Mage: The Adaptation (Ascension Conversion)

7/31/2019 Mage: The Adaptation (Ascension Conversion)

1/22

MAGE: THE ADAPTATIONby Daniel Scribner

[email protected]

This document lays out one way in which the new World of Darkness rules (written for

Mage: the Awakening) can be used to play a campaign set in the old World of Darkness(i.e. Mage: the Ascension). Why not simply use the Awakening rules as-is? The greateststrength of the White Wolf system is the way in which the mechanics reflect the setting.It is not a universal or generic game. As such, I thought it best to make some alterationsto the new rules set, to better support the flavor of the original setting. I do a good dealbeyond simply changing the Paths and Orders to Traditions, and perhaps renaming acouple of things. At the same time, Ive adopted certain elements from the new rulesthat were never in the original game, because I think they enhance it.

First and foremost, it is important to note that this document is not objective. It reflectshow I would like the game of Mage to play. It should be fairly plain that I prefer theAscension setting, or else I wouldnt have wasted several perfectly good evenings of

boozing to write this. I also have particular ideas about what that setting was about,what its themes were, what its characters were like. This is not to say your idea of thegame, either Ascension or Awakening, is wrong. It is simply not mine. If you like theideas in this document, enjoy. If not, go write your own. Feel free to borrow or adaptfurther, so long as credit is given where credit is due.

Speaking of which, I used the following sources: Mage the Awakening. Kraig Blackwelder, Bill Bridges, Brian Campbell, et al.

White Wolf Publishing, 2005. Mage the Ascension, 2

ndEd. Phil Brucato, Stewart Wieck, et al. White Wolf

Publishing, 1995. Mage the Ascension, Revised. Rachel Barth, Dierd'ei Brooks, John Chambers, et

al. White Wolf Publishing, 2000.

The Book of Madness. Sam Inabinet, Kathleen Ryan, Steve Brown, et al. WhiteWolf Publishing, 1994.

Secondly, this is a work in progress. As stated above, feel free to borrow, adapt, change,etc. Give credit, and for chrissake, let me know. Maybe youve thought of something Idlike to incorporate myself. This document will continue to be play-tested, and updated ascertain rules fail to meet expectations. If youre in my game, that means that somethings will have to be adjudicated on the fly, and well do our best to tweak themechanics later.

Is it contradictory to say that I dont like the restricted paradigm of the Awakeningssetting, but like some of the more rigid structure of the mechanics? Yes, and youre

welcome to suck it if you like the flavor. Atlantis is stupid, but Mage the Ascension was adamned hard game to play. For every successful campaign, I had two unsuccessful ones,and Im a pretty good Storyteller. But patches on a frail mechanic, such as those in themyriad supplements, revisions and errata, arent going to stick. You have to start with afresh machine.

My point is clear, then. I am an ornery bastard and wish to play the game I wish to play,and you are going to read about it, because my prose style is lively and flowing withplucky wit. So what, you ask, is my Mage game? Onwards, the few proud gamers we.

THEMEMage has, at its core, two primary themes: belief and choice. On a macroscopic scale,

the entire game world is determined by belief. What you see when you step out yourdoor, by default, is the consensus of your neighbors, your countrymen, your fellows in


2/22

humanity. Unfortunately, when decisions are left to democracies of majority, you windup with the lowest common denominator, that dull vanilla which everyone can agreeupon. Its not very good, but at least no one is offended.

But you, as a Mage, have a choice. You can accept the majority rule, or you can reachfor what you believe could be. Because of that power to create change, a Mages life is a

delicate construct of choices and the consequences they bring. The average man on thestreet is so consumed by status quo, he is unable to recognize those moments ofdecision that allow him to control his environment. He couldnt even turn off thetelevision tonight, for a change, and go teach little Jimmie the value of compassion,because then hell miss the latest episode ofWho Wants to be a Drone and have nothingto say around the water cooler tomorrow, so hell miss that big promotion because hesnot social enough and little Jimmie will have to take massive loans to get throughcollege, which will beat him down into the same muddy hole of fiduciary servitude whereDaddy spent the last twenty years. Turning off that TV isnt an option.

Mages dont even hear the TV anymore. They have the power to shape their world justby willing it. That kind of power means choices to be made. Do you walk away from the

status quo, even if it means you may die sobbing in an alley while a Technocrats .44slug burrows into your heart? You can have any life you desire, but do you steal it orearn it? Do you destroy the oppressor, even though it cost the lives of some of thosevery Sleepers youre trying to liberate?

So, if every theme is defined by a conflict, we get: the beliefs of the many vs. the beliefof the one, and the filter that determines the outcome is choice.

SETTINGMagic is change. Nothing more, nothing less. When the Aztec warriors ate their fallenenemy and gained their power, thats change. When Galileo showed us the Earthrevolved around the sun, thats magic. When a novel brings awareness to the plight of

Darfur refugees and aid pours in from around the world, thats change. And when you goto a romantic movie and, swept up in the emotion of the moment, your date kisses you,thats most definitely magic. Hell, even your toaster making that unappetizing brick oficed glutin into a waffle is a kind of magic. Were just accustomed to calling it somethingelse, because it fits with the rules of reality as we understand them.

Reality is what you make of it. More accurately, it is the closest thing to what you andthe other 6 billion people on the planet can basically agree upon without the sidewalkturning into yellow custard and flinging itself into the eye of a fifty-story Jerry Lewis.That consensus is made up of lots and lots of predictable patterns, made up of the basicstuff of the cosmos. But you, as a Mage, are Awakened to the truth that those patterns,while predictable, are not immutable. You can move the patterns, change them, and if it

comes right down to it, you can break them. All it takes is for your will to be strongerthan the will of those other 6 billion people.

Of course, youre not alone. There are other mages out there, and they all have theirown ideas about how reality ought to work. And for fucks sake, theyre organized.Theyve formed groups that work together to bring about the paradigm they believe in.Youd better pick a program and get with it, or else theyre going to grind you to dust.Because maybe you hadnt heard, but theres a war going on, for the hearts and mindsand most importantly, beliefs of all the people. Whoever wins that, they can ruleunhindered, because theyve convinced the masses that reality plays by their rules. Andtherefore, it does.

Rumor has it, what we see and know today as modern reality is actually the paradigm ofone such group, or at least close enough that it has nearly shut out all the others.Theyve nearly won the war already, and you just started fighting. This group believes in


3/22

security, in stability, in everyone having the same amount of control over their lives (i.e.magic) as everyone else. They bring magic to the masses and the masses call ittechnology. Unfortunately, this Technocracy, to achieve their dreams, has sacrificedindependence and creativity. If youve read Harrison Bergeron, equality doesnt meanequal freedom for all, it means no freedom for anyone.

Now, I expect that anyone reading this document has already played Mage theAscension, or at least knows something about it. Im not as eloquent as the writers ofthat game, at least not insofar as I have the time and financial security necessary to bethat eloquent. Its 11pm and I have work tomorrow. This is just a rough summation incase I give this to a bunch of my own players who dont have any experience. So if youwant more, go read the books (See WARNING TO MY PLAYERS below).

ON PREVIOUS EDITIONSPersonally, I liked the original conceit of Ascension. Secret cabals of mages, both mysticand modern, acting from the shadows to exert subtle control over society in a worldmuch like our own. The second edition further honed the political play in the War ofAscension, but also pushed the arms race so far that it became hard to believe it didnt

spill into the Sleepers world. And every week was the latest Metaplot Crisis!TM withcross-over kung-fu grip! The Ascension War was such a broken story element, theRevised edition thought it necessary to just end the damned thing and force theTraditions into the role of shattered ex-Confederates instead of vibrant FrenchResistance. But Revised did return Mage to its roots, and introduce a street-levelelement that I thought essential from the very first edition: Mage is not about HorizonRealm firefights, but about reviving that spark of imagination in the common man, evenif its just your neighbor with the yappy dog.

