((Out of Character (OOC):
Chronicle: Mage 2: The Dethroned Queen
Venue: Mage: The Awakening
Chronicle Storyteller: Jerad Sayler))
Venue: Mage: The Awakening
Chronicle Storyteller: Jerad Sayler))
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Sympathy Tools
(aka Correspondences) (+1 Each) - Rather
than defining the “what” of a spell, sympathetic tools define the “who” — the
person, place, creature, or institution upon which the mage forces her will.
She may have a person’s real name or a lock of her hair, a ghost’s anchor, a
chunk of concrete taken from a building, or a company’s articles of
incorporation. Whatever the case, sympathetic tools give her a much easier time
working her subject into the spell’s imago. As such, a sympathetic link is
always suitable as a Yantra against the specific individual.
1.
Each Tool that
provides a Sympathetic link to the subject counts as a Yantra.
2.
While a mage must
Sympathetic link to cast a spell on someone at Sympathetic Range, a mage does
not need to have an understanding of the Space Arcanum in order to cast magic
sympathetically. If the caster has two
dots higher than the requirement for a touch range spell or one dot higher than
the requirement for a sensory range spell they can cast the spell
sympathetically without Space. Sympathy Yantras can be used in these
circumstances.
3.
Even if the spell
cannot be cast Sympathetically, a Sympathetic Tool can still act as a Yantra
for targets within sensory range.
4.
Sympathy Tools
tend to be limited because they usually are only focused on a specific
subject. One can make a case that
Sympathetic Tools can be used to create a Yantra for anything the mage can make
a connection with. A voodoo doll can be
anyone the mage needs it to be for example.
For these reasons Sympathy tools don’t tend to last long and sometimes
pull double duty as Sacraments.
-
Sacrament Tools
- A sacrament is any magical tool symbolic of the spell in question that the
mage destroys during casting. Many times — though by no means always — it also
provides a sympathetic link to the subject of her spell. She may infuse bread
with herbs and spices to make those who share the loaf work together smoothly.
She may burn a man’s driving license and passport for a spell that removes him
from government records. She may fire a male figure out of clay then crush it
to powder when changing her body to match her gender. If she can find one of
her enemy’s magical tools, she has both a sympathetic link and a sacrament for
any spell that would hurt him. Some mages go further than finding or creating
things to sacrifice during casting. Some engage on quests into the other realms
of the Fallen World, leaving the flesh behind to uncover items with magical
properties of their own. Destroying them during casting can make a spell flare
with power. Particularly twisted mages kill
animals and murder humans for the magical power. The surest way to kill a
powerful enemy with magic is to sacrifice something close to him — a beloved
pet, or a family member.
1.
Most sacraments
grant a single die bonus. If the mage has to spend significant effort to find
the right item or component, the bonus increases from +1 to +2, or +3 if the item comes from a realm other than the
physical world.
2.
Using a blood sacrifice as a Yantra gives bonus dice
equal to the amount of mana otherwise gained.
3.
Drugs and altered
states of consciousness could be used as a Sacrament, a trip to get in tune
with the mysteries.
4.
Extended Cast Spells requires some sort of a Sacrament
Tool or the casting rolls all suffer a -1 penalty.
5.
Spell Components (Supernatural Merit:
•••, ••••, or •••••) – You are a member
of an Order and carry pouches of spell components in the form of herbs and
substances to act as Sacrament Tools. You always have what you need on hand to
maximize the effectiveness of your workings.
Once per story you can spend your dots in Spell Components, and gain a
+1, +2, or +3 on a single extended cast spell. This can stack with other
correspondences worked into a spell but cannot exceed a +3 total. These dots recover at the end of a story.
-
Correspondence Tools (+1 Each) – This is a category for tools used similar to Sympathy Tools but are broader than a
specific target, representing ideas within the imago itself. They are also similar to Sacrament Tools but they do not need to be consumed as part of the
spell. It is a catch all for the
miscellaneous things that provide no additional benefit other than the Tool
Yantra bonus and may have special rules involved.
1.
