Mages
Contents
Mages
Mages have a Tradition, Craft, Technocratic Group or Nephandic Focus. ( All called Tradition for ease of use.) This gives the mage a lower cost for one Sphere and access to specific Rotes of their tradition.
They also have an Avatar Aspect. The Avatar aspect lowers the exp cost of a single Sphere and associated Rotes. It can be the same or different from the tradition one. Avatar aspect lowers the cost of the sphere rote by 1 xp.
Traits
Wisdom: A Mage's supernatural potency is called their wisdom and it is equal to the sphere's they have mastered, each point of wisdom increases their max traits and willpower by 1. Advancing in wisdom requires a seeking, taken as a bluebook action completing the seeking is necessary to raise the willpower and trait cap from getting a sphere to level 3. The seeking is a spirit quest run by the mage's avatar/genius.
Arete: Mage's have a unique skill called arete, this is the skill used to cast magic and is the retest for most rotes. It's out of 5 and is refreshed with willpower.
Quintessence: Quintessence is a mage's energy source a diluted form of what spirits use to power the world. Mages maximum quintessence is equal to half the sum of their virtues + their prime score.
Trait table
| Wisdom(spheres mastered) | Max Traits | Max Will |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 12 | 10 |
| 1 | 13 | 10 |
| 2 | 14 | 11 |
| 3 | 15 | 12 |
| 4 | 16 | 13 |
| 5 | 17 | 14 |
Spheres
Mage's magick is divided up into 9 spheres that govern the laws of creation, these spheres are rated out of 3 and each level achieved grants the mage a passive benefit. When a mage achieves the 3rd level of a sphere they are considered a master of that type of magick and may be noted as such in certain rotes.
| Sphere | Passive Benefit |
|---|---|
| Correspondence | Steps |
| Entropy | Willpower |
| Forces | Health Levels |
| Life | Physical traits |
| Matter | Craft retests(all types, breaks the 5 limit for skills) |
| Mind | Mental Traits |
| Prime | Quintessence |
| Spirit | Social Traits |
| Time | Celerity ticks(ex: a master of time goes on celerity 3) |
Dynamic Magic
Dynamic Magic is mage's ability to bend the world to their will for size of effect. Fundamentally this is a craft check, the mage constructs a miracle shell that has a specific effect once unleashed onto the world. This can reach truly astronomical difficulties. Difficulty can be decreased by time, Making a science check, breaking a Wonder etc. The ST will set a difficulty based on the spheres they determine are required for the effect and the player will make the Arete Check when they feel they're ready. Failing the check will cause a paradox backlash equal to the initial diff. The bluebook action to craft a dynamic magic check is called Weaving and each action reduces the initial difficulty . Aside from these large miracle effects mages can make smaller edits to scenes. Players can only maintain 1 standing dynamic effect on their haven, city etc.
Craft Modifiers
| Method | difficulty Modifier |
|---|---|
| Spheres required for spell | (total spheres*5) |
| Spell effects multiple targets | *2 |
| Spell effects area larger than a block | *2 |
| Spell effects a city | *5 |
| Spell is Vulgar(ST discretion) | *2 |
| Bathed in dragonfire or other special material | -5 |
| Help from a spirit | -[Essence of spirit] |
| Science check | -2 per successful science check diff set by ST |
| Funnels energy from a node | - node rating |
| More time | -1 per action |
| Money | -1 per $100k (max 5) |
Example Dynamic spell I would like a spell that alerts me whenever a vampire enters my city, the spell's concept is fairly simple and the base spheres required are: entropy(1) and correspondence(3) for a total of diff 20, the spell can detect multiple targets so it doubles to 40, they want it to last forever, so it doubles again to 80, the spell effects a city so the spell multiplies a final time to diff 400. A group of 5 mages with 5 actions/month could complete this spell in 16 months. A smaller version to a building would take them 2 months.
Dynamic editing For large scale effects, the crafting difficulties are high, However Mages may declare small edits to a scene such as but not limited to, ( a door being unlocked, an alarm being sound, changing the appearance of their clothes, finding the keys to their own car, having the stoplight be green, etc. for the cost of a Q and a Will.( if they have the sphere that covers that thing) This is the simplest form of magic, and is akin to brute forcing your way through a problem. The ST is the final arbiter of what can be done with Dynamic Editing. You cannot dynamic edit your way out of a problem entirely, but you can dynamic edit your way to making the problem easier.
