Source: M. A. Lloyd
The Path of Protection averts, deflects or mitigates dangers, excludes influences, or prevents undesirable events. There is some overlap with every path and a closer similarity to the Path of Fate.
Wards off hostile magic. As VO p77.
The target cannot be harmed by ordinary weather. He can walk barefoot in the snow, remains comfortable in desert heat, and is immune to sunburn, glare, wind chill, and the harmful effects of precipitation or blowing dust. He still gets wet or dirty, but is at worst mildly uncomfortable.
An area protected by this ritual is less susceptible to accidental fires. Subtract the success margin from rolls to ignite anything not intended to burn - this includes fuel fire numbers, spell skill rolls and chances of secondary fires from explosions. For every two points of success margin the damage done by flames is reduced by 1, which reduces the chance a fire spreads and increases the chance it goes out (see VE p194).
Amulets are protective charms allow the bearer to re-roll results related to the type of harm the amulet averts. You must carry the amulet in close contact to benefit from it, and while most are small symbolic objects carrying a lot of them will add up. You may only re-roll a particular result once, and must keep the second roll, but some disasters involve more than one die roll, in which case you could conceivably re-roll each one. An amulet may be used to re-roll one result per two points of success margin. There are many possible amulets - most Occasional or Rare hazards are possible: fire, cold, falls, arrows, bullets, swords, staves, curses, illusions, witchcraft, poison, lightning, snakebite, wild beasts.... Unlike the similar Sword Blessing effect, amulets are usually purely symbolic - a blessed rabbit's foot could re-roll anything attributable to 'bad luck' (as opposed to lack of skill or outright stupidity), or a bit of jewelry set with an amethyst (said to ward off drunkenness) could re-roll Will rolls to resist Alcoholism or HT rolls to avoid the effects of drink.
Creates an amulet that protects the wearer once. As VO p76, except for the path change. Drop 'or a ritual cast by a powerful initiate' from the last paragraph, and use a delay of 1d days per 2 points of success margin.
Reflects hostile rituals back at their caster. As VO p78.
The target becomes non-toxic, usually accompanied by a visible effect that verifies a poison was present: unicorn horn or a gem changes color or harmless blue flames erupt from the item burning the poison off in wisps of vile smoke. If used on a poisoning victim it halts further damage, but will not reverse harm already suffered. It will neutralize most harmful drugs, including alcohol hangovers, but this is not always a good idea. Completely removing an addictive drug can produce instant withdrawal symptoms.
Protects everything in an area from hostile magic. As VO p78.
Removes an ongoing curse. As VO p78, except the roll to learn more is against Thaumatology.
The same rules apply to other counterspells, quick contest with the spell skill to remove it, modified by up to 3 by how well established the spell is.
This ritual protects an area or individual. Ghosts or undead must win a contest of Will -5 against the ritual to enter the area or face the individual (or remain within his Will/3 hexes of him). Even entities that succeed are uncomfortable, and function at -1 as long as they remain in the area. Animated dead lacking Will scores automatically fail the Will roll.
Protects the target from illness. As VO p75, except the casting time is reduced to the normal 1 hour.
This ritual works on a restraint on opening something - a lock, wax seal, glued envelope flap.... If anyone other than the magician or those named in the ritual opens the seal and fails the resistance roll something unpleasant happens to them. This is not a hostile ritual if the seal is sufficiently obvious any sensible person would realize they are not to open it, or optionally if the seal generates a feeling of impending doom in anyone who is about to open it. It is hostile as a trap - a wax seal on the inside of a door, or on an envelope addressed to someone not exempted in the casting. The standard form causes a wave of weakness, inflicting 3d long-term fatigue. Other curses may be substituted at -1 above their normal penalties (-6 for Malaise, -9 for Malediction etc.).
Wards off spirits. As VO p80.
As VO p74. It works like most protection rituals: effects from the dream world cannot affect anything in the area without first winning a quick contest with the Dream Sanctum.
This ritual makes it difficult for magicians to enter an area; the more powerful the magician, the stronger the resistance. Anyone with character points in a magical ability - Magery, Knacks, Ritual Magic skill - must make a Will roll at a penalty of 1/5 the number of points to enter the area. A magician might use this to keep rivals from his work area (exempting himself), and realistically wards against witches are a surprisingly large part of a magician's stock in trade.
Wards off In-Betweeners and Devourers. As VO p80.
As VO p79, but drop the effects of initiation level. Regardless of who carries the charm, it completely protects against random or unintentional attacks, and has no effect at all on intentionally targeted ones.
The target adds the success margin to his passive defenses. Consider carefully whether to allow this, except in tales where they are invulnerable magicians are rarely more resistant to direct attack than other major characters. Combined with Ghost Shirt, Amulets against common threats, Chaperone to take out the first serious penetration of his defenses, and Stroke of Luck to mitigate the second, a magician can come pretty close to invulnerability.
A classic fairy tale curse, anyone failing to resist drops into enchanted sleep within 3d minutes. Victims of enchanted sleep will not awaken, but do not age, and can not harmed by the natural environment as long as the enchantment lasts. This Mystery may require a termination condition rather than a standard duration.
This Mystery protects the target from all attacks. He cannot be hit unintentionally, and intentional attacks hit only on a critical success. Area attacks inflict the minimum possible damage if there is no logical way they can fail entirely - a nearby nuclear blast will probably still be lethal, but a large fragmentation bomb might not be as all the fragments will luckily miss. Purely environmental effects or self inflicted injuries can still harm the target. If he is caught in a decompression accident or falls off a cliff this Mystery offers no protection.