Out of Character (OOC):
My comments are orange regarding my reviews of the system and my own personal recommendations for use in our Chronicle. We always considered these non-Legacy Attainments to be what we commonly referred to as "Metapraxes." A System for mages to have innate abilities with their magic, or adding special attributes to spells that is clear and concise was badly needed. I'm happy that these are out of the grey area and that Combined and Conjuctive casting really aren't a thing mechanically any more.
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
NON-LEGACY ATTAINMENTS
My comments are orange regarding my reviews of the system and my own personal recommendations for use in our Chronicle. We always considered these non-Legacy Attainments to be what we commonly referred to as "Metapraxes." A System for mages to have innate abilities with their magic, or adding special attributes to spells that is clear and concise was badly needed. I'm happy that these are out of the grey area and that Combined and Conjuctive casting really aren't a thing mechanically any more.
Sources: The Attainments as written, straight out of the advanced "beta" version of Mage: The Awakening 2nd edition.
Additional explanation is in this font color, when it helps drive the concepts home.
Attainments are magical effects, similar to spells but not subject to the same rules. They allow a mage to employ meta-magical effects in order to improve the efficacy of her Arcana and change the world around her in lasting ways. Attainments are available to all mages as their understanding of magic (as measured by the Arcana) increases. As a mage’s rating in an Arcanum increases, she gains access to new Attainments.
The Orders instruct their members on how to use these abilities, but the instruction bears more resemblance to conditioning in athletics or fundamental principles in mathematics. A mage might learn to manipulate or change the passage or perception of time using the eponymous Arcanum,
but the intrinsic understanding of Time itself allows her to “hang” a spell.
System: Attainments use a variety of mechanics. Some are instant actions, some extended, and some don’t require dice at all. Many of them require the expenditure of Mana, or allow the mage to use Mana to boost their power and effectiveness. Attainments do not require Imagos and as such cannot be countered by Counterspell, Universal Counterspell, or any other Attainments that affect spells. Adding an Attainment to a spell, however, does not prevent it from being Countered.
One-Dot Attainments
Any Arcana 1: Counterspell
Knowledge of one Arcanum imparts the understanding of how to unravel it. To cast a spell, the mage forms an Imago; to counter a spell, the mage simply needs to disrupt one. The Counterspell Attainment is actually 10 different Attainments, one for each Arcanum. By learning even the most basic principles of an Arcanum, a mage understands how to counter a spell. By the time a spell takes effect and a mage feels it in Peripheral Mage Sight, though, it’s too late to counter; to use this Attainment, the countering mage must see her rival casting in Active Mage Sight.
System: Counterspell is a Clash of Wills, pitting the acting mage’s Gnosis + Arcanum against the countering mage’s Gnosis + Arcanum. A mage can attempt to counter any spell that uses the Arcanum, even if it uses other Arcana as well, but always counters the highest Arcanum of a target spell. The comparative ratings of the two mages’ Arcana are irrelevant; an Initiate can, in theory, counter the spell of a Master. Countering the spell of a mage with a higher rating in the target Arcanum, however, requires that the player spend a point of Mana. Counterspell requires an instant action. If the mage is employing Active Mage Sight, she can attempt to counter a spell of the appropriate Arcanum in combat, regardless of her position in the Initiative order, provided she has not used her action yet.
Example: A Moros mage is using Active Death Sight during a fight with some Seers of the Throne. She sees that one of them is about to cast a Death spell at one of her compatriots. Even if the Seer acts before her in the Initiative order, she can attempt to Counterspell. If the Seer had been readying a Forces spell, the Moros would have noticed it, but could not attempt to counter it with Death (she could, however, use Universal Counterspell if she had Prime 2).
Two-Dot Attainments
The second dot of an Arcanum grants a Lesser Utility Attainment and a form of Mage Armor. Lesser Utilities are Attainments that fit into the purview of the Arcana, but don’t map to the Practices and rely more on a general understanding of the Arcanum in question than of specific spells. Below are some of the most common Lesser Utilities, though the players and the Storyteller may devise others.
Death 2: Eyes of the Dead
The mage can see ghosts and souls in Twilight when using Active Mage Sight with Death. Her Peripheral Mage Sight reacts to even the passive presence of ghosts.
System: The mage detects ghosts and deathly Twilight phenomena with her Periphery, and can automatically see souls and ghosts in Twilight with her Death Sight. If a ghost is using a power to hide, it provokes a Clash of Wills. With the expenditure of one point of Mana, the mage can interact with ghosts for a scene. She can speak with them, touch them, and even strike them. However, this renders her vulnerable to their attentions, as well.
Fate 2: Conditional Duration (& Conditional Triggers)
The mage can, as well as assigning Duration with a spell factor, create a condition under which the spell ceases to function. Doing so can increase the Duration of a spell, although the mage must still spend Mana and a Reach if Duration becomes indefinite. The more improbable the condition, the smaller the bonus to Duration. Some mages use the Conditional Duration to levy curses designed to teach a target a lesson (“You will suffer boils on your hands until you dirty your hands helping another out of kindness.”), while others employ this Attainment tactically (“This floor will vanish the second I snap this glass rod.”).
System: Spend a point of Mana to add a Conditional Duration to a spell. Doing so adds factors to the spell’s Duration based on the nature of the condition. An improbable condition (one that is unlikely to happen given current conditions) adds a level of Duration An infrequent condition (one that will eventually happen, but does not happen often on its own) adds two levels of Duration A common condition (one that will almost certainly happen in the near future) adds three levels of Duration. When the condition is met, the spell ends regardless of how much Duration remains.