I propose a middle ground. The War of Ascension bubbles away as ever it did, though itdoes not rage. Doissetep and the Ivory Tower are out there, somewhere, waving theirwitchy fingers and pulling the gossamer threads of their machinations. But the mages on

the ground, both Tradition and Technocrat, are worried about their town, their block,their doorstep. If they can navigate the ever-shifting politics and paradigms of theirfactions and make the world just a little more like they see it, without eating a bulletfrom the other side or getting eaten by Paradox, thats a good day.

WARNING TO MY PLAYERSWhile I rely heavily on the original books, as you may have guessed, I take what I likeand synthesize it with my own ideas. If youre reading this because youre in one of mygames (or considering it), feel free to read whatever supplements you like. They cangive you all kinds of ideas, a better feel for some pretty esoteric and/or exotic concepts.However, do not expect that I will use a particular mechanic or setting element, or thatsomething in my game will be the same as in the books. I will do whatever I think will

make for the best story for the most players. Besides, I am not a Mage omnibus. If thatmeans garlic kills vampires and MiB are not all hive-minded drones, well dont bitch tome about page XX in supplement YY. I probably havent even read it. If you want toknow something about the world, take the appropriate knowledge and say Hey, whatdoes my character know about such and such? Mystery and superstition are importantelements of a Mage game. If you run around treating everything like a set of statisticswith a cookie-cutter quote to explain its paradigm (I hate those quotes), youremissing half the fun.

If theres something you especially like from a book and want incorporated, let me know.I am all for player input in a chronicle. Hell, in my best chronicles, I sat back and let theplayers do all the work. The proper time for such conversations is sooner than later.During character creation if possible. It is not in the middle of a session, just after yourcharacter has been torn to shreds while you whine that you thought Forces 2 would letyou reverse the momentum on a hail of bullets. It is not at the end of a session while


4/22


5/22

The orders are replaced by the Traditions. Each Tradition is associated with onesphere. You get one additional Favored Sphere from your Tradition, and threeRote specialty skills. When using a rote that involves one of these skills, you getan additional die to the casting pool.

Tradition Sphere Skills

Askashic Brotherhood Mind Occult, Athletics, Brawl

Celestial Chorus Prime Academics, Expression, Persuasion

Cult of Ecstasy Time Empathy, Expression, Streetwise

Dreamspeakers Spirit Occult, Survival, Animal Ken

Euthanatos Entropy Stealth, Weaponry, Medicine

Order of Hermes Forces Academics, Occult, Politics

Sons of Ether Matter Academics, Crafts, Science

Verbena Life Medicine, Occult, Survival

Virtual Adepts Space Computers, Science, Investigation

Hollow Ones None* Occult, Socialize, Subterfuge

Orphans None* Any two

* Hollow Ones and orphans are special cases, as they dont belong to any of theformal Traditions. Neither have a Favored Sphere, however, they can achieve upto 4 ranks in any sphere without outside instruction (see below).

On choosing spheres: As with Mage the Awakenings Arcana, you have five dotsto spend on Spheres. Then add one dot in your Traditions favored Sphere.Hollow Ones and orphans can place the bonus dot in any sphere. No Sphere canstart at higher than your Avatar. Select an appropriate focus for each of yourSpheres (suggestions are made both for Traditions and Spheres, under Foci).

Avatar is a good nomenclatural adjustment for Gnosis. It refers not so much tothe strength of a Mages Avatar, but the extent to which it has Awakened to thetruth of dynamic reality. Mechanically, though, it operates much the same as

Gnosis, with the exception that no sphere can be higher than your Avatar score,and your Avatar score cannot be higher than your Willpower. Forget about thatcomplicated spehere advancement chart.

Step Six: There is no High Speech in Ascension, so you dont get a bonus merit.

Otherwise, use whats in the new World of Darkness core and Mage theAwakening.

Occultation should be applied to all mundane attempts to perceive, investigate orremember the Mage, in addition to magical forms of detection (to better matchthe description of Arcane in oMage).

As soul stones are not a regular aspect of Ascension, remove the Thrall merit.Feel free to adopt and adapt other merits, such as from the Book of Shadows,that are not covered in nWoD.

Step Seven:


6/22

Willpower is a key element to magic. Dont leave home without it. I like the idea of maintaining the morality scale for Mages. It will interact

mechanically with Paradox (particularly Quiet), and further represents thechoices mages have to make. Harmony is a more accurate name, to borrow fromIn Nomine, as it reflects how in or out of sync a mages personal paradigm iswith the rest of reality, whether or not he is maintaining an equilibrium. Too far

out, and it becomes difficult to interact with reality. The man at the counter asksyou if you want fries with that, and you cant help wondering what the bearwants with your tie. Communication breaks down rather rapidly after that. Ipropose maintaining the basic humanity scale as well, as is done in Awakenings,not because of any objective moral code, but because the acts in question (fromselfish thoughts down to mass murder) are anathema and thus contradictory tosocial consensus. The farther you sink into depravity, the harder it becomes torelate and empathize with people, and thus with reality itself.

Virtues and Vices are a nice variation on the old Nature/Demeanor mechanic.Theyre more directly involved in the actions your character takes. Nature wasgood for encouraging people to play in character, but if you think of Vice as theside of someone we see most often, and Virtue the true strength we rarely see,

its basically the same. If you dont like the Catholic overtones though (SevenDeadly Sins vs. the [somewhat modified] Seven Virtues), I recommend takingthe old Natures from Ascension and working out a positive and negative behaviorfor each (ex. Architect gets one Willpower when he is rigid, and all of it when hecreates some lasting positive order; Bon Vivant gets one Willpower when heirresponsibly lives in the moment, and all of it when he brings joy back to peoplewho had lost it, etc.)

It was an important element of Ascension that a mage collects minorinconsistencies and contradictions (i.e. paradox points) until he becomes, if notcareful, a living paradox, and reality has no choice but to fix the problem. WhileAwakenings certainly makes Paradox more manageable for the storyteller, youlose a lot of the unpredictability. More on the compromise below, but for now,suffice to say we are reinstating the 20-square wheel. You record quintessenceclockwise, and paradox counter-clockwise. If they meet, paradox trumps andwipes out quintessence. Then again, if youve managed to collect that muchparadox, you have bigger problems.

AVATARYour avatar is the pure stuff of the cosmos, the power rippling through your little knot inthe great pattern. Everyone has one, though for most it is infinitesimal. CelestialChoristers speak of the Pure Ones, the original energy beings who formed the cosmosout of themselves, and believe that avatars are shards of those entities. The rareindividual has an avatar strong enough to awaken, granting the individual untold powerto reshape the patterns around him.

Most often, Avatars only show themselves through soft, barely-noticed whispers andflashes. A mage's Avatar might sound like a reasonable voice in the back of her head, orcome across as a sudden urge to do something. Rarely, strong Avatars will actuallymanifest, creating a material form and then dealing with the mage directly.

Avatars typically have one of four basic characteristic Essences: Dynamic: The Dynamic Essence pushes a mage in new directions constantly,

unable to settle and simply interested in the raw creation of new ideas,experiences and horizons. Though powerfully unpredictable and often moving"outside the box", the Dynamic Essence also finds it difficult to focus on a singletask or goal.

Pattern: The Pattern essence cements magic into reality, gives shape to the

poorly executed and repairs the flawed. Instead of seeking new and dynamic


7/22

means of change, Pattern Essences stabilize existing elements or methodicallybuild on solid foundations.