Arcana Tools – A
subcategory of Correspondence Tools, these
tools are attuned to each of the 10 Arcana.
They are mostly used to fill in gaps in a mage’s tool-set in Arcana that
are not part of his Path or don’t represent aspects of their order. Beyond that they carry no additional
benefits.
2.
Magical Components (Supernatural
Merit: • to •••••) An Apostate mages
create components: symbols and occult techniques they can use to enhance their
spells. This compensates for their lack of formal magical training, but
learning to use them requires some tutelage — usually, rough and tumble tips
from other indie mages. Effect: The mage can perform special
actions to add power to an improvised
spell. The mage’s total Merit dots govern the maximum strength she can
gather from the combined effect of multiple components, measured in component points. These components are
limited to the number of Yantras that can be used by the mage. Once gathered, component points can be
expended in a number of ways different from regular Sympathy Tools:
a.
Base Components:
i.
Art (+1-2 CPs) - The
mage creates a work of art that acts as a physical extension of the spell’s
imago. This can be a drawing, painting, sculpture, song, poem — any original
work (though it can be a remix or cutup of somebody else’s art). It doesn’t
need to be particularly good for a one-point bonus, but a two-point bonus
requires exceptional success (5 or more) on the applicable Attribute + Skill
roll.
ii.
Arcane Beats (+3 CPs) - The mage draws on his experience with the supernatural
for inspiration instead of investing it through study and contemplation. Accordingly,
the player spends one Arcane Beat to empower the spell.
iii.
Ecstasy or Torment (+1-3 CPs) - The mage undergoes an intense mind-altering
experience. She might experience significant (and perhaps impairing) effects
from a drug, complete the spell at the moment of orgasm, or cast while
suspended from hooks piercing her skin. At one point, the ecstatic experience
is mild enough that it won’t seriously inconvenience the mage. At two points,
it’s enough to inflict a mild disadvantage, such as a momentary –2 penalty to
mundane dice pools. At three points, the ecstatic experience makes it difficult
to perform any action other than spellcasting. It imposes a –4 penalty to
mundane dice pools or an equivalent drawback.
iv.
Performance (+1-3 CPs) - At one point, the mage dresses in a way that ritually
invokes the spell’s power, or slaps together prefab artistic elements for
display. At two points, the mage actually weaves the spell’s Imago into a
performance. At three points, this performance must involve multiple participants
or an audience of uninvolved bystanders.
v.
Commitment (Mandatory) (+1 or -1 CP) - If the spell supports the mage’s stated ideology or
other creed, add one to the total component points.
vi.
Passion (Mandatory) (+1 or -1 CP) - If the spell would satisfy the character’s Sub-virtue
Virtue or Sub-Vice. If it does the
opposite then subtract a CP.
vii.
Repetition (Mandatory) (-1 CP for each) - If any of the spell’s components are reused in roughly
the same form as before during the same chapter, reduce the total components
gathered by one point for each reused component.
b.
Expending Component Points
i.
Arcane Inspiration (-4-5 CPs): The mage can spend four component points to cast the
spell as if he possessed one dot in an Arcanum he doesn’t possess — one dot higher than usual, or one dot in an Arcanum he doesn’t know at
all. This cannot be used on the mage’s inferior Arcana. Five components for
five dot or higher Arcana stuff. This cannot extend into Archmastery with
regards to capabilities but could feasibly provide advanced spell factors.
ii.
Factor Bonuses (-1-5 CPs): If the spell succeeds, the mage can spend components
to add additional spell factors after the fact, even if these were not
originally entrenched in the spell’s Imago, on a one-for-one basis.
iii.
Mitigate Combinations (-1-5 CPs): Reduces the mana cost for Combined Spells by 1 Mana
per point spent.
• Abstract Yantras – Stranger things,
aligned with the way you think and the construction of your mind and how it is
organized than anything physical.