Wait, what happened to Fate Triggers? Regarding conditional triggers: there is now a time spell that let's you "hang" another spell until its (the time spell) duration expires. That spell, combined with the Conditional Duration attainment, sets conditional triggers.
Forces 2: Precise Force
The mage understands the intricacies of Forces to such a degree that she can optimize their intentional application, perfectly directing her energy when striking an object.
System: If the mage has a full turn to calculate her action, she can take the 9-Again quality on the roll. If she’s applying force to a stationary object, she can ignore two points of Durability, and a successful hit automatically causes two additional Structure damage. Against a stationary, armored target, this strike destroys (and ignores) 1/1 armor if successful. This Attainment doesn’t work against anything moving faster than a casual walk.
Errata: Mages can use this Attainment utilizing physical attacks or spells that use a projectile or aimed kinetic forces.
Life 2: Improved Pattern Restoration
All mages can spend Mana to heal wounds, but an Apprentice of Life can use that Mana more efficiently, healing more or more serious wounds with the same amount of energy. In addition, Scouring her Pattern for Mana becomes easier and less detrimental.
System: Instead of each bashing or lethal wound costing three points of Mana, the mage can heal bashing damage at a rate of one wound per point of Mana, and lethal damage at a rate of one wound per two points of Mana. In addition, if the mage Scours a Physical Attribute, any derived traits based on that Attribute are not affected (for instance, the mage can Scour a dot of Strength without losing a point of Speed).
Matter 2: Permanence
Changing an object’s nature and properties is easier than changing the nature of a living being. An Apprentice of Matter need simply make a small investment of energy to an object to make any Matter spell’s effects long-lasting.
System: The character may spend one Mana instead of using a Reach to use the Advanced Duration spell factor of a spell with Matter as its highest Arcanum.
Mind 2: Mind’s Eye
The mage can see Goetia, other Astral entities, and beings using supernatural powers to project out of their bodies in Twilight when using Active Mage Sight with Mind. Her Peripheral Mage Sight reacts to even the passive presence of such entities.
System: The mage detects Goetia and Mental Twilight phenomena with her Periphery, and can automatically see Goetia and projecting beings in Twilight with her Mind Sight. If a Goetia is using a power to hide, it provokes a Clash of Wills. With the expenditure of one point of Mana, the mage can interact with Goetia for a scene. She can speak with them, touch them, and even strike them. However, this renders her vulnerable to their attentions, as well.
Prime 2: Universal Counterspell
An Apprentice of Prime understands the formation of spells and the creation of an Imago well enough to attack it on a direct, metaphysical level, allowing her a great deal more defensive capability.
System: The mage may use Counterspell on any Awakened spell. The player rolls Gnosis + Prime when the character does not know the Arcanum used, or when this would be a higher dice pool than the appropriate Arcanum. The mage may also spend a point of Mana to Counter a spell’s lowest Arcanum rather than its primary Arcanum. For example, a mage with this Attainment Countering a Fate 4, Space 2 spell may pay a point of Mana to roll the Clash of Wills against Gnosis + Space instead of Gnosis + Fate.
Space 2: Sympathetic Range
An Apprentice of Space can cast spells using her sympathy to a subject she cannot see. The mage requires a sympathetic connection to the subject, and a Yantra symbolizing that subject to use as a focus for the spell.
System: To use this Attainment, the mage must be casting a spell at sensory range, use a sympathy Yantra, and spend one Mana. The spell is Withstood by the fragility of the sympathetic connection
(see Sympathetic Connections), between the mage and her subject, but if the mage does not know the sympathetic name (also called True Name sometimes but this is a misnomer) of the subject the Withstand level increases by one.
Spirit 2: Spirit Eyes
The mage can see spirits in Twilight when using Active Mage Sight with Spirit. Her Peripheral Mage sight reacts to even the passive presence of such entities.
System: The mage detects spiritual Twilight phenomena with her Periphery, and can automatically see spirits and projecting beings in Twilight with her Spirit Sight. If a spirit is using a power to hide, it provokes a Clash of Wills. With the expenditure of one point of Mana, the mage can interact with spirits for a scene. She can speak with them, touch them, and even strike them. However, this renders her vulnerable to their attentions, as well.
Time 2: Temporal Sympathy
Temporal Sympathy allows a mage to cast a spell through time at the past of a subject. The mage must be casting a spell on the subject as it exists now, cast at sensory range, use a sympathy Yantra, and spend one Mana. The spell is Withstood by the fragility of the temporal sympathy (see table) between the mage and her subject, plus one Withstand level if the mage does not know the sympathetic name of the subject. It is possible to combine this Attainment with Sympathetic Range to cast on a subject both in the past and at a distance beyond the sensory by paying to activate both Attainments.
Errata: This Attainment only works on Time spells that call for it, or other spells Combined with a suitable Time spell.
Time 2: Combat Casting
For the cost of a mana, once per turn the mage can incorporate another Yantra into a spell beyond the normal reflexive first Yantra for two reflexive Yantras per spell rather than one. It must be a Yantra that can be done in less than a turn. We added this extra Attainment to balance Time 2's Attainment with others.