Primordial: All things came from a great morass of unformed creation at thebirth of the universe, be it the emptiness before a divinely inspired genesis orswirling chaos before a big bang. The universe will return to such a stateultimately. Primordial Essences reflect the raw elements of such creation and

destruction. Such mages are driven by deep and overwhelming emotional urgesor needs, but they also seem to experience the heights of grand passion morepowerfully than anyone else.

Questing: The Questing Essence seeks knowledge and new frontiers withpurpose and with a final goal in mind. Mages with this drive find themselvesconsumed by the need for a journey, the need to be in motion with a goal toachieve. These Essences seek a union of the other elements, and they strive tofind a wholesome balance by treading the roads that lead between otherEssences' paths.

Avatars most often appear in Seekings. Seekings are journeys of personal explorationthat mages follow in their own minds, in order to further awaken their avatars (i.e. raise

their Avatar score) and tap into their potential. They can be harrowing, sometimes evenlethal ordeals.Avatar is the power stat of Mage. It determines a million and one things: max rank in astat (without suffering pattern bleed), max quint storage, max quint per turn you canspend, how long each extended casting roll takes, your base paradox backlash pool, thenumber of spells you can combine in a single casting, and so on. Use the following chartsto track this:

AvatarAttribute/Skill Max

MaxQuint/MaxQuint

Per Turn

ParadoxDicePool

Time perroll(extendedcasting)

MaxCombinedSpells

1 5 5/1 1 3 hours 1

2 5 6/2 1 3 hours 1

3 5 7/3 2 1 hour 2

4 5 8/4 2 1 hour 2

5 5 10/5 3 30 minutes 2

6 6 15/6 3 30 minutes 3

7 7 20/7 4 10 minutes 3

8 8 30/8 4 10 minutes 3

9 9 40/9 5 1 minute 4

10 10 50/10 6 1 minute 4

In addition, your Avatar rating has the following effects:


8/22

A mage can maintain up to Avatar + 3 magical effects simultaneously. Avatar is typically added to contested rolls to resist magical effects (but not

subtracted in the case of passive resistance). Your pattern can only tolerate a number of magical effects upon it equal to

Avatar + Stamina. Effects in excess of your Spell Tolerance cause pattern bleed(see pattern bleed under "Paradox").

WILLPOWERWillpower behaves as per the new World of Darkness rules. It can be used to gain +3 toone action roll, or +2 to a resistance roll (including magical effects). In addition:

A point of willpower can be spent to stave off the effects of a paradox effect untilthe end of a scene. Doing so means that all paradox accrued during the scene,after the willpower is spent, goes off together in one large backlash.

If the mage spends a willpower point and makes a successful Resolve +Composure roll, he can banish goblins and any hallucinations created by Quietfor one scene. If the willpower roll fails, the point is still spent but the Quietremains.

You cannot raise your Avatar higher than your permanent willpower. If for some

reason your willpower drops below your Avatar, then you treat your avatar asequal to your willpower until you raise it back up.

You can spend a point of willpower to cast a spell without a required focus (see"Foci"), though at a -3 penalty.

You can spend a willpower point to continue an extended casting despite abotch, though at a -1 penalty to all subsequent rolls. If you botch a secondtime, you be boned.

It costs one permanent willpower point to relinquish a permanent spell (i.e. it nolonger counts against the number of spells you can support simultaneously).This is frequently done in the creation of talismans. Many mages havediscovered ways to avoid this sacrifice (spending tons of quintessence is ratherpopular).

QUINTESSENCEA mage can only channel so much quintessence in a single round, up to his avatarrating. Quintessence must be spent for any of the following:

Sympathetic Casting: A point of quintessence is required to affect patternsbeyond sensory range (per Sympathetic casting rules).

Aggravated Damage: Magical damage directly affects a targets pattern,permanently damaging it and thus making it much more difficult to heal. Suchpower must be fueled by a point of Quintessence.

Power: Certain effects that significantly alter the patterns of the cosmos, createsomething from nothing, or are permanent require Quintessence to fuel themagic. To some extent, this is done for game balance. Powers that would upset

the system if cast repeatedly in a scene frequently have a mana cost. Countermagic: It costs one point of quintessence to unweave an incoming or

preexisting effect. Activation: Some talismans require quintessence to activate them, or to recharge

them after a certain number of uses. Similarly, certain magical creatures andspirits must feed on quintessence to survive in consensual reality.

If a spell requires a point of mana to cast (power), and you only have an Avatar of 2,you could not cast it both sympathetically and for aggravated damage, because you canonly spend two quintessence a round. In addition, quintessence can be spent for any ofthe following benefits.

Paradox Mitigation: Each point of Quintessence spent reduces accumulatedparadox by one. Backlash cannot be mitigated with quintessence. Certain Primeeffects also use quintessence to combat Paradox.


9/22

Pattern Restoration: Mages can spend three points of quintessence to heal onepoint of lethal or bashing damage.

Advanced Factors: For spells that have a variable area of effect or duration,quintessence can be used to extend their reach beyond what the mage isnormally capable of performing. While this does not grant bonuses, it cansignificantly reduce penalties or increase factors exponentially. The use of

advanced factors also require that the mage have one rank higher than isnormally necessary to cast a spell (see the Casting section).

If you haven't yet used all your quint for the round and you want even morepower, you can spend quintessence for bonus dice to casting, one die per point.If the resonance is appropriate to the effect being used, it increases the powereven further (see Resonance).

There are numerous ways in which mages gain and store quintessence: A mage stores quintessence in his own pattern, up to an amount determined by

his avatar rating. This personal store can be recharged by meditating at a node (see Awakenings,

oblation), or drawn from a node using Prime 1 (faster than meditating).

Mages can scour their own pattern (the opposite of pattern restoration), orcommit blood sacrifices, as described in Awakenings.

Quintessence can be stored and carried in physical form, called Tass, and indigestible form can replenish the mages personal store.

Mages with Prime 5 can pull Quintessence right out of the air, though this is avulgar effect.

Mages with Prime 2 can use Tass, in addition to their personal stores (unless theTass is edible, in which case anyone can use it). Prime 3 is required to createTass, unless it is found occurring naturally at a Node.

HARMONYEverytime you change your personal reality, it sets you apart from the world the

Sleepers have created for themselves. And whenever you use magic, the magic changesyou. As mages slip farther away from the consensus around them, they lose equilibrium.This is not a measure of right and wrong, but one of correspondence. It becomesimpossible to interact with the mundane world when you are so steeped in fantasy.Because reality is generated by the beliefs of people, interference with people creates adirect discord with reality. Use the following hierarchy of sins for determining whatconstitutes an act of Discord.

Harmony Acts of DiscordActs of Depravity(social discord)

Roll

10Performing mundane acts with magic(boiling tea with Forces when youre next

to a stove)

Selfish thoughts 5 dice

9Using magic for petty self-improvement(cheating at a casino with Entropy)

Minor selfish act(withholding charity)

5 dice

8Temporarily altering another sentient(giving someone a cold, changingsomeones mind)

Injury to another(intentional or not)

4 dice

7

Using magic to alter another sentientsbeliefs (make someone lose humanity,forcibly binding someone to a task or

place)

Petty theft (shoplifting) 4 die


10/22

6Using magic to harm another sentient(non-aggravated Life damage, laying acurse)

Grand theft (burglary) 3 dice

5

Permanently altering another sentients

pattern (turning a man into a pig)

Intentional mass

property damage(arson)

3 dice

4Causing permanent damage to anothersentients pattern (draining Avatar,causing direct Entropy damage)

Impassioned crime(manslaughter)

3 dice

3 Killing another sentient with magicPlanned crime(murder)

2 dice

2 Preventing an avatar from awakeningCallous/Casual crime(serial murder)

2 dice

1 Destroying an avatarHeinous crime (massmurder)

2 dice

In addition, your Harmony score plays a part in the severity and duration of Paradoxeffects and Quiet. In some cases, a mage may roll his Harmony pool to mitigate theeffects of paradox. A mage that goes a week without incurring any paradox bleeds off anumber of paradox points equal to successes rolled on his Harmony pool (rightmostcolumn above). Harmony also affects his ability to interact with the mundane world.Mages with a 9 or 10 Harmony get a bonus die on social and perception rolls involvingthe mundane world, while mages with lower than 5 Harmony lose a die. Mages with only1 or 2 Harmony lose two dice.

