixth Circle
We walk the nights of a new age, brothers and sisters of the Pyramid. Since Gutenberg, our tomes are no longer handwritten, and hence much less rare. With the rise of public libraries, many "secret works" are now available for public consumption. Since the rise of the personal computer, any apprentice with a scanner, printer, and the "Internet" can acquire a minimal occult library in weeks rather than the years spent in ages past.

Once digitized, a complete set of the Books of al-Az the Elder will upon a collection of CD-ROMs approximately the size of a sandwich, rather the 29 volumes with which most of us are familiar. And no longer do younger Kindred guard the "secrets of the clans". An understanding of the limitations, effects, and abilities of most common disciplines is available to anyone who asks, and even those rare disciplines, such as those of the Samedi, are often recognizable to at least one person in a domain. Only Thaumaturgy is treated as precious knowledge, and the other clans hold it against us. New means must be used to guide our fellow Kindred into heeding our superior advice.

For this purpose, I have developed what I humbly called the Faux Path. It commands little actual power. Few rituals that will affect others are contained within. However, the clever Thaumaturge may use the Faux Path to great effect by playing on the fears and preconceived notions of his or her fellow Kindred. At the highest levels, the line between falsity and reality blur, but wise Tremere take heed: most Kindred do not take well to being opening deceived.

Enought talk. Step with me onto the False Path.

1 • Hello, Goodbye
The thaumaturge has a basic understanding of the magic of falsity. She may cause any one true statement she makes to be perceived as a lie for the duration of the evening. At dawn, all Kindred affected will be able to make their own judgment about the statement. She cannot make lies appear to be true. This will not affect Aura readings, Bone of Lies, or other discipline useage of great power than this discipline

2 • Disciplinary Identification
One of the primary skills of the deceiver is the ability to recognize when she is being deceived. With sufficient training, the thaumaturge can identify what discipline is being used in front of her and with sufficient explanation or by looking at the results (such as a ghoul's arm affected by Vicissitude), can even identify disciplines not directly witnessed. A Kindred cannot concentrate long enough in battle to identify what disciplines are used on her, though she may remember the effects and identify them later. All thaumaturgical effects register as Thaumaturgy, whether hedge magic, True Faith, Dark Thaumaturgy, or even other uses of this Path. To recognize the discipline used, the vampire must be at least somewhat familiar with it. Example: The vampire may have never seen another Kindred use Telepathy but would be able to identify it through familiarity with Auspex.

3 • Thaumaturgical Nomenclature
Once the chaff has been separated from the wheat, so to speak, identification of the most versatile disciplines of Thaumaturgy remains. Despite the frustrated thoughts of some young Tremere, no limit exists to the number of paths a thaumaturge may learn. However, some of the more common elements can be identified. A power described as Thaumaturgy by Discipline Identification can be further identified as to the path, power, or ritual. In case of a truly obtuse, unique or unknown path, a result of "unquantified" is not uncommon.
Note if an effect is incorrectly assumed to be Thaumaturgy, the results of this will be incorrect as well. For example, a Kindred who has caught his hand on fire and is using Fortitude to resist the damage may be incorrectly identified as using Lure of Flames.

4 • Ritual Madness
By now, many Kindred are aware that most powers and rituals have a limited range. With public and private transporation options available to most Kindred, even the dreaded Splinter Servant holds little terror if the victim can stave off his attacker for a mere minute. A clever thaumaturge can use this knowledge against her enemies. Using this power, any thaumaturgical effect a vampire extemporizes can be "modified" to supply only a physical sensation, but no actual effect. For example, a Warlock may cause Kindred approaching him to feel "vague discomfort and uneasiness" with no other explanation, though a successful Aura Perception might discovers sparkles indicative of any other magical effect. Likewise, a vampire may "Engage the Vessel of Non-Transference", which causes another Kindred to feel a cold shiver if she touchs a certain object. The much vaunted "Ward Against Fools" causes an individual to feel as though he were approaching a ward designed against his "creature type", whether Lupine, ghoul, mortal, ghost or Kindred. A cagey Kindred can even claim "next time, it'll be the real thing", regardless of his or her true power. This is an uncommonly versatile path power, but its effects are always mental in nature.

5 • Sanguinary Affectation
Once a careful study has been made of various disciplines, the thaumaturge can then seek to duplicate the outward effects upon himself. For example, a Tremere's hand may seem to grow claws, he can make others seem to bow to his whim, or his hands may crackle with the lambent fires of an unmastered path. Of course, his nails are merely long and cause no damage beyone normal, the patsy was going to do what the vampire said anyway, and his hands couldn't light a cigarette. By spending a Willpower point, the vampire can duplicate the outward effect of almost any discipline, path or ritual of Level Five or below upon his or her own person, by fulfilling the normal prerequisites of the discipline (blood expenditure, Willpower costs, etc, for one turn. Note: A Kindred performing Celerity, for example, could not actually move faster than normal Kindred, but she could perform parlor tricks with Faux Celerity, such as snatching the pebble from the Master's hand and so on. Of course, to snatch the pebble from someone with Celerity may well require her to spend extra blood.