Any Arcana 2: Specialized Targeting
For the cost of a mana, the mage can use their understanding in one Arcanum (the one associated with this Attainment requirement) to assist in casting a spell in another Arcanum. This is a very broad Attainment that depends heavily on Storyteller approval as they applications can quickly become game breaking. The principle use is to use an Arcanum against a target that would normally be immune or exempted from its effects. The spells effects must still be applicable to the target (eg. Life 2 is not enough to make rocks grow like plants using Matter). Examples include:
- Using your understanding of Life 2 to telekinetically target organs in bodies directly with Forces
- Using your understanding of Matter 2 to cast a spell on a stone golem with Life magic that normally wouldn't effect an inanimate object
- Using your understanding of Spirit 2 to cast Death spells that affect Spirits
- Using your understanding of Death 2 to cast Life spells that affect Vampires
- Using your understanding of Forces 2 to use Matter spells to make highly explosive materials
- Using your understanding of Mind 2 to cast Spirit spells that affect Goetics
- Using your understanding of Prime 2 to cast Time spells that properly entrap Cherubim
- Using your understanding of Forces or Matter 2 to hack computers with Mind or Fate spells
Any Arcana 2: Mage Armor
Mage Armor is a set of 10 Attainments, one per Arcanum, that allows a mage to protect herself magically. Mage Armor requires a point of Mana to activate, whereupon it remains active for the scene, even if the mage falls unconscious, unless the mage dies. A mage can only benefit from one form of Mage Armor at a time, but can spend Mana to change between Arcana as a reflexive action.
I will cover Mage Armor in a separate post.
Three-Dot Attainments
Any 3: Targeted Summoning
With three dots in an Arcanum, a mage can add greater specificity when summoning a Supernal being. All Supernal beings have a primary Arcanum, defined by their home Realm and the type of being (manifest or recondite). They can have other Arcana, however, and a mage using this attainment can narrow her summoning to Supernal beings with particular powers.
System: The mage spends one additional Mana during the summoning, and specifies a second Arcanum for the target Supernal being. The primary Arcanum must remain one of the mage’s two Path Ruling Arcana.
Prime 3: Spell Cloaking
A disciple of Prime is adept at weaving a veil into a spell as they are casting the spell.
System: The mage can take a -2 to casting a spell and spend a mana and work the same effect of Supernal Veil (Prime 2) into the spell as they are casting it. This allows a mage to cast a spell without setting off Peripheral Mage Sight and would require a CoWs with Active Mage Sight to notice the caster is casting a spell and/or notice the spell once it has been cast.
Four-Dot Attainments
Adepthood brings with it a Greater Utility Attainment. Greater Utilities, like the Lesser Utilities, are methods of using Arcana outside of the normal Practices.
Death 4: Inviolate Soul
The soul of an Adept of Death is almost impossible to affect, let alone harm or dislodge. The mage can reflexively repel deleterious magic that will or could harm her soul.
System: The mage is immediately aware when one of the below circumstances applies, and may protect herself by spending a point of Mana. The character enters a Clash of Wills with the intruding power, using her Gnosis + Death.The mage can reflexively use this Attainment under the following circumstances:
• Her soul is being tampered with or attacked.
• Something attempts to alter or influence her Nimbus or aura.
• Anything attempts to possess her.
Fate 4: Unbound Fate
A mage with this level of proficiency with the intricacies of Fate has a sixth sense for powers intended to usurp control of his own destiny. The mage can reflexively repel deleterious magic that will or could harm her fate. She can resist falling under the sway of a geas, for example, or shrug off psychic control.
System: The mage is immediately aware when one of the below circumstances applies, and may protect herself by spending a point of Mana. The character enters a Clash of Wills with the intruding power, using her Gnosis + Fate.The mage can reflexively use this Attainment under the following circumstances:
• She is being forcibly bound into a geas.
• A supernatural compulsion to do something she does not wish to do is directed at her.
• A supernatural effect is changing her destiny.
Forces 4: Environmental Immunity
Wind, fire, extreme cold, and lightning — the forces of nature are largely under the command of the Adept of Forces, and she can ignore them with near impunity.
System: The player spends a point of Mana. The character is thereafter immune to the effects of Environmental Tilts and Extreme Environments, for the rest of the scene. Note that this Attainment does not protect the mage from Forces spells aimed at her specifically. In such cases, the Imago of the spell includes damage to her, and thus she must make a more concerted effort to avoid it (perhaps by using the Counterspell Attainment).
Life 4: Body Autonomy
The mage’s body is a temple, and cannot be altered, harmed, or affected without her consent. Any incoming magical affect that would change her physical body can be immediately countered.
System: The mage is immediately aware when one of the below circumstances applies, and may protect herself by spending a point of Mana. The character enters a Clash of Wills with the intruding
power, using her Gnosis + Life.The mage can reflexively use this Attainment under the following circumstances:
• She is the target of a supernatural power that would alter her physical body in some way.
• She is the target of a supernatural power that would injure her.
• She is the target of an attack that would place a Personal Tilt on her (Arm Wrack, Blind, etc.).
Matter 4: Durability Control
The mage can shift the relative material strength or weakness of any object she touches, making it more easily broken or much tougher than its components would indicate.
System: The mage touches the target object; the player spends a point of Mana. The character can raise or lower the object’s Durability by her dots in Matter. The change lasts for the rest of the scene, so the mage can let go of the object once she shifts its Durability.
Mind 4: Intuitive Leap
An Adept of Mind possesses a keen understanding of social responses and cues, as well as the ability to think quickly enough to eviscerate opponents in debates or find exactly the right wording to garner support.
System: The player can spend a point of Mana whenever she rolls three or more successes on a Social or Mental roll. That roll is considered an exceptional success, meaning that the player can place a Condition on a subject.
Prime 4: Imbue Item
The mage can infuse an item with magic, creating an Imbued Item. Imbued items are granted a single spell. In effect, whoever wields the imbued item gains the benefits of its spell, even though she did not necessarily cast it. See the Imbued Item Merit.
I covered Imbued Item in a separate post.