Alternate Rules:Rather than having certain actions risk degeneration and derangement, when a mageattempts to commit an action that violates his level of Harmony, he must make a flinchroll using the dice pool in the right column, plus or minus any dice the Storyteller deemsappropriate. Success means he may take the action as normal, while failure means thatthe character flinches. He cannot bring himself to do something so heinous, and heloses his action. In cases of extreme determination, the character may choose toautomatically lose a dot of Harmony in order to automatically succeed in the flinch rule.In circumstances where an action leads unexpectedly to a result that would violate themage's level of Harmony, roll for degeneration as per Awakening rules.


11/22

MAGICCreating magical effects follows the basic rules of Mage: the Awakening, but with severalsignificant differences. Since magical effects can get really complicated, I'm going to layit out fresh, including all available permutations, rather than try to parse out what I'vechanged from Awakenings and what I haven't.

"Improvised casting (or fast-casting, as it was called in Ascension) becomes a far moreimportant tool in the mages arsenal, and rotes less so. Improvised casting no longercosts a point of quintessence unless the effect is particularly powerful (see Quintessence,above). The dice pool for this is your Avatar + Sphere ranks.Finally, Paradox is an ever-present threat (see Paradox, below). All magic using morethan the first rank of a sphere carries the possibility of dramatic failure: if you should rolla 1 and no successes, then youve botched it and incur Paradox.We'll be following the Mage 2nd ed. sphere rankings. When possible, I will use thevarious rotes and spells in Awakenings to determine the mechanics of effects, but therank they are given in Awakenings will shuffle in our game to match Ascension's ranks.

ROTES

Rotes are not nearly so powerful or prevalent in Ascension as they are in Awakening.Hell, the whole game is based on being creative and improvising. Rotes are like throwingphysics textbooks when you could be lobbing Molotov cocktails. You still use Avatar +Sphere, but you add one appropriate skill (or attribute). Common skills involved areAcademics, Medicine, Occult, Investigation (for sensory magic), Athletics, social skills forMind rotes. The technomancers rely heavily on Science, Craft and Computers, whilenaturalistic mages use Survival and Animal Ken to work with the flora and fauna.Also,they get a slight bonus in mitigating Paradox. Basically put, rotes are boring, limited butsafer than improvised magic.You get six points worth of rotes at the beginning of the game. Any effect, really, couldbe a rote, so long as some ritual, routine or formula accompanies it. It represents aneffect that your mage has learned and practiced until it is memorized. Feel free to sift

through the sample rotes in Mage: the Ascension books, or even Mage: the Awakening.Keep in mind that the rote should reflect your characters paradigm, and may well usewhatever foci the mage is comfortable with. However, this should not be treated as alimitation. Nearly any effect can be achieved with any style of ritual.

INSTANT vs. EXTENDED CASTINGYou can cast magic either as a single, normal action (taking about six seconds), or as anextended ritual (not to be confused with a rote, though rotes can be cast as extendedrituals). Extended casting works just like any extended action, where you can roll asmany times as you have dice in your pool. Each roll represents an amount of timedetermined by your Avatar (see Avatar). Instant casting has the benefit of a variableprimary factor (see factors, below), while all factors are set at the beginning of an

extended casting, and cannot be altered once the casting begins (unless the casterspends a willpower point, in which case he can choose to lower the factors/requiredsuccesses before completion, or keep the spell going for more successes even after therequired number are reached). Also, extended castings depend more heavily on foci andritual activity. Some physical thing (called a "sacrament") must be expended in theritual (not necessarily a focus), or else all rolls suffer -1 die.You can't cast direct attack spells at a living target with an extended casting. Livingpatterns are in a natural state of constant change and cannot be targeted over anextended period of time. (That's the metaphysical explanation. To be frank, it's reallyan issue of game balance. It'd be too easy, otherwise, to crank up a 40 success Rip theMan Body rote).

FOCIEvery young mage needs a focus for their will. It's something for them to believe inwhen the idea that just willing a change in reality is just a bit too ludicrous to believe in.


12/22

Some would call that a crutch, or training wheels. But everyone needs them to start,and they shape the style of a mage's magic long after the tools are no longer necessary.Whenever you learn a new sphere (including at character creation), select a focus. Itshould be a physical object or activity of some kind. You must use this focus whencreating a magical effect with that sphere. You can use the same focus for more thanone sphere, though this bears some drawbacks (if you are without a focus, then that's

more spheres you cannot access). Most mage's foci are influenced by their Tradition,but regardless, there should be some thematic consistency to their various tools.If you find yourself without a focus, you can try to improvise out of whatever comes tohand. This imposes a -1 or more dice penalty to the magical roll. If you are completelywithout any foci and there's nothing to improvise with, you can still cast by digging deepdown and spending a willpower point. This will still impose a -3 penalty to your roll.Some mages use more rarefied tools, which increases their power (though at the risk ofmaking it harder to replace). A devoted focus that must be prepared in some ritual wayprior to use grants a +1 bonus to casting. It's easier to believe that you can banishdemons with specially blessed holy water from the Vatican than with any old bottle ofEvian.A few mages actually have a unique focus, a one of a kind object of personal

significance. Your grandmother's ring, a legendary sword, or your prototypeHyperKinetoDynaGizmo Plus with red chromium detailing would all suffice. These granta +2 bonus to casting, but if they are ever irreplacably lost, you must relearn the spherewith a new focus (at half xp cost).As your experience and enlightenment increases, you surpass the need for foci. Startingat a Avatar 4, you select one sphere for which you don't need to use a focus (you discardtwo at ranks 9 and 10 each, so that by Avatar 10 you need no foci). Casting with a focusyou don't need to use grants you a +1 bonus die (regardless of the kind of focus), kindof like an old security blanket.Technomancers (Technocrats, Sons of Ether, Virtual Adepts, and the occasional othermage) have a much easier time of things in the modern paradigm, and thanks in part tothe foci they use, their magic is much more easily accepted as coincidental. Thedrawback is that technomancers tend to be much more dependent on their toys. Theycannot spend a point of willpower to cast magic without foci, and they surpass foci at alater point (though once they break their need for gizmos, they progress very rapidly).At each rank of Avatar starting at 6, technomancers discard two foci.

FACTORSEvery effect has a number of factors: potency, number of targets or area of effect andduration. These factors determine the base penalties to your magic die roll (for instantcasting) or the number of successes required for the spell to succeed (for extendedcasting). With instant casting, all but one factor is set in advance, determining thepenalty to the roll. The primary factor (usually potency) is variable depending on thenumber of successes you roll. With extended castings, all factors are set in advance,and the spell goes off as soon as all required successes are rolled, or if not enough arerolled by the end of the extended casting, then the spell fails entirely.PotencyHow strong the spell is, basically. For incremental effect spells, this determines theamount of damage inflicted or healed, how many actions are blessed, etc. It alsodetermines how hard the spell is to resist in contested rolls, or how hard they are tocounter or dispel with prime magic. Spells that are largely an "on or off" effect that arenot resisted (ex. using forces to flick a switch) require only one potency to be successful.Number of TargetsFairly self-explanatory, generally refers to human or human-sized targets. If you areenchanting rats, for instance, each success would probably increase the number of ratsby some larger factor than one-to-one.

