Out of Character (OOC):
Chronicle: Mage 2: The Dethroned Queen
Venue: Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition
Chronicle Storyteller: Jerad Sayler
Venue: Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition
Chronicle Storyteller: Jerad Sayler
Assistant Storytellers: Hannah Nyland & Alex Van Belkum
Gnosis & Mana
My comments to the MtA 2e are in blue and provide some guidelines on how we will implement and treat the conversion or re-creation of played Characters in our current Mage chronicle (Mage 2: The Dethroned Queen). Effective implementation dates to be determined. The following supersedes all previous rules regarding the Gnosis & Mana System.
Gnosis
Have you ever been the expert in a room full of opinionated but uninformed people? Think about the feeling you get when they speak intellectual falsehoods, and others agree. Think about the feeling you get when your voice is shouted down by the raw numbers of other voices. Then, think about the feeling you get when your voice begins to click and resonate with the audience, and you feel you can make a change, to inform, to enlighten. Multiply those feelings one-hundredfold, and you have an idea of what Gnosis is.
Gnosis is the power and understanding that drives Awakened magic. It’s not magic, per se, but it’s necessary to create, to drive, and to foster magic. Gunpowder is not a gun, after all, but it is necessary to use a gun successfully. Gnosis is largely a subconscious awareness. It’s your character’s ability to take a mental leap beyond what others can; she can connect dots others cannot even see. She understands the universe intuitively, and can see the threads she must pull to enact meaningful change. For her, the question is never how to make change, but instead whether she’s able and willing to do what is necessary.
Gnosis by Path
Gnosis is different for everyone. Your character’s Path flavors her Gnosis, as well as every facet of her identity.
Acanthus see strands of fate in everything. There’s no such thing as a true coincidence; the universe follows fractal patterns that are just too hard for the average mind to understand. The Acanthus see a web, a weave, where given enough time and space, threads must all somehow connect. At greater Gnosis, they begin to intuitively know just where and when they’ll connect, and thus how to manipulate the variables to bring about their desired outcomes. Classic mythology teaches us that we can’t change fate. High-Gnosis Acanthus can. For many, this understanding of what’s to come, and what could come, breeds a strong sense of responsibility.
Mastigos see the darkness. They see the stains and sins within every soul, lingering inside every mind. They understand motivations, and they can sense the selfishness all around them. Almost nobody is clean and pure. This typically results in a certain amount of cynicism in potent Mastigos. After all, what’s the sense in saving the world, when it’s full of such terrible people?
Moros see the way things will end. They see death. They see destruction. They see entropy. Even the most beautiful statue is only beautiful in the moment. Eventually, it’ll lose its color and shape to the weather around it, and Moros know this intimately. For this reason, the strongest of the Moros often ignore minor consequences, since they see that everything ends up dust anyway.
Obrimos see the depths, the potential in all things. When they look at a person, a place, or thing, they sense what it could be. For many Obrimos, this offers a sharp sense of inspiration and motivation; they want to see the world improve. For others, it can breed deep pessimism. After all, they see the potential everyone wastes and refuses to embrace. Even the greatest squander some possibility within them.
Thyrsus see life in everything. To the Thyrsus’s wisdom, life will out. To that mind, a nuclear wasteland is but a temporary setback. This breeds a very liberal viewpoint; it’s often not worth intervening in all but the most existential of crises, as in the end, everything will be alright. This also highlights the contrary, though. That which is unnatural and threatens that long-term balance is a clear and present danger above anything as mundane as an immediate threat to human life.
Increasing Gnosis
In game terms, Gnosis can be raised by expending five Experiences in any combination of standard Experiences or Arcane Experiences. In the narrative, Gnosis requires knowledge and understanding. It requires moments of epiphany, study, and experience. Gnosis increases when your character has advanced philosophically, mystically, or academically in such a significant way that she’ll never see the world the same. While they’re not as influential and life-changing as the Awakening itself, these are moments the character will likely never forget, milestones in her advancement that show clear evolution of thinking, purpose, or identity. Whenever your character increases in Gnosis, consider changing or refining her Virtue or Vice. Definitely look to Aspirations and Obsessions for potential changes. The character doesn’t necessarily become a completely different person, but she’ll come out changed.