Space 4: Everywhere (Easy Targetting/AOEs)
An Adept of Space can spread the influence of her magic over a large area with very little effort.
System: The character may spend one Mana instead of using a Reach to use the Advanced Scale factor of a spell.
Spirit 4: Honorary Rank
An Adept of Spirit is sufficiently in control of her own interactions with ephemera that she, while still never a native, is at least not a stranger to the Shadow. Spirits react to her presence with respect rather than naked hostility.
System: The character has an “honorary” spirit Rank equal to her dots in Spirit. Spirits sense her Rank as though she were a spirit, and her Physical attacks count as banes to spirits two Ranks or more below her. She may spend a point of Mana to reduce a spirit’s Doors against her Social maneuvering actions by one.
Time 4: Time in a Bottle
An Adept of Time can cast spells in seconds that would take other mages hours.
System: The character may spend one Mana instead of using a Reach to use instant casting time for a spell.
Five-Dot Attainments
Any 5: Create Rote
Masters of any Arcanum can translate an improvised spell into a Rote (Rotes and the mechanics for using them are described in the corebook). Creating a Rote requires Mastery of the Arcanum in question — the mage needs to know the Arcanum’s most advanced principles before being able to codify a spell into a Rote. Masters often include personal flourishes in their Rotes, and so is it sometimes possible to tell which variant of a spell a mage uses based on how she performs a Rote. In order to create a Rote, the mage needs to have cast the spell in question many times and be familiar with the Imago she will use to make the Rote. She then performs it, slowly and deliberately, infusing every gesture and action with magic, until the Rote is solidified and the Imago fixed and perfect in her mind.
System: The mage can create a Rote out of any spell she can cast, provided that she has Mastered all of the Arcana to be included. She needs to choose a Skill to encode and fix the Imago in her mind. Doing so is an extended action (Arcanum + the encoded Skill, each roll equals three hours of study and practice, 5 successes required per dot of Arcana involved in the spell). The mage can devote three hours at a time to this working over a period of weeks — the successes need not be accrued sequentially. The player spends one Mana for each roll. The usual rules for failure apply. If the player fails one of these rolls, the character must either break off the attempt or take a Condition, which cannot resolve until the Rote is complete or the mage gives up.
Once the character has mastered the Imago, the player spends a point of Willpower and an Arcane Experience, and the Rote is complete. The character can then teach it to other mages, or use the Prime 1 spell Scribe Grimoire to write it down and allow others to cast it.
Fate 5: Target Exemptions
For the cost of a mana, the mage can reflexively choose to exclude targets from an area of effect spell. These exemptions are categorical rather than specific. A mage can exclude his "friends" from a spell, "enemies," "cabalmates," "innocents," "undead," etc.
Space 5: At a Glance
For a mana the mage forgo the Reach needed to upgrade a spell from touch to Sensory Range.
Time 5: Temporal Expansion
For a mana the mage can use the Advanced Duration table instead of using a Reach. If you felt that Temporal Sympathy, being able to fling spells into the past or future was overpowered, you can grant its's full capabilities here.
Forces 5: Dilate Physics
By spending a mana reflexively for a given scene the Forces master can bend physics to his will and manipulate them to his advantage. The master of Forces can add his dots in Forces to Speed and all Athletics checks. For climbing, jumping, catching, and throwing checks, the mage is considered to have the 9-again quality. For an additional mana these rolls gain the 8-again quality. Defense does not benefit from dice bonus or permutations. However, when Dodge is used the mage gains the benefit of both the athletics bonus and the dice tricks from mana expenditure.
Prime 5: Spell Translation
The Prime master has a much greater understanding of spells and their mechanics and can spend a mana reflexively when casting a spell to switch the Primary Spell factor.
Death 5: Unkillable
A Death master is truly hard to kill. spending a mana reflexively for a given scene the master of Death's flesh becomes like that of a vampire or zombie. Mundane attacks that would normally do Lethal damage are automatically downgraded to Bashing damage. The mage also ignores wound penalties from wounds or pain and they are immune to poison and disease. Death magic that repairs the flesh of corpses can be used to heal in this state and Life magic and pattern restorations do not work.
Matter 5: Atomic Separation
By spending a mana the Matter master can incorporate the ability to ignore an item's durability or armor (normally withstood or soaked) into a spell up to their dots in Matter. Alternatively, they can add the Armor Piercing effect equal to their dots in Matter to a spell or item's Enhancement.
Mind 5: Superlative Knowledge
A Mind master can reflexively spend a mana (that counts against their total used in a given round) and gain the 8-again quality on a mundane Mental-based or Social-based skill roll. A Willpower Point may be spent to add the Rote quality to the same roll.
Life 5: Unbreakable
A Life mage's ability to heal and transfer magical energy between flesh and the supernal is mastered. Pattern Scouring yield the mage one extra mana than normal. Furthermore, the Life master is immune to disease and ignore poisons up to toxicity equal to their dots in Life. Lastly, Pattern Restorations can be used at greater effect: 1 mana heals 2 bashing or 1 lethal wound, 5 mana heals an aggravated wound (but still leaves scarring and does not replace lost limbs or organs and therefore does not remove physical conditions inflicted by these wounds).
Spirit 5: Umbra Lord
A Spirit master can spend a mana reflexively and create a spell that ignores a Spirit's Rank for purposes of Withstanding spells equal in Rank to their dots in Spirit.
Six-Dot Attainments
Any 6: Advanced Potency
An Archmaster of an Arcanum can spend a mana reflexively when casting a spell from that Arcanum to access Advanced Potency. Instead of taking -2 for each additional point of potency the Archmage takes -1 for each point of potency. It should be noted that any Archmaster can do the same thing for any other Arcanum by spending an Arcane Beat at the time of casting (per conversion of Imperial Mysteries covered later).