Area of Effect

Used instead of number of targets when the effects are not targeting discrete objects orcreatures. In some cases, spells that would normally target a number of people can be


13/22

converted to an area of effect spell (i.e. put everyone in the room to sleep instead of puteight people to sleep), though the Storyteller may treat this as an application ofadvanced factors (see Advanced Factors)DurationMost spells have one of four duration categories: instant/lasting (the spell's effects occurin a moment and then are finished, and whatever natural results follow last without the

need of magic to support them. Most attack and healing spells count as such),concentration (the spell lasts for as long as the mage concentrates on it), transitory(duration is measured in turns), prolonged (duration is measured in scenes, hours, days,months, etc). With advanced prolonged duration, spells can be made permanent.However, they will count against the maximum number of spells a mage can maintainuntil he relinquishes (with a point of willpower, copious amounts of quintessence, etc).

ADVANCED FACTORSIf you expend a point of quintessence, and have one rank higher than is normallynecessary to cast a magical effect, you can employ advanced factors for either area ofeffect or duration (or both, for two points of quintessence). Space 3 or Time 3 allows amage to do so without needing to have one rank higher than normal in the primary

sphere. These advanced factors increase power exponentially, so it can allow the mageto either significantly reduce his penalties, or to reach a scope otherwise outside hiscapability. Generally, only spells that are normally of prolonged duration can be bumpedto advanced duration, but at the Storyteller's whim, a spell of transitory could bebumped to prolonged, or concentration to transitory.In some cases, sphere ranks define the scope of your power (ex. the difference betweenForces 2 and Forces 4, Controlling minor vs. major foces). Using advanced factors willnot allow you to get around this. This is just one of those places where the transitionfrom Ascension to Awakenings gets a little clunky.

RANGEMost spells are cast at sensory range. If you can see it, you can affect it. You can also

target things you can perceive otherwise, though there may be penalties (see nWoD corebook on targeting things by sound, smell, etc). A few spells require you to touch thetarget (though most of these allow you to cast at sensory range if you have a higherrank than is necessary to cast the spell normally). This is largely for game balance.Some spells are cast as aimed spells, usually when something concrete is launched atthe target (see Aimed Spells). Otherwise, to affect something you cannot perceiverequires sympathetic magic (see Sympathetic Magic).

SYMPATHETIC MAGICIf you want to affect something you cannot immediately perceive with your own physicalsenses requires the application of a Space 2 effect, and costs a point of quintessence. Ifyou are directly affecting a distant pattern, then you also need one rank higher than

normal to cast the spell. Penalties are applied dependent on how familiar you are withthe target (it is a penalty to the dice pool regardless of whether casting instantly orextended). Targets with the Occultation or Fame merits apply these as further penaltiesagainst the casting dice pool. Targets that perceive the sympathetic connection maycast back through it even if they don't have Space 2. While sympathetic casting is notalways vulgar, it is much more likely to generate a paradox.Casting forwards or backwards in time works the same way, except it requires Time 2,instead of Space. To cast over the gauntlet requires Spirit, and the penalties aredependent on the localized strength of the Gauntlet.

COMBINED CASTINGNormally, you can only cast one effect at a time. You are also limited in the number of

ongoing effects you can sustain at once, and how many effects your pattern canwithstand before suffering pattern bleed. What counts as one "effect" is a bit hard to


14/22

define precisely, but typically should amount to achieving one goal, making onesignificant change in reality (even if that should have numerous results), or causing onegame mechanic effect (particularly in combat). However, at more advanced Avatarranks, you can combine effects (see Avatar) into a single casting.There are a lot of benefits to this, but it's exceedingly difficult. You must have onehigher rank than normal in the primary sphere for each effect, and it imposes a -2

penalty/spell beyond the first to the total dice pool. You only roll one dice pool (thelower of the two), affected by penalties for all the spells, and divide successes amongstthe castings as you wish.Also, there must be at least some logical reason for two effects to go together. Youcould not simultaneously turn into fire and make a car turn into a Beatles song. Youcould, however, simultaneously grow a thick scaly hide and regrow a limb like analligator (armor + regeneration spells).

GROUP CASTINGBig groups of black-robed women chanting in a circle is a time-honored magicaltradition. This is for good reason. The more mages you have that believe in something,the more powerful the effect becomes. Also, chanting black-robed women are hot. At

least one mage, the leader, must be fully capable of casting the effect by themselves.Each mage with at least 1 rank in all the spheres used in the effect contribute one bonusdie to the leader's casting pool. Those participants besides the leader who are fullycapable of casting the effect do not add one to the leader's pool, but rather roll their owndice pool and add their successes to the total. However, if any one participant botches,it ruins the whole effect (and dont't ask me about the paradox). In addition, there mustbe some previously agreed upon ritual that all participating mages understand and canwork with their paradigm (does not need to be a rote). So instant group castings arenot possible, only extended. This is not to say that a technomancer cannot perform agroup casting with a Wiccan, but they must have figured out some way to shareparadigm elements for the purposes of this ritual (spread blood on the keyboard,perhaps).

Sleepers who believe in the paradigm of the ritual can also contribute power if theyparticipate. This is why so many mages form cults. Arguably, the Technocracy hasmade one big science cult of the masses. However, I'm not going to get into how toadjudicate that here.

COUNTERMAGICAs the equivalent of a dodge action (i.e. you can either spend your action if you haven'tgone yet, or spend your next turn's action if you have), you can try to counter magic asanother mage is casting. Countermagic costs a point of quintessence, as you reinforceyour version of reality with a little juice. This requires at least one dot in one of thespheres being used in the attack, or at least two ranks in Prime. The mage rolls Avatar +Sphere. Each success on a countermagic roll reduces the incoming effects potency by

one die. You can also undo preexisting, ongoing effects in the same fashion.Should the countering mage roll more successes than the spell's potency, and he has atleast Prime 2, he can reflect the spell back on the attacker, with each success above theattacker's roll adding to the potency.Some effects grant natural magic immunity. This simply penalizes the dice pool of anycaster targeting the protected target, and costs no quintessence outside of whatevercost there was in casting the initial effect.

MAGIC IN COMBATMagic is hard to adjudicate in the best of circumstances. In combat, where there's a lotmore mechanics flying around than normal, and rulings can have especially serious(read: organ rearranging) implications for characters, it's good to have some ground

rules. These are suggestions, really, and as much for game balance and speed of playas anything else.


15/22

ActionsOne of the most popular uses of magic is to grant yourself multiple actions. oWoD gavemost supersplats a way to get multiple attacks in combat, and while things got prettysilly at the extreme end of combat monkey character builds, at least every had an equalopportunity to go that route. nWoD has made it very clear that multiple attacks quicklyunbalance things, and should be considered the holy grail of super powers. Personally, I

lean towards nWoD on this one. Getting multiple actions, particularly multiple attacks,requires very high magics and comes with some drawbacks. Under no circumstances, nomatter how much you beg, no matter how much you plead, will you everget more thanone magical casting in a round. And if you cast, that's pretty much all you can dobesides run around in circles a little bit.