Effects of Gnosis
Gnosis affects numerous factors in gameplay:
• When ritual casting, Gnosis determines the amount of time a spell takes to cast. At the lowest levels of Gnosis, any ritual casting will take hours at least, and force a mage to stay awake for greater spells. As Gnosis increases, ritual casting becomes quicker.
• Gnosis builds the foundation for spellcasting dice pools. Whereas a mundane action uses an Attribute and a Skill, the “Attribute” in spellcasting is Gnosis, while Arcanum is the “Skill.”
Including Praxes and Rotes, both now use Gnosis as part of the dice pool.
• Gnosis determines your character’s maximum traits. Normally, a character is limited to five dots in Skills and Attributes. However, at Gnosis 6+, your character can achieve higher Attribute and Skill ratings.
• Upon Awakening, a mage can only use two Yantras in a given spellcasting. At higher Gnosis levels, she becomes able to integrate more Yantras into her casting.
• Gnosis determines how many spells your character can have active before she needs to Reach. This is direct, one-for-one. Every dot equals a spell.
This gets rid of the max active spells equaling Gnosis + 3. It sounds insane, but consider that you usually always tie up these with Mage Armor and Mage Sight which no longer count against this total. You also have no limit to the number of spells you can cast and control, but each spell over your Gnosis adds Reach (what we used to worry about as "Vulgar"). It's easier to maintain a bunch of low-level spells with high dots in the same Arcanum as this mitigates Reach. Trust me, it will make sense soon. You also can relinquish short-term spells with Willpower points instead of dots, they just tend to go Havoc over time or fizzle out. This is doable.
• Gnosis determines the number of Obsessions your character may have at once.
• Legacy Attainments are limited by Gnosis. As the character’s Gnosis increases, the number of potential Attainments does as well; the Arcanum limits of the specific Attainments also increase.
• Gnosis determines the number of Paradox dice that are incurred for each Reach above Arcanum limits.
• Gnosis allows your character to combine multiple spells into a single casting, to get around limitations on numbers of active spells. At Gnosis 3, a mage can combine two spells into one casting. At Gnosis 6, she can combine three. And at Gnosis 9, she can combine four spells.
• Gnosis limits the upper limit of a mage’s Arcana. A mage’s highest Arcanum can be three dots at Gnosis 1, four dots at Gnosis 3, and five dots at Gnosis 5. That mage’s other arcana are limited to a maximum of two dots at Gnosis 1, three dots at Gnosis 2, four dots at Gnosis 4, and five dots at Gnosis 6.
In addition to the training and cost limitations on Arcana, the new, real limiter on Arcana is Gnosis. Again, seems insane, but it also makes sense from a growth perspective. Gnosis, along being added to virtually ALL magical-related rolls, is the single most important trait in a Mage game.
• Gnosis acts as a mage’s “power trait” and adds to Supernatural Tolerance rolls. In contested rolls to resist some supernatural powers, Gnosis adds to the dice pool.
• Gnosis determines how much Mana a mage can contain within her Pattern, and how quickly she can process it. The chart notes a maximum Mana, and how much she can spend in a turn at her level of Gnosis.
• A mage’s Nimbus is partially determined by her Gnosis.
• Every dot of Gnosis comes with a free Praxis.
This is going to be complicated, many active characters are Adepts or Masters at Gnosis lower than they need. Many characters are double Adepts or double Masters, also a problem to overcome. We may allow a dot transfer dots from their highest Arcana to their Gnosis to solve this problem. We will figure something out.
Mana
Mana is the palpable, measurable bleed of the Supernal into the material. It’s a Prime energy, a quintessential force that comes from the energy trapped when the Abyss came into existence, or sometimes comes into existence from the glory and greatness of the world. In a Hallow, it can suffuse a physical object, forming tass. Mages can keep a certain amount of Mana in their Patterns depending on their Gnosis dots. Alternatively, tass can be physically held and carried around in whatever quantities the mage can stockpile.