Fate 6: Advanced Targetting
An Archmaster of an Arcanum can use its understanding of Fate and the Practice of Dynamics to ensure that all targets of the spell's imago can be expanded well beyond normal targeting intervals. Like Target Exemptions, for the cost of a mana, the mage can reflexively choose to include targets in the spell they are casting. These inclusions are categorical rather than specific. A mage can include his "friends" from a spell, "enemies," "cabalmates," "innocents," "undead," etc.
Additional explanation is in this font color, when it helps drive the concepts home.
Attainments are magical effects, similar to spells but not subject to the same rules. They allow a mage to employ meta-magical effects in order to improve the efficacy of her Arcana and change the world around her in lasting ways. Attainments are available to all mages as their understanding of magic (as measured by the Arcana) increases. As a mage’s rating in an Arcanum increases, she gains access to new Attainments.
The Orders instruct their members on how to use these abilities, but the instruction bears more resemblance to conditioning in athletics or fundamental principles in mathematics. A mage might learn to manipulate or change the passage or perception of time using the eponymous Arcanum,
but the intrinsic understanding of Time itself allows her to “hang” a spell.
System: Attainments use a variety of mechanics. Some are instant actions, some extended, and some don’t require dice at all. Many of them require the expenditure of Mana, or allow the mage to use Mana to boost their power and effectiveness. Attainments do not require Imagos and as such cannot be countered by Counterspell, Universal Counterspell, or any other Attainments that affect spells. Adding an Attainment to a spell, however, does not prevent it from being Countered.
One-Dot Attainments
Any Arcana 1: Counterspell
Knowledge of one Arcanum imparts the understanding of how to unravel it. To cast a spell, the mage forms an Imago; to counter a spell, the mage simply needs to disrupt one. The Counterspell Attainment is actually 10 different Attainments, one for each Arcanum. By learning even the most basic principles of an Arcanum, a mage understands how to counter a spell. By the time a spell takes effect and a mage feels it in Peripheral Mage Sight, though, it’s too late to counter; to use this Attainment, the countering mage must see her rival casting in Active Mage Sight.
System: Counterspell is a Clash of Wills, pitting the acting mage’s Gnosis + Arcanum against the countering mage’s Gnosis + Arcanum. A mage can attempt to counter any spell that uses the Arcanum, even if it uses other Arcana as well, but always counters the highest Arcanum of a target spell. The comparative ratings of the two mages’ Arcana are irrelevant; an Initiate can, in theory, counter the spell of a Master. Countering the spell of a mage with a higher rating in the target Arcanum, however, requires that the player spend a point of Mana. Counterspell requires an instant action. If the mage is employing Active Mage Sight, she can attempt to counter a spell of the appropriate Arcanum in combat, regardless of her position in the Initiative order, provided she has not used her action yet.
Example: A Moros mage is using Active Death Sight during a fight with some Seers of the Throne. She sees that one of them is about to cast a Death spell at one of her compatriots. Even if the Seer acts before her in the Initiative order, she can attempt to Counterspell. If the Seer had been readying a Forces spell, the Moros would have noticed it, but could not attempt to counter it with Death (she could, however, use Universal Counterspell if she had Prime 2).
Two-Dot Attainments
The second dot of an Arcanum grants a Lesser Utility Attainment and a form of Mage Armor. Lesser Utilities are Attainments that fit into the purview of the Arcana, but don’t map to the Practices and rely more on a general understanding of the Arcanum in question than of specific spells. Below are some of the most common Lesser Utilities, though the players and the Storyteller may devise others.
Death 2: Eyes of the Dead
The mage can see ghosts and souls in Twilight when using Active Mage Sight with Death. Her Peripheral Mage Sight reacts to even the passive presence of ghosts.
System: The mage detects ghosts and deathly Twilight phenomena with her Periphery, and can automatically see souls and ghosts in Twilight with her Death Sight. If a ghost is using a power to hide, it provokes a Clash of Wills. With the expenditure of one point of Mana, the mage can interact with ghosts for a scene. She can speak with them, touch them, and even strike them. However, this renders her vulnerable to their attentions, as well.
Fate 2: Conditional Duration (& Conditional Triggers)
The mage can, as well as assigning Duration with a spell factor, create a condition under which the spell ceases to function. Doing so can increase the Duration of a spell, although the mage must still spend Mana and a Reach if Duration becomes indefinite. The more improbable the condition, the smaller the bonus to Duration. Some mages use the Conditional Duration to levy curses designed to teach a target a lesson (“You will suffer boils on your hands until you dirty your hands helping another out of kindness.”), while others employ this Attainment tactically (“This floor will vanish the second I snap this glass rod.”).
System: Spend a point of Mana to add a Conditional Duration to a spell. Doing so adds factors to the spell’s Duration based on the nature of the condition. An improbable condition (one that is unlikely to happen given current conditions) adds a level of Duration An infrequent condition (one that will eventually happen, but does not happen often on its own) adds two levels of Duration A common condition (one that will almost certainly happen in the near future) adds three levels of Duration. When the condition is met, the spell ends regardless of how much Duration remains.
Wait, what happened to Fate Triggers? Regarding conditional triggers: there is now a time spell that let's you "hang" another spell until its (the time spell) duration expires. That spell, combined with the Conditional Duration attainment, sets conditional triggers.
The mage understands the intricacies of Forces to such a degree that she can optimize their intentional application, perfectly directing her energy when striking an object.