Aimed SpellsSome spells launch a physical, concrete effect at a target, rather than affecting thetarget's pattern directly. Forces attacks are the most common. The dice pool of thecaster starts off the same, but penalties are determined in the same way you would aranged attack (i.e. distance to target, cover, armor and perhaps defense would grantpenalties, but not a resistance or power stat). Range increments are equal to yourAvatar x 10 yards. Failed aimed spells still go off but strike some logical nearby piece of

scenery (a parked car, a wall, a mailbox, a Sleeper). In fact, StoryTellers areencouraged, if an aimed spell misses, to have the caster roll the dice that weresubtracted for defense, armor and cover and include that in the potency whenconsidering the collateral damage of the spell.ResistanceSpells are resisted either actively (contested roll of power stat + resistance stat, spend awillpower for +3) or passively (subtract resistance stat from caster's dice pool, spend awillpower for -2 more dice). The rule of thumb is that if the effect is graduated (like anattack spell, where each point in potency is a point of damage done), the resistance ispassive. If the effect only needs one potency to have effect, i.e. it is either "on" or "off,"such as mind control, then it is contested. In rare instances where a graduated spell hasespecially severe effects with even a few successes, then it might be treated ascontested.DamageWhile most spheres can be used to hurt people in some fashion, some are better at itthan others. The most common attack spheres are Life, Mind, Forces and Entropy. Life3 does lethal damage, while Forces does lethal or bashing damage depending on thesource (you generally need to include Prime to create an energy attack out of nothing),starting at 2. Mind always does bashing damage, and Entropy causes no damage toliving targets until rank 4, but that is lethal. If an attack does lethal damage, you canspend a point of quintessence to make it aggravated. Aggravated damage is alwaysvulgar. Forces magic does extra damage if the damage is determined by the potency ofthe spell, in the same way that firearms do in the variant firearms rules we're using.The bonus damage to a successful attack is equal to the caster's rank in Forces.Causing or healing aggravated damage is always vulgar, and costs a point of

quintessence, but requires nothing further than you would normally need to cast thespell.Touch RangeAs mentioned under extended casting, living patterns (particular human ones), arecomplex, ever-shifting targets, and therefore pretty hard to pin down. Some of themore debilitating offensive magics used against them often have to be performed bytouch, so that the casting mage can "get a grip" on the pattern, as it were. To do this,you must first succeed in grappling a target, and then on the next round you can castthe spell. Generally, if you have one rank higher than is normally necessary to cast atouch range spell, you can cast it at sensory range (or sympathetic, if you also haveSpace 2). The spells that lower attributes are the most common touch range attackspells. Also as mentioned under extended casting, all this is actually for game balance

reasons.DurationSpells that normally have a duration of minutes, a scene or hours normally may see their


16/22

duration reduced dramatically in the volatile combat environment. Similarly, some spellslast longer on Sleepers than they do on other Awakened mages. Again, this is purely abalance thing, to keep whoever wins initiative from steam-rolling everyone else. Also,spells that last as long as a mage concentrates may require composure rolls to maintinthem in the midst of combat. That's just common sense.

Armor

Pretty much every sphere gives you some form of protection at rank 2. Most of themgrant armor. Depending on the effect, this armor may stack with mundane armor. Itwill not ever stack with other magical armor (i.e. a forcefield on top of scaly hide will usethe higher of the two armor ratings, not both). You can choose to either protect yourselffrom physical attacks orfortify your pattern against certain magics with a single effect,not both. You can cast a life spell to make yourself healthier (i.e. resist offensive Lifemagics) or make your skin tougher (i.e. grant yourself armor). Doing both requireseither two spells or a combined effect. Forces armor may grant you both armor andsome protection from a particular energy (including Forces magic using that energy),depending on what form your armor takes. Of course, turning yourself into living fire isonly one effect that grants a host of benefits, but that's much more advanced.Buffs and de-buffs

A guideline to most spells that increase or reduce stats is that they apply to only onestat at a time, and cannot raise or lower it more dots than your rank in the sphere. Ifyou have a higher rank in the sphere than is necessary to cast the spell, you can affectmore than one appropriate stat in one casting, and no single stat can be raised orlowered more than your rank in the sphere. You cannot stack effects on a single stat,i.e. you cannot lower a person's Intelligence by 3 dots, then by another 2 dots for a totalof -5. The more powerful of the two castings would be used. Generally, whatever rankyou would use to buff yourself, you need one rank higher to buff or debuff others.Dice pool enhancersThis is just a house-rule: Effects that increase a dice pool by some means other thanimproving your stats (i.e. give you bonuses to a die roll, or make it 9-again or 8-again orrote), cannot be applied to magic. Magic is an effort of will, so luck is not a factor. Theonly ways to improve your odds on a magic roll are with willpower or quintessence.

RESONANCEAs stated above, change is reciprocal. Resonance was an oft discussed theme inAscension, but a largely ignored mechanic. I think its a critical idea, and one of thegreatest failings of Mage was its inability to implement the concept. The Verbena spokeof the Rule of Three in magic: Everything a man has wrought returns upon himthreefold. This extends beyond the notion of Paradox as the conscience of consensualreality. In real life, violence begets violence, joy begets joy, and so forth. Intense actsare invested with emotion, and the emotion lingers in the form of Resonance. ThatResonance colors the people, places and things that have it. You hold the door forsomebody, and they may pick up enough of that charitable resonance to hold the doorfor somebody else. How many times has someone said that a church resonates withpeace, such that all who enter feel suddenly calmer, or at least they know to keep theirvoices down. This applies especially to the dynamic forces of magic.

When you take two tuning forks and strike one, the vibrations it emits will set off theother one as well. Two frequencies of the same wavelength will boost each othersamplitudes, while opposing wavelengths will cancel each other out. So do resonances inmagic feed off each other. A mage casting a calming effect in the aforementioned churchfinds the power of his magic boosted. He would find it harder than usual, though, to tryevoke some kind of chaotic change.

Resonance is divided into three broad categories: Static, Dynamic, Entropic. Theyrepresent the three phases of the cosmos, and correspond with the Essences (Pattern,

Dynamic and Primordial, respectively with Questing as a kind of middle-ground). Whileany given location, item or creature could have a resonance, all magical patterns have a


17/22

resonance: nodes, tass, talismans, spirits, even mages. Quintessence will have thesame resonance as the node it came from, unless it is stored in the mage's own avatar(limited by his Avatar rating), in which case it takes on his resonance. Tass takes onresonance appropriate to it's form, and quintessence taken from a source other than anode will take on resonance appropriate either to the source, or the method in which itwas taken.

Resonance is rated like any other trait, but instead of a specialty, it is colored by aparticular emotion. Below is a chart of the emotional foci and which of the threecategories of resonance it falls under, as well as the common oppositions. The italicizeddescriptors at the top of each column are too general to be taken as resonance traits,but are good cues for determining the category other traits might fall into. This chartshould be pretty comprehensive, but hardly exhaustive:

Entropic Dynamic Static

Creation/DestructionGrowth/DecayJoy/GriefPride/Ego/ShameLove/Desire/Hate

ChaosAnger/Passion/InsanityFear/DoubtCuriosity/DiscontentFreedom/Independence

OrderCalm/RestraintCourage/CertaintyBoredom/SafetyOppression/Obligation

The Entropic column may seem to cover two poles, but when you consider the cosmos asa cycle, existence and absence are inseparable. Primordial resonance (and essences)represents fundamental, uncomplex forces. It is possible to associate Jhor with the mostnegative of the Primordial traits, as all things must at least briefly touch death to cyclearound again to birth. However, for my purposes Jhor serves a more specificmetaphysical role (see below).

Resonance and MagicThe higher a trait rating, the more prevalent a resonance trait becomes in a mages

magic. The effects of a mage with the fear resonance will manifest with frightening visualimagery, or may make anyone nearby feel ill at ease. This is more of a flavor than amechanical ruling, but at the Storytellers option, he could roll the resonance trait onvulgar magical effects. The number of successes indicates the intensity of theresonances manifestation, which projects that emotion onto everyone around theeffect. Those present who have a particular desire to resist must contest that roll withComposure + Avatar + Opposing Resonance trait (if any) - Matching Resonance trait (ifany).