-
Persona (+1-2) (Aka Magical Style) - Some mages invest in their shadow name, coming up with
a whole new persona as a willworker, independent — or at least, significantly
divergent — from who they were as a Sleeper. A persona binds her magical style,
her personal mysteries, and her Shadow Name into an identity that, over time,
leaves its mark on the Fallen World. By playing to this fictional persona, she
can tap in to a level of Supernal sympathy. Her actions must play in to her
personal story, her theme or concept.
Trying to cast a spell at odds with this Persona won’t work as a Yantra.
1.
Provides +1
to spellcasting works of magic aligned with your Shadow Named Persona and their
personal story.
2.
Provides an additional +1 if your spell or intent
is aligned with your Sub-Virtue or Sub-Vice.
3.
Additionally, if a spell meets ONE of the following
criteria:
a.
Spell in caster’s
Ruling Arcana
b.
Spell is a Rote
c.
Spell exploits use
of the caster’s Merits (ie using Eidetic Memory to make a better memory
altering spell)
4.
Then the spell may receive one of the following
benefits after spending a turn incorporating the Persona Yantra.
a.
-1 to Mana Cost
b.
Receive a casting
bonus equating to the Merit’s benefit of +1-3
c.
Reduce paradox by
1
d.
Remove a paradox
dice trick for Sleeper Witnesses
e.
Applies a -2 to the paradox pool that has
Sleeper Witnesses involved.
-
Cabal Symbolism (+1-5) – Same as Persona only this one draws upon your identity
and role in your Cabal. This may be the
same or fundamentally different than their Persona. The benefits are the same so long as you act
within that role or within the symbolism of what your Cabal represents.
1.
Requires Cabal
membership and the Ritual Synergy Merit for
that Cabal at any level.
2.
Grants +1 to
spellcasting that pulls upon your Cabal Role identity
3.
Grants an
additional +1 for each additional Cabalmate present and also acting in their
role. This only works if the Cabal has
fewer than 6 core members.
-
Magical Tradition (Supernatural Merit:
••)
(See Magical Traditions sourcebook or
Second Sight sourcebook) - Your character has studied a particular Sleeper
occult tradition, its body of beliefs and spellcraft, and can glean special
magical benefit from working within that tradition. Knowledge of a tradition
itself is represented by the Academics or Occult Skill Specialty, while this
Merit represents a special kind of knowledge available only to the Awakened
that allows a mage to learn the rote
spells of that tradition. Whereas Sleepers cannot evoke magical results
from these rotes (although they might erroneously believe the spells do work in
some unseen fashion), mages with this Merit can divine the Supernal echoes
reverberating in the tradition’s myths and symbols, and so gain special magical
benefit from them.
1.
Requirements: Occult
2, Specialty Skill in Occult of Academics for that magical tradition. The merit can be bought multiple times for
different traditions but can only be bought once for each point of Gnosis.
2.
Benefits:
a.
Sleeper Acceptance:
When casting a MT Rote Sleeper witnesses do not add +2 or additional dice
tricks for risking Paradox.
b.
Conditional Duration: Tradition rotes benefit from the Fate 2 “Conditional
Duration” modifier. Even if the casting mage does not know Fate 2, he can
incorporate a conditional duration into the tradition rote casting.
c.
Spell Tolerance Mitigation: Tradition rotes seem more tightly woven into the
fabric of the Fallen World; they don’t cause as much mystical interference as
other spells or rotes. The first tradition rote cast upon someone does not
count toward that person’s Spell Tolerance. Any successive tradition rotes cast
upon him will count normally — until the first spell expires, and then the next
active tradition rote in line inherits its Spell Tolerance mitigation effect,
and so. So, the first one is free, the rest levy a cost as normal.
3.
Drawbacks:
a.
Foci:
The mage must use a culturally appropriate focus to cast the tradition rote.
b.
Environment:
Some rotes require that the spell be cast at a particular time (midnight)
and/or in a particular type of place (cemetery).
c.
Traditional Combinations: Tradition rotes cannot
be cast as a combined casting with non-tradition rotes.
d.
Group Casting: All
those participating in a group casting ritual must know the relevant Magical
Tradition Merit (in addition to the usual Arcana requirements), although only
the group leader must know the rote.