System: If the mage has a full turn to calculate her action, she can take the 9-Again quality on the roll. If she’s applying force to a stationary object, she can ignore two points of Durability, and a successful hit automatically causes two additional Structure damage. Against a stationary, armored target, this strike destroys (and ignores) 1/1 armor if successful. This Attainment doesn’t work against anything moving faster than a casual walk.
Errata: Mages can use this Attainment utilizing physical attacks or spells that use a projectile or aimed kinetic forces.
Life 2: Improved Pattern Restoration
All mages can spend Mana to heal wounds, but an Apprentice of Life can use that Mana more efficiently, healing more or more serious wounds with the same amount of energy. In addition, Scouring her Pattern for Mana becomes easier and less detrimental.System: Instead of each bashing or lethal wound costing three points of Mana, the mage can heal bashing damage at a rate of one wound per point of Mana, and lethal damage at a rate of one wound per two points of Mana. In addition, if the mage Scours a Physical Attribute, any derived traits based on that Attribute are not affected (for instance, the mage can Scour a dot of Strength without losing a point of Speed).
Matter 2: Permanence
Changing an object’s nature and properties is easier than changing the nature of a living being. An Apprentice of Matter need simply make a small investment of energy to an object to make any Matter spell’s effects long-lasting.
System: The character may spend one Mana instead of using a Reach to use the Advanced Duration spell factor of a spell with Matter as its highest Arcanum.
Mind 2: Mind’s Eye
The mage can see Goetia, other Astral entities, and beings using supernatural powers to project out of their bodies in Twilight when using Active Mage Sight with Mind. Her Peripheral Mage Sight reacts to even the passive presence of such entities.
System: The mage detects Goetia and Mental Twilight phenomena with her Periphery, and can automatically see Goetia and projecting beings in Twilight with her Mind Sight. If a Goetia is using a power to hide, it provokes a Clash of Wills. With the expenditure of one point of Mana, the mage can interact with Goetia for a scene. She can speak with them, touch them, and even strike them. However, this renders her vulnerable to their attentions, as well.
An Apprentice of Prime understands the formation of spells and the creation of an Imago well enough to attack it on a direct, metaphysical level, allowing her a great deal more defensive capability.
System: The mage may use Counterspell on any Awakened spell. The player rolls Gnosis + Prime when the character does not know the Arcanum used, or when this would be a higher dice pool than the appropriate Arcanum. The mage may also spend a point of Mana to Counter a spell’s lowest Arcanum rather than its primary Arcanum. For example, a mage with this Attainment Countering a Fate 4, Space 2 spell may pay a point of Mana to roll the Clash of Wills against Gnosis + Space instead of Gnosis + Fate.
An Apprentice of Space can cast spells using her sympathy to a subject she cannot see. The mage requires a sympathetic connection to the subject, and a Yantra symbolizing that subject to use as a focus for the spell.
System: To use this Attainment, the mage must be casting a spell at sensory range, use a sympathy Yantra, and spend one Mana. The spell is Withstood by the fragility of the sympathetic connection
(see Sympathetic Connections), between the mage and her subject, but if the mage does not know the sympathetic name (also called True Name sometimes but this is a misnomer) of the subject the Withstand level increases by one.
Spirit 2: Spirit Eyes
The mage can see spirits in Twilight when using Active Mage Sight with Spirit. Her Peripheral Mage sight reacts to even the passive presence of such entities.
System: The mage detects spiritual Twilight phenomena with her Periphery, and can automatically see spirits and projecting beings in Twilight with her Spirit Sight. If a spirit is using a power to hide, it provokes a Clash of Wills. With the expenditure of one point of Mana, the mage can interact with spirits for a scene. She can speak with them, touch them, and even strike them. However, this renders her vulnerable to their attentions, as well.
Temporal Sympathy allows a mage to cast a spell through time at the past of a subject. The mage must be casting a spell on the subject as it exists now, cast at sensory range, use a sympathy Yantra, and spend one Mana. The spell is Withstood by the fragility of the temporal sympathy (see table) between the mage and her subject, plus one Withstand level if the mage does not know the sympathetic name of the subject. It is possible to combine this Attainment with Sympathetic Range to cast on a subject both in the past and at a distance beyond the sensory by paying to activate both Attainments.
Errata: This Attainment only works on Time spells that call for it, or other spells Combined with a suitable Time spell.
Time 2: Combat Casting
For the cost of a mana, once per turn the mage can incorporate another Yantra into a spell beyond the normal reflexive first Yantra for two reflexive Yantras per spell rather than one. It must be a Yantra that can be done in less than a turn. We added this extra Attainment to balance Time 2's Attainment with others.
Any Arcana 2: Specialized Targeting
For the cost of a mana, the mage can use their understanding in one Arcanum (the one associated with this Attainment requirement) to assist in casting a spell in another Arcanum. This is a very broad Attainment that depends heavily on Storyteller approval as they applications can quickly become game breaking. The principle use is to use an Arcanum against a target that would normally be immune or exempted from its effects. The spells effects must still be applicable to the target (eg. Life 2 is not enough to make rocks grow like plants using Matter). Examples include:
- Using your understanding of Life 2 to telekinetically target organs in bodies directly with Forces
- Using your understanding of Matter 2 to cast a spell on a stone golem with Life magic that normally wouldn't effect an inanimate object
- Using your understanding of Spirit 2 to cast Death spells that affect Spirits
- Using your understanding of Death 2 to cast Life spells that affect Vampires
- Using your understanding of Forces 2 to use Matter spells to make highly explosive materials
- Using your understanding of Mind 2 to cast Spirit spells that affect Goetics
- Using your understanding of Prime 2 to cast Time spells that properly entrap Cherubim
- Using your understanding of Forces or Matter 2 to hack computers with Mind or Fate spells
Any Arcana 2: Mage Armor
Mage Armor is a set of 10 Attainments, one per Arcanum, that allows a mage to protect herself magically. Mage Armor requires a point of Mana to activate, whereupon it remains active for the scene, even if the mage falls unconscious, unless the mage dies. A mage can only benefit from one form of Mage Armor at a time, but can spend Mana to change between Arcana as a reflexive action.