More significantly, resonance will amplify corresponding magical effects, and mufflediscordant effects. Whenever a mage works his will in such a fashion as to reflect a theresonance of the environment, the target or any quintessence spent in the casting (if acaster is pulling from his own Avatar's quintessence store, he uses his own strongest

resonance trait), 9s become exploding as well as 0s. In especially synchronous cases,the Storyteller may opt to give you 8-again. However, if there is a resonance at workthat directly opposes the emotional intent of the effect, then you lose the 10-again ruleon your roll as the magic is dampened. In extreme cases, the Storyteller may decidethat any 1s rolled negate successes. Not only does this reduce the likelihood of success,but it can dramatically increase the likelihood of incurring paradox.

If there is both a complementary and an opposing resonance type at work, compare thestrength of each and apply whichever has more dots (ex. A mage with a Patternresonance trait uses his own quintessence to fortify the physical structure of his armor ina carnival funhouse with Dynamic resonance).

Other Effects of Resonance


18/22

At very high ratings (4 or 5) the trait will manifest in everything the mage doesand even his very appearance. A mage riddled with grief resonance will spreadthat sadness in everyone he crosses. Such mages subtract one die from socialrolls (even an overwhelming resonance of love is going to put off most people),unless the emotion in question would actually benefit the mages goal, in whichcase a die is added (a resonance of fear will help in intimidation). It is also

possible that the targets circumstances or nature would not be much affected bythe resonance, in which case no dice are added or subtracted, but this should bea fairly significant variation from the norm (an undertaker is less likely to noticea mages Jhor taint).

Most tass (physical quintessence) will carry one point of the same resonance asthe node or mage that created it, and can thus aid or hinder castings.

If a talismans resonance matches that of the wielder, then apply 9-again toactivation rolls. Remove 10-again if their resonances contradict.

When a mage attempts to draw quintessence from a node with a matchingresonance to his own highest trait, he gains 9-again to the roll. Contradictoryresonances remove 10-again. Once the mage has incorporated the quintessenceinto his own pattern, it simply takes on the mages own resonance. However, at

more powerful nodes there is the possibility that the mage will acquire some ofthe node's resonance (see gaining/losing Resonance below).

A Mage must maintain balance in all things, both with himself and the outsideworld. If the Mages dominant resonance trait (i.e. the one with the highest rank)is of a category other than his Avatars Essence, the Mage is in discord with hisown avatar. Until this situation is rectified, the mage will not bleed off paradoxnaturally, no matter how mundane a life he is leading. Furthermore, everymonth spent in this fashion risks degeneration. Roll your current Harmony rank.If no successes are rolled, you lose a point of Harmony. The Storyteller may optto have you roll again if you fail, to see if you enter Quiet.

The form a mage's Quiets take is heavily influenced by his resonance. Dynamicmages become confused and may suffer hallucinations, while Pattern magesenter a kind of clarity that can lead to fixations and in the worst cases, theybecome programmed drones. Primordial mages become simplistic andunpredictably emotional.

JhorJhor is a special kind of resonance generated by the Shadow Umbra realms of death.While the other three resonances interact normally, Jhor will cancel out all otherresonances. Jhor is considered oppositional to all magics that do not directly relate todeath. Jhor tainted Quiets can be especially dangerous, as the mage becomes obsessedwith death, and even his body begins to assume the pallor of a corpse. The mage inJhor Quiet is likely to pursue further Jhor-tainted study and behavior, which will accruemore Jhor and make it increasingly difficult to ever escape Quiet. The mage eventuallydegenerates into nothing but a magical killer.

It is a common misconception that Jhor is related to Entropy magic, and this myth is inlarge part to blame for the Euthanatos's poor reputation. Anyone using magic to kill, tocommune with the dead or cross into their lands comes into contact with Jhor. Ifanything, the Euthanatos are especially vigilant of its members who frequently deal indeath.

Gaining/Losing ResonanceTypically, simply using magic that reflects a particular resonance (ex. Causing a circuitbreaker failure with forces would be considered Entropic [decay], or possibly Dynamic[chaos]) does not imbue any lasting resonance to the caster, target or environment.Typically, resonance is only accrued from a great change in the mage's life, such as a

Seeking or Quiet. However, when a mage makes an especially large change to hisenvironment, in moments of great crisis or emotion, the emotional investment could


19/22

generate resonance at the Storytellers discretion. Vulgar magic is far more likely to doso, as is magic fueled by quintessence.

The storyteller can also rule that resonances can be acquired if a mage spends a greatdeal of time in an area with a particular resonance, or even a moderate amount of timeif the resonance is especially powerful (four or higher). Powerful talismans may also

have this effect, if the mage either relies on it a great deal or the item has a powerfulresonance.

Powerful nodes more routinely pass on resonance. Whenever a mage absorbsquintessence from a node with a resonance trait of four or higher, he gains a point of theappropriate resonance unless he resists successfully.

Resonance can be artificially created through the extended use of Mind magic(influencing a targets attitude significantly for prolonged periods) or a vulgar Primeeffect. A mage can do the same for himself, but it requires intense, time-consumingmeditation, in similar fashion to a Seeking.

A resonance change can be resisted with Resolve + Avatar + Opposing Resonance trait(if any) Corresponding Resonance traits (if any). You must roll as many or moresuccesses as the strength of the external resonance trait. If the roll fails, or the magechooses not to resist, he gains one point of the appropriate resonance, or loses one dotfrom an oppositional trait. Talismans are nearly immune to all resonance changes, asthey are static objects. They will continue to resonate with the method of their creationand the nature of their purpose unless subjected to powerful Prime rituals, or directlyused in a spectacular fashion truly anathema to their current resonance.

DOMINO EFFECTWhile Sleepers are willing to believe one unlikely but not impossible coincidence, furtheramazing occurrences are likely to strain their verisimilitude. For every two spectacular

coincidental effects (pipes bursting for no reason, lightning striking a person, all thestreetlights turning green at once) that have already occurred in the scene, subtract onedie from similarly "improbable" effects.The domino effect has a particularly volatile relationship with applications of Entropymagic to twist probability and fate. Any exceptional success that is a result of genericEntropy effects (such as granting bonus dice or 9-again to a roll) counts as one suchimprobable effect.

PARADOXThis is the big bad Momma of the Mage: the Ascension. It was the biggest source oftension and frustration with players; it was so hard to adjudicate. The writers refused togive out many hard and fast rules, because it was meantto be unpredictable.

Awakenings codified it, but it took a lot of the teeth out as well. Ive attempted to marrythe best of both systems, but the style leans heavily to Ascension.

Gaining Paradox PointsA mage gains Paradox points in the following instances:

Botching a coincidental effect: 1 point Successfully casting a vulgar effect: 1 point Successfully casting a vulgar effect in front of Sleepers: 1 point/highest rank

used Botching a vulgar effect: 1 point/highest rank used Botching a vulgar effect in front of Sleepers: 2 points/highest rank used

Note: For the purposes of magic, we're using oWoD botch rules, not nWoD. If you rollany ones and no successes on any magic roll (not just chance dice), then you botch.


20/22

These points are recorded on the wheel on your character sheet, counterclockwise.Should you gain so many paradox that they overlap with your quintessence, thequintessence is negated and replaced with paradox. At the point when a mage first gainsthe paradox points, he may choose to spend quintessence to mitigate it, on a one-for-one basis. Also, mages bleed off paradox after a week spent without incurringanymore paradox. Roll your Harmony pool (generally half your Harmony score), and

erase a point of Paradox for each success. Familiars may also clean a mages pattern ofparadox.

BacklashWhenever a mage botches a vulgar effect (or pulls off a spectacularly vulgar effect infront of witnesses, or at the ST's whim), and after adding the newly garnered paradoxpoints, roll a number of dice equal to his base paradox dice pool (see Avatar) + hisparadox points + any of the following modifiers:

+1 per each backlash check after the first made for any caster during the scene.This bonus is cumulative.

