This is something else people seem to ignore or just plain get wrong.

First i will describe the difference beetween a blood bonding and a ghouling, then i will copy the blood bond level descrïptions from the book here for easy reference.

First off a Blood bond can be created by as little as a few drops of blood. This much blood could be slipped into a drink, passed off in a kiss or dripped in a sleeping mouth.

Ghouling requires substantially more blood. Ghouls are still blood bound, But to create a ghoul requires AT LEAST a pint(representing one point or trait) of blood a month.

Even when a ghouls ghouling wears off, they are still blood bound for a LONG time.

You can fully blood bond someone without ever turning them into a ghoul.

And now for the stuff from the book..............

Blood Bond-----

One of the most wonderous and terrible properties of kindred vitae is its ability to enslave nearly any being who drinks of it three times. Each sip of a particular Kindreds blood gives the kindred in question a greater emotional hold over the drinker.

If a being drinks three times, on three seperate nights from the same kindred she falls victim to a state known as the blood bond. A vampire who holds a blood bond over another being is said to be that victims Regnant while the subordinate is known as the Thrall.

Put simply the blood bond is one of the most potent emotional sensations known.A blood bound victim is absolutely devoted to her Regnant and will do nearly anything for him. Even the most potent uses of Dominate cannot overcome the Thralls feelings for the Regnant; only true love stands a chance and even that is not a sure thing.

The bloodbond is most commonly used to ensnare ghouls and mortals but kindred can bind eachother as well. Such is the bloods power that a mighty elder can be bound to a lowly neonate; in this respect the blood of a 13th generation neonate is (presumably) as strong as that of Caine himself. As such the blood bond forms an essential strategy i nthe Jyhad; some ancients are said to hold dozens of influential kindred in secret thralldom....

First drink: The drinker begins to experience intermittent but strong feelings about the vampire. She may dream of him or find herself 'coincidentally' frequenting places where he might show up. There is no mechanical. effect at this point, but it should (And is expected to be) Roleplayed.

All childer have this level of bond to their sires as the embrace forces one drink upon the childe. They may love their 'parent' or hate them, or both, but are rarely indifferent towards them.

Second drink: The drinkers feelings grow strong enough to influence her behavior. Though she is by no means enslaved to the vampire, he is definitely an important figure in her life. She may act as she pleases but might have to make a willpower roll to take actions directly harmful to the vampire. The vampire's influence is such that he can command or persuade her with little effort (Social rolls against the thrall are at -1 diff).

Third Drink: Full scale blood bond. At this level the drinker is more or less completely bound to the vampire. He is the most important person in her life; lovers, relatives and even children become tertiary to her all consuming passion.

At this level a regnant may use the dominate discipline on a thrall even without the benefit of eye contact. Merely hearing the regnants voice is enough. Additionally should a thrall try to resist the dominate for some reason, the difficulty of such resistance is increased by two. Naturally a higher generation vampire still cannot use dominate on a lower generation thrall.

The blood bond is true love, albeit a twisted and perverse version of it. Ultimately we cannot reduce the vagaries of love to a simple 'yes/no' system. Some thralls (particularly people with conformist or other dependant natures or who have willpower of 5 or less) will commit any act, including suicide or murder, for their beloved; other characters have certain core principles they will not violate.

A full blood bond once formed is nearly inviolable. Once bound a thrall is under the sway of her regnant and her regnant only. She cannot be bound again to another vampire unless the bond wears away 'naturally'. A vampire can experience lesser (one or two drink) bonds towards several subjects; indeed many kindred enjoy such bonds as they create artificial passion in their dead hearts. Upon the formation of a full bond, though, all lesser sejsations are wiped away. Vampire lovers occassionally enter into mutual blood bonds with eachother, this is the closest thing they can experience to true love. Even this sensation can turn to hate or disgust over the centuries, though, and in any case few kindred are trusting enough to initiate it.

A blood bond is a mighty force, but it is at its most potent when reinfoced with further drinks. Feeding a thrall often reinfoces the bond while depriving a thrall will cause the bond to grow tepid over time. As well, like any other relationship, treatment and courtesy play a part in the bond. A thrall who is treated well and fed often will likely fall even more deeply in love, while a thrall who is degraded and humiliated may find resentment and anger eating away at the bond.

It is possible, though difficult, for a thrall to temporarily resist a blood bond. Doing so requires the player to make a willpower roll (difficulty is typicall 8 but may be modified depending on the thralls nature and the regnants treatement) ajd accumilate a number of successes equal to the number of times the thrall has parteken of the regnants blood. The thrall must then spend a willpower point. Upon doing so the bond is negated for a variable amount of time: from one scene (if the thrall merely wishes to plot against the regnant, deliver information to an enemy, etc.) to one turn (if the thrall wishes to physically attack the regnant). The thrall can continue to spend willpower to extend the duration of 'freedom' but once she ceases to do so the bond resumes at full force.

A blood bond can be broken, though this requires the thrall to not only avoid the regnant entirely for an extended period of time but also to expend great amounts of willpower to overcome the 'addiction'. As a general rule a thrall who neither sees nor feeds from her regnant for a period of (12 minus willpower) months finds her bond reduced by one level. If the bond is reduced to zero in this fashion (a feat usually accompanied by expenditure of a great deal of willpower to resist the gnawing urge to seek out hte regnant) it is nullified entirely.

Another though somewhat less certain way to be rid of the bond is to kill the regnant. such a choice is extrememely perilous on many levels and makes no gaurantees that everything will go smoothly. Those who have been released by such means claim the bond shatters like spun glass upon the moment of hte regnants final death. The thralls nature may play a large part in whether the control is ever fully ended though and such aftermath is best left in the hands of the storyteller.

What a blood bond ISNT

1) A telepathic connection of any kind. Neither side of a bond has any connection to the other aside from what is described above.

2) A two way street. Vampires are not bound to their ghouls, when a ghoul dies, the vampire has no idea unless they see it. A ghoul would only feel the bond break, they might not know why.

3) Something that can be relinquished. A bond is an addiction, the regnant cant choose to end the bond and set a thrall free. That would be both counter intuitive and a stupid thing to do... Like heroin with an off switch.