I will cover Mage Armor in a separate post.
Three-Dot Attainments
Any 3: Targeted Summoning
With three dots in an Arcanum, a mage can add greater specificity when summoning a Supernal being. All Supernal beings have a primary Arcanum, defined by their home Realm and the type of being (manifest or recondite). They can have other Arcana, however, and a mage using this attainment can narrow her summoning to Supernal beings with particular powers.
System: The mage spends one additional Mana during the summoning, and specifies a second Arcanum for the target Supernal being. The primary Arcanum must remain one of the mage’s two Path Ruling Arcana.
Prime 3: Spell Cloaking
A disciple of Prime is adept at weaving a veil into a spell as they are casting the spell.
System: The mage can take a -2 to casting a spell and spend a mana and work the same effect of Supernal Veil (Prime 2) into the spell as they are casting it. This allows a mage to cast a spell without setting off Peripheral Mage Sight and would require a CoWs with Active Mage Sight to notice the caster is casting a spell and/or notice the spell once it has been cast.
Four-Dot Attainments
Adepthood brings with it a Greater Utility Attainment. Greater Utilities, like the Lesser Utilities, are methods of using Arcana outside of the normal Practices.
The soul of an Adept of Death is almost impossible to affect, let alone harm or dislodge. The mage can reflexively repel deleterious magic that will or could harm her soul.
System: The mage is immediately aware when one of the below circumstances applies, and may protect herself by spending a point of Mana. The character enters a Clash of Wills with the intruding power, using her Gnosis + Death.The mage can reflexively use this Attainment under the following circumstances:
• Her soul is being tampered with or attacked.
• Something attempts to alter or influence her Nimbus or aura.
• Anything attempts to possess her.
Fate 4: Unbound Fate
A mage with this level of proficiency with the intricacies of Fate has a sixth sense for powers intended to usurp control of his own destiny. The mage can reflexively repel deleterious magic that will or could harm her fate. She can resist falling under the sway of a geas, for example, or shrug off psychic control.
System: The mage is immediately aware when one of the below circumstances applies, and may protect herself by spending a point of Mana. The character enters a Clash of Wills with the intruding power, using her Gnosis + Fate.The mage can reflexively use this Attainment under the following circumstances:
• She is being forcibly bound into a geas.
• A supernatural compulsion to do something she does not wish to do is directed at her.
• A supernatural effect is changing her destiny.
Wind, fire, extreme cold, and lightning — the forces of nature are largely under the command of the Adept of Forces, and she can ignore them with near impunity.
System: The player spends a point of Mana. The character is thereafter immune to the effects of Environmental Tilts and Extreme Environments, for the rest of the scene. Note that this Attainment does not protect the mage from Forces spells aimed at her specifically. In such cases, the Imago of the spell includes damage to her, and thus she must make a more concerted effort to avoid it (perhaps by using the Counterspell Attainment).
Life 4: Body Autonomy
The mage’s body is a temple, and cannot be altered, harmed, or affected without her consent. Any incoming magical affect that would change her physical body can be immediately countered.
System: The mage is immediately aware when one of the below circumstances applies, and may protect herself by spending a point of Mana. The character enters a Clash of Wills with the intruding
power, using her Gnosis + Life.The mage can reflexively use this Attainment under the following circumstances:
• She is the target of a supernatural power that would alter her physical body in some way.
• She is the target of a supernatural power that would injure her.
• She is the target of an attack that would place a Personal Tilt on her (Arm Wrack, Blind, etc.).
Matter 4: Durability Control
The mage can shift the relative material strength or weakness of any object she touches, making it more easily broken or much tougher than its components would indicate.
System: The mage touches the target object; the player spends a point of Mana. The character can raise or lower the object’s Durability by her dots in Matter. The change lasts for the rest of the scene, so the mage can let go of the object once she shifts its Durability.
Mind 4: Intuitive Leap
An Adept of Mind possesses a keen understanding of social responses and cues, as well as the ability to think quickly enough to eviscerate opponents in debates or find exactly the right wording to garner support.
System: The player can spend a point of Mana whenever she rolls three or more successes on a Social or Mental roll. That roll is considered an exceptional success, meaning that the player can place a Condition on a subject.
The mage can infuse an item with magic, creating an Imbued Item. Imbued items are granted a single spell. In effect, whoever wields the imbued item gains the benefits of its spell, even though she did not necessarily cast it. See the Imbued Item Merit.
I covered Imbued Item in a separate post.
Space 4: Everywhere (Easy Targetting/AOEs)
An Adept of Space can spread the influence of her magic over a large area with very little effort.
System: The character may spend one Mana instead of using a Reach to use the Advanced Scale factor of a spell.
Spirit 4: Honorary Rank
An Adept of Spirit is sufficiently in control of her own interactions with ephemera that she, while still never a native, is at least not a stranger to the Shadow. Spirits react to her presence with respect rather than naked hostility.
System: The character has an “honorary” spirit Rank equal to her dots in Spirit. Spirits sense her Rank as though she were a spirit, and her Physical attacks count as banes to spirits two Ranks or more below her. She may spend a point of Mana to reduce a spirit’s Doors against her Social maneuvering actions by one.