A Mage’s Gnosis determines her Pattern’s capacity for Mana storage, but it also determines how quickly she can spend it. Consult the Gnosis chart for these numbers.
Mana is now the true coin of the magical realm. Having more Mana benefits healing, Mage Sight to uncover mysteries, call more kinds of Mage Armor, and cast more powerful spells.
Mana can be spent to:
• Improvise a spell not based on your character’s Ruling Arcana. Improvising a spell outside your character’s Ruling Arcana requires a point of Mana.
• Reduce Paradox risk on a spell by one die per point of Mana spent.
And, its my understanding that you can spend multiple turns casting and spend as much Mana as you want to reduce Paradox.
• Attainments often cost Mana to activate, as noted in their rules.
• Some powerful spells that push the boundaries of natural physics or violate the Lie require Mana, even if they are part of a Ruling Arcanum.
• Any Legacy Attainments based on spells that would cost 2 or more Mana require one point to use.
• Pattern Restorations - As the opposite of Scouring (see below), a mage can bolster her pattern and heal mentally or physically. Three Mana points can heal a level of bashing or lethal damage. Alternatively, the mage can remove a Mental Condition (this does not offer a Beat) or a Physical Tilt.
Hey look! There are no longer limits on Pattern Restorations. They are still expensive as hell to non-Life mages, but if you have Mana, and you are going to die, you spend. It just might save your life.
Errata: Pattern Restoration is an instant action! Not reflexive.
Errata: Pattern Restoration is an instant action! Not reflexive.
Mages attempting a feat that requires Mana above their Gnosis-derived spending limits may take as many Turns as needed before the action to spend the required Mana. If they are interrupted or change their minds part-way through, Mana spent is still lost.
Gaining Mana
Mages can absorb Mana through numerous methods:
• Oblations - The most common method is Oblation, or targeted meditation at a Hallow. This requires a Gnosis + Composure roll and one hour’s time. Each success gives one Mana, up to the limits imposed by the Hallow. As well, a mage with a Legacy can commit a special Oblation even away from a Hallow.
There are no longer limitations on how many Oblations a mage can perform a day. They are first limited by their Hallow's dot rating. In a 24 hour period, a mage cannot gain more than their Hallow's dot rating from an Oblation. They can travel to other Hallows however, performing multiple Oblations to stockpile Mana. Legacy Oblations can only grant a mage the number of Mana equal to the Legacy's Ruling Arcanum each day.
If the Hallow isn't used up each day it stockpiles the difference in Tass. Left alone, a Hallow will accumulate its dot rating in tass each day and can store up to three times its dot rating in tass before it goes dormant and stops producing mana until the tass is removed from the area.
• Mages with three dots of Prime may use the spell “Channel Mana” to absorb Mana from a Hallow without Oblation.
Again, our general rule is that you can drain the number of Mana from a Hallow equal to its dot rating before you risk forcing it into a dormant state.
• If Mana is left to accumulate at a Hallow, it’ll eventually congeal and crystallize into tass, which can be stored and accessed later. If the tass congeals in food, it can be eaten to absorb the Mana. Otherwise, Channel Mana is required to access tass.
• Moments of Supernal Revelation can generate Mana. This usually means fulfilling an Obsession.
• A mage can Scour her Pattern for Mana, literally tearing apart some of the building blocks that maintain her physical form. This shreds her mortal body, but the resulting release produces Mana. In game terms, she reduces a Physical Attribute (and all traits derived from it, such as Health for Stamina) by one dot for 24 hours, or suffers one resistant lethal wound. This produces three Mana. At Gnosis 1–4, she can Scour once per day. At 5–6, she can Scour twice. At 7–9, she can Scour three times per day. And at Gnosis 10, she can Scour four times per day.
• Lastly, Blood Sacrifice offers Mana. In an Act of Hubris, the mage kills a living being for Mana. Its death releases Mana from its Pattern. A small animal offers one Mana, while human sacrifices offer as much Mana as the person had Integrity dots remaining before the killing blow. The Mana gained from Sacrifice ignores the spend/Turn limits on Mana if the sacrifice is part of a spell’s casting.
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