-1 if the mage is casting a rote. +2 if there are any Sleeper witnesses (the Storyteller may add more if there are

large number of Sleepers)

Each success adds to the severity of the backlash and burns off a point of the magesparadox. Paradox backlashes cannot be avoided. At best, a mage may spend a point ofwillpower to forestall this and all subsequent backlashes until the end of the scene. Thisis extremely risky, however, because this will burn all the accumulated paradox in onemassive effect. While the backlash will likely be large enough to affect everyone on thescene, it will focus on the mage so arrogant as to defy it.

Alternatively, a mage can try to contain the paradox within himself, to keep more erraticresults in check. If a mage decides to absorb the paradox backlash, he takes one pointof resistant bashing damage per success on the backlash roll. Unfortunately, the magedoesn't know in advance how bad it is going to be, so this is a very risky proposition,and it has killed more than one mage.

While a Storyteller can rely on dice to determine when there is a backlash, it isultimately at his or her discretion. Ignore the dice if its just a bad time for a backlash, ordelay it to later in the scene, or even to another scene. Or, if it seems like an especiallygood time, invoke a paradox backlash and simply roll the targets paradox points as thepool to determine the strength of the effect.

Paradox Effect DurationsMost paradox effects last longer the lower a mage's Harmony. The chart below showsthe interval durations of different kinds of paradox effects. At the end of each interval,roll your Harmony pool. If you succeed, the effect ends. If you fail, you may roll again

at the end of the next interval. If you botch, you must wait two intervals to roll again.These durations do not apply to paradox Havoc, which lasts only as long as the effectsnormal duration, paradox spirit manifestations (the spirit will stay as long as it can orwills), or paradox realms (which generally have their own requirements for escape).Minor flaws may also have much shorter duration intervals (turns or minutes).

Wisdom Duration

10 One scene

9 One scene

8 One scene

7 One scene

6 Two scenes

5 One day

4 Two days

3 One week


21/22

2 Two weeks

1 One month

Paradox FlawsIn addition to any other effects, most releases of Paradox energy give the mage atemporary flaw of some sort (including when the mage absorbs the backlash as physicaldamage). They are proportionate to the intensity of the Paradox backlash, and relatedto the initial magic that caused the backlash (they are also influenced by a mage'smagical style and resonance). Minor flaws may only have duration intervals of a turn ora minute, while severe enough backlashes will cause prolonged flaws with durationintervals dependent on the mage's Harmony.

BacklashSuccesses

Flaw

1 Trivial Flaws: A trivial Paradox Flaw could be barely noticeable or slightlyinconvenient. It probably lasts only a short time. The mage's watch mightstart running backward at high speed for a few turns, or his hair could standon end for a minute. Mystical mages get struck with echoes from legend:Flowers might wilt or a swarm of insects could briefly gather near the mage.

2 - 4 Minor Flaws: A minor flaw is inconvenient and troublesome, and it maystick around for a while, but it's not likely to be dangerous. These Flawsmight include such things as the mage's feet sticking to the ground for a fewturns, an article of clothing falling to ash or an uncontrollable sneezingattack. Such Effects typically grant a one die penalty to certain actions thatmight be hindered, and they could be noticeably odd to others.

5 - 7 Moderate Flaws: A "moderate" Flaw is a relative term, since these Flaws dohamper the mage significantly, tend to last for a prolonged duration and canbe dangerous. Moderate Flaws might include such problems as suddenlyexuding waves of heat or cold, suffering from strange shifts to the senses,acquiring a temporary derangement, or losing the ability to speakcoherently. These Effects usually cause the mage to suffer 1 to 3 die

penalties on a variety of tasks. A trivial Flaw might sh ow up as a permanentproblem, rendering the mage's eyes a new color, for instance.

8 - 9 Severe Flaws: Severe Paradox Flaws should give even the most rash magespause. The mage could discover that his facial features have vanished (yetleft him his senses), or perhaps all cloth items that come within five feet ofhim start writhing uncontrollably. These Flaws can be somewhat harmful,even to others, and they're definitely strange, noticeable and problematic.Such Flaws usually cause the mage to suffer a 2 or 3 die penalties on allactions, or 3 to 5 die penalties on a more limited range of tasks. A minorFlaw might sh ow up as a permanent problem.

10+ Drastic Flaws: The nastiest forms of backfires cause major changes,injuries and even permanent problems. The mage might have his skin

suddenly turn to wood and start sprouting, he could find everyone over theage of 40 irresistibly attracted to him or he could accidentally anduncontrollably fire off magical attacks at his friends and allies. A moderateFlaw might sh ow up as a permanent problem, rendering wiping away amemory, removing an Ability or Attribute point or causing similar mayhem.If out of control, these Flaws can wreak havoc on the mage and on thepeople around him. Some things may become downright impossible for themage to accomplish, depending on the nature of the Flaw.

HavocParadox may take control of successfully cast effects, or even fuel a botched spell withunpredictable results. The target is selected randomly (or at ST's whim) from amongstall suitable targets in the area. The mage then rolls his harmony score (not pool). If hefails, the spell not only affects a random target, but the effect is inverted or warped insome fashion. If he succeeds, then the spell affects a random target but occurs as


22/22

normal. If he rolls an exceptional success, then he retains control of a spell. If havoc isoccuring to a botched spell, the successes on the backlash roll count towards the spell'spotency, area of effect, etc. However, since the spell is being generated by paradox, themage has no chance to control it.

Manifestation

Paradox spirits are particularly viscious spirits formed not of essence, but of paradoxenergy. They are unaffected by most normal Spirit magics unless Prime is also invoked.Paradox spirits don't always appear in physical form, but follow the mage around in theUmbra, harassing him through the Gauntlet. The more paradox energy expended in thebacklash, the higher the spirit rank.

BacklashSuccesses

SpiritRank

1 1

2 - 4 2

5 - 7 3

8 - 9 4

10+ 5

AnomaliesParadox backlashes of five or more points may not affect the mage directly, but causemayhem in the entire area. Lights may flicker and die, cars won't start, the temperaturedrops to dangerously cold levels. An anomaly may even alter the rules of magic, makingcertain spheres harder to use or making all magic more erratic. In the worst cases,paradox energy accumulates in a storm that lashes the area with raw force, destroyingeverything that does not flee or take shelter.

Paradox Realms and QuietMages accruing ten or more successes on a backlash are in danger of simply beingshunted from reality, either mentally or physically. Quiet is a particular form of mage

derangement which is metaphysical in nature, not psychological. A mage's Quiet isheavily influenced by his Essence and Resonance. Paradox is not the only way to enterQuiet, but it's one of the more reliable ones (mages may also enter Quiet when they loseHarmony, rather than gain a derangement, when their Resonances are unbalanced fortoo long, or after extreme traumas). The mage's perceptions no longer entirely jibe withreality, and in some cases, his hallucinations may take on physical form (hobgoblins).Paradox may lock away offending mages in a specially created umbral realm, imposing aquarantine to protect reality from further violations. For mages who aren't fortunateenough to have friends who will seek them out in these Realms, the spirits will usuallyrelease the victim after a few days or months, depending on the severity of Paradox thathe has called down. They have been known to keep people longer, however. Realitydoesn't always allow parole or time off for good behavior. Paradox Realms tailored to

mages tend to feature the Spheres that the mage invoked, and often trap and confusethe mage in a tiny Realm that'sdominated by a few such features. A Realm might have a fatal environment, but moreoften, it just seems to behave like a puzzle to trap the mage. Many realms seem to betrying to teach the mage a lesson, so that he will be wiser in future applications of hiswill.

Documents

Mage: The Adaptation (Ascension Conversion)