Paradox
Paradox is a mage's bane, a function of the consensus of ordinary people believing that magic does not exist and using their will to make it so. Paradox is gained when using magic around non awakened mages, or sleepers, regular humans, but not other supernaturals. Whenever you enter a scene you may ask the ST for a sleeper rating. The sleeper rating is the amount of paradox you will take plus whatever the rote you're using is should you be seen using magic. The sleeper rating is the average people walking on in and around the scene not the total. A sleeper rating of 0, might be in and abandoned building, a sleeper rating of 1 might indicate a neighborhood during the day, whereas a sleeper rating of 5 a small school, and 20 a busy street. So casting a spell with a paradox rating of +1 on a busy street will give you 21 paradox, most likely triggering an immediate backlash.
Paradox backlashes can occur at the ST's discretion whenever your total paradox is greater than 5 paradox points, your familiar can increase this threshold, soaking up some paradox for you. A paradox backlash is the world clapbacking you for using magic, below are some of the possible effects of paradox. The maximum paradox a mage can accumulate before a forced backlash is 26(21+ 5 from the familiar). If a mage ever accumulates 26 or more paradox the backlash occurs immediately.
Paradox leaves the sheet at a rate of 2/month if the paradox score is 5 or below. If you have accumulated more than 5 paradox in a game you must see a storyteller so your paradox can be recorded. Paradox above 6 bleeds off at a rate of 1/month.
Possible backlashes
- Make a quiet check
- Gain a permanent flaw
- A paradox spirit appears to whisk the mage away to a paradox realm or punish them. (paradox spirits are mostly unaffected by magick and can and will reduce the sphere of a mage who summoned them to 0 for an amount of time of its choosing, if it is not satisfied with the mage’s conduct at scene’s end)
- Take an amount of Aggravated damage equal to the paradox discharged/2.
- Gain a point of permanent paradox which does not bleed off for any reason.
Mage actions
New Action: Weave Spell: If you wish to use a long cast ability of one of your rotes it costs you an action and must be declared before the game and requires commitment of a single Quint for the game. Weave spell is also the action taken to weave and reduce the difficulty of dynamic magic.
Mages get 5 actions per month minus their quiet score(5-Quiet) and 1 free Weave Ritual action.
Mage backgrounds
Quiet
A mage’s form of frenzy comes in the onslaught of Quiet. There are three types of Quiet each resisted with a different virtue. A Quiet test can come as the result of a paradox backlash or for one of the triggers listed below. Failing any quiet test results in gaining a point of quiet and entering a quiet frenzy. Quiet tests are virtue challenges that start with 3 traits and increase for each point of quiet you gain to a maximum of 8. Gaining a 6th point of Quiet results in your mage becoming a marauder and becoming unplayable. Quiet points can be lost by meditating for a number of actions equal to your number of Quiet points*3, so losing the 1st point takes only 3 actions but losing the 5th point of Quiet takes 15 actions.
- Jhor: Whenever you use magic to kill a human, you must test against Jhor. Jhor is resisted with compassion. Nephandi are up 1 trait on Jhor tests.
- Jhor frenzy: You become incredibly cold and sadistic for the scene and ignore all forms of pain you inflict on yourself and others. While in Jhor frenzy you cannot heal for any reason for the rest of the night.
- Clarity: Whenever you first use magic to dominate another creature’s will or body you must test against Clarity. Clarity is resisted with conscience. Technocrats are up 1 trait on Clarity tests.
- Clarity Frenzy: When you enter Clarity frenzy you lose a single one of your bluebook actions this month which you spend creating an object of the weaver.
- Madness: The first time in a scene you fail a dynamic/basic/complex arete check you must test against Madness. Madness is resisted with self-control. Tradition and craft mages are up 1 trait on Madness tests.
- Madness Frenzy: When you Madness frenzy you cannot determine friend from foe and begin seeing illusions. For the rest of the scene when you make a targeted challenge you must make it against a person in the scene at random.
Quiet table
| Permanent quiet | Quiet test diff | Effect of failed Quiet check |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 3 | Gain a permanent Quiet point |
| 1 | 4 | Gain a permanent Quiet point |
| 2 | 5 | Gain a permanent Quiet point |
| 3 | 6 | Gain a permanent Quiet point |
| 4 | 7 | Gain a permanent Quiet point |
| 5 | 8 | Mage becomes a marauder lost to Quiet |
Mage Experience Table
| Thing | XP Cost |
|---|---|
| Background Dot | 3(Character creation only) |
| Virtue | 3xDesired Rating |
| Willpower | Desired Rating+1 |
| Ability | 2xDesired Rating |
| Attribute | 1-10 = 1 / 11-20 = 2 |
| Specialty | 1 |
| Sphere(focus/tradition/avatar) | 8*desired rating |
| Sphere(non-focus) | 12/20/28 the XP cost increase by 1 for each non-focus sphere a mage learns beyond the first. |
| Rote(in-focus) | 6 |
| Rote(Combo) | 8 |
| Rote(non-focus) | 10 |
| Rote(triplicate) | 14 |