Time 4: Time in a Bottle
An Adept of Time can cast spells in seconds that would take other mages hours.
System: The character may spend one Mana instead of using a Reach to use instant casting time for a spell.
Five-Dot Attainments
Masters of any Arcanum can translate an improvised spell into a Rote (Rotes and the mechanics for using them are described in the corebook). Creating a Rote requires Mastery of the Arcanum in question — the mage needs to know the Arcanum’s most advanced principles before being able to codify a spell into a Rote. Masters often include personal flourishes in their Rotes, and so is it sometimes possible to tell which variant of a spell a mage uses based on how she performs a Rote. In order to create a Rote, the mage needs to have cast the spell in question many times and be familiar with the Imago she will use to make the Rote. She then performs it, slowly and deliberately, infusing every gesture and action with magic, until the Rote is solidified and the Imago fixed and perfect in her mind.
System: The mage can create a Rote out of any spell she can cast, provided that she has Mastered all of the Arcana to be included. She needs to choose a Skill to encode and fix the Imago in her mind. Doing so is an extended action (Arcanum + the encoded Skill, each roll equals three hours of study and practice, 5 successes required per dot of Arcana involved in the spell). The mage can devote three hours at a time to this working over a period of weeks — the successes need not be accrued sequentially. The player spends one Mana for each roll. The usual rules for failure apply. If the player fails one of these rolls, the character must either break off the attempt or take a Condition, which cannot resolve until the Rote is complete or the mage gives up.
Once the character has mastered the Imago, the player spends a point of Willpower and an Arcane Experience, and the Rote is complete. The character can then teach it to other mages, or use the Prime 1 spell Scribe Grimoire to write it down and allow others to cast it.
Fate 5: Target Exemptions
For the cost of a mana, the mage can reflexively choose to exclude targets from an area of effect spell. These exemptions are categorical rather than specific. A mage can exclude his "friends" from a spell, "enemies," "cabalmates," "innocents," "undead," etc.
Space 5: At a Glance
For a mana the mage forgo the Reach needed to upgrade a spell from touch to Sensory Range.
Time 5: Temporal Expansion
For a mana the mage can use the Advanced Duration table instead of using a Reach. If you felt that Temporal Sympathy, being able to fling spells into the past or future was overpowered, you can grant its's full capabilities here.
Forces 5: Dilate Physics
By spending a mana reflexively for a given scene the Forces master can bend physics to his will and manipulate them to his advantage. The master of Forces can add his dots in Forces to Speed and all Athletics checks. For climbing, jumping, catching, and throwing checks, the mage is considered to have the 9-again quality. For an additional mana these rolls gain the 8-again quality. Defense does not benefit from dice bonus or permutations. However, when Dodge is used the mage gains the benefit of both the athletics bonus and the dice tricks from mana expenditure.Prime 5: Spell Translation
The Prime master has a much greater understanding of spells and their mechanics and can spend a mana reflexively when casting a spell to switch the Primary Spell factor.
Death 5: Unkillable
A Death master is truly hard to kill. spending a mana reflexively for a given scene the master of Death's flesh becomes like that of a vampire or zombie. Mundane attacks that would normally do Lethal damage are automatically downgraded to Bashing damage. The mage also ignores wound penalties from wounds or pain and they are immune to poison and disease. Death magic that repairs the flesh of corpses can be used to heal in this state and Life magic and pattern restorations do not work.
Matter 5: Atomic Separation
By spending a mana the Matter master can incorporate the ability to ignore an item's durability or armor (normally withstood or soaked) into a spell up to their dots in Matter. Alternatively, they can add the Armor Piercing effect equal to their dots in Matter to a spell or item's Enhancement.
Mind 5: Superlative Knowledge
A Mind master can reflexively spend a mana (that counts against their total used in a given round) and gain the 8-again quality on a mundane Mental-based or Social-based skill roll. A Willpower Point may be spent to add the Rote quality to the same roll.
Life 5: Unbreakable
A Life mage's ability to heal and transfer magical energy between flesh and the supernal is mastered. Pattern Scouring yield the mage one extra mana than normal. Furthermore, the Life master is immune to disease and ignore poisons up to toxicity equal to their dots in Life. Lastly, Pattern Restorations can be used at greater effect: 1 mana heals 2 bashing or 1 lethal wound, 5 mana heals an aggravated wound (but still leaves scarring and does not replace lost limbs or organs and therefore does not remove physical conditions inflicted by these wounds).Spirit 5: Umbra Lord
A Spirit master can spend a mana reflexively and create a spell that ignores a Spirit's Rank for purposes of Withstanding spells equal in Rank to their dots in Spirit.
Any 6: Advanced Potency
An Archmaster of an Arcanum can spend a mana reflexively when casting a spell from that Arcanum to access Advanced Potency. Instead of taking -2 for each additional point of potency the Archmage takes -1 for each point of potency. It should be noted that any Archmaster can do the same thing for any other Arcanum by spending an Arcane Beat at the time of casting (per conversion of Imperial Mysteries covered later).
Fate 6: Advanced Targetting
An Archmaster of an Arcanum can use its understanding of Fate and the Practice of Dynamics to ensure that all targets of the spell's imago can be expanded well beyond normal targeting intervals. Like Target Exemptions, for the cost of a mana, the mage can reflexively choose to include targets in the spell they are casting. These inclusions are categorical rather than specific. A mage can include his "friends" from a spell, "enemies," "cabalmates," "innocents," "undead," etc.
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