[Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition] New Mage Armors

Out of Character (OOC):

Chronicle: Mage 2: The Dethroned Queen
Venue: Mage: The Awakening 2nd Edition
Chronicle Storyteller: Jerad Sayler

Assistant Storytellers: Hannah Nyland & Alex Van Belkum

                The New Mage Armors

My comments are orange regarding my reviews of the system and my own personal/Storyteller's perspective recommendations for use in our Chronicle. These are significant changes to the Mage Armor rules.  We've had issues with the old rules allowing people to layer different types of Armors together to be almost unhurtable.  In fiction, the mage has great defensive abilities against the right types of attacks but can also be glass-cannons.  Being human among the monsters definitely gets that across but also having specialized mage armors that all behave differently.  I'm excited to test these out.

Sources: The Armors as written, straight out of the advanced "beta" version of Mage: The Awakening 2nd edition. 

Mage Armor is a set of 10 non-legacy 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.

Also note, that Mage Armor can no long be cast on allies, because it is no longer a spell... that makes things interesting for sure... Now, as far as I can tell an Imbued Item may be able to impart an Attainment such as Mage Armor, but it may need another spell to support itself and it won't be to the potency that the caster automatically gets. 

Errata: Activating Mage Armor is a reflexive action. Mage armors that increase Defense work against surprise attacks.

Death Armor "Entropic Guard"

Death Armor causes a field of entropy around the character, causing her body to react to injury almost like one of the undead.

Also, by stealing vigor from incoming attacks, a mage guards himself against harm. Effectively, the mage’s shield attacks the vitality of an incoming assault, eroding its forcefulness with a primal decay.

- Per Errata: Death Armor downgrades lethal damage from kinetic attacks (bullets, claws, rocks, etc.) to bashing, for a number of wounds equal to her rating in the Arcanum.

- Custom: Attacks that do damage made by ghosts and underworld entities are also downgraded from lethal to bashing

- Per Errata: A mage using Death Armor does not roll to stay conscious once her Health track is filled with Bashing or Lethal Damage.  with bashing damage until she has also taken her Death dots in lethal or aggravated damage.

Fate Armor "Fortune's Protection"

Fate Armor comes from incredible luck — attacks miss, the character trips at just the right moment to avoid a swinging fist, a knife glances off the button on her coat, and so forth.

The caster weaves a web of probability about herself, ensuring that attacks are unlikely to affect her. She “just happens” to stumble at the right moment, causing a bullet to miss her, or she unthinkingly turns just the right way so that a knife slides off her jacket rather than piercing it.

- Fate Armor adds the character’s Fate rating to her Defense.

- Fate Armor allows the character to apply her Defense to firearms attacks.

- If the character successfully Dodges an opponent’s attack, the player can spend a point of Mana to add the character’s Fate dots as a weapon rating on the mage’s next attack on that target. This bonus must be used by the mage’s next action or it is lost.

Forces Armor "Unseen Shield"

Forces Armor disperses the energy of attacks before they can reach the mage, much like a force field. 

The mage deflects incoming attacks with an energy shield, dispersing their force along its invisible contours and causing a punch to land harmlessly. Kinetic attacks (like fists and bullets) are as surely turned aside as energy-based ones (like a gout of flame or a laser), their momentum stolen or power leeched away.

- Forces Armor applies the mage’s full Forces rating as general armor against all damaging physical attacks

- This general armor is applicable against the automatic damage from fire and electricity.

- It has no effect on mental or psychic attacks.

Life Armor "Organic Resilience"

Life Armor heightens the combat instincts of the mage and prepares her body to shrug off injuries. 

Additionally, the mage can shore up her living Pattern with magic, becoming far more resilient to most forms of attack. While this magic does not defend against any purely psychic forms of harm, or attacks to the mage’s spirit, it does foil (at least partially) everything from edged weapons to blunt trauma to fire or other forms of energy. This protection usually means increased tissue resilience, which might be noticed with a medical doctor’s examination, assuming the doctor has examined the mage before without the attainments’s effect and can note the disparity.

- Life Armor adds half the character’s Life rating (round up) as both general armor and a bonus to Defense.

- Use the higher of the character’s Wits and Dexterity as Defense, rather than the lower.

Matter Armor "Unseen Aegis"

 Matter Armor changes the properties of the matter surrounding the mage to protect her; her clothes solidify to repel a fist, a bullet softens to lessen the impact, or ambient moisture condenses to quench a fireball.

This armor acts subtly upon inert material in the mage’s immediate vicinity, which defends her from harm. Air forms a “cushion” that blunts the inertia of an incoming fist. A bullet temporarily becomes a bit softer in mid-flight, blunting its impact. The exact method of protection varies from mage to mage and attack to attack. The effect is the same, though: a general protection from almost all sorts of physical harm.

- Matter Armor applies the mage’s full Matter rating as general armor, applicable against all damaging physical attacks.

- It is immune to Armor Piercing.

- Matter Armor has no effect on mental or psychic attacks.

Mind Armor "Misperception"

  Mind Armor causes minute doubt and hesitations in the mind of an enemy as to where the mage is and how best to hit him. This allows the mage to be highly effective at dodging incoming attacks, but provides no protection against threats with no cognition to affect (explosions, natural disasters, automatons).

The willworker can protect herself from harm by manipulating the perceptions of others and convincing them that she is slightly displaced from her actual location, causing an attacker to momentarily believe that the mage is a half-step to the left, for example. Alternately, the caster might project subtle but persistent suggestions, compelling enemies to hesitate at critical moments and turn blows astray. A fatal shot to the chest could be turned into a graze, or a crippling blow to the leg might be reduced to a painful strike that leaves the leg functional. Such magic is of no help in dealing with attacks that cover a wide area (such as explosives) or those that don’t depend on the mage being exactly where she appears to be (like a fall from a high ledge).

- Mind Armor adds the character’s Mind Arcanum to her Defense. And I would argue the defense bonus only works against attacks with agency.

- If the mage Dodges a target’s attack, the player can spend a point of Mana to cause the target to gain the Beaten Down Tilt; the target just doesn’t want to continue the fight. A supernatural being can contest this with a Clash of Wills.

- Attacks that do damage made by goetics and Astral entities are also downgraded from lethal to bashing equal to her rating in the Arcanum.

Prime Armor "Magic Shield"

 Prime Armor does not protect the mage from mundane attacks. Instead, it protects the mage from incoming magical attacks, including the damaging spells of other Awakened, but also any supernatural effect that deals direct damage.

This spell creates a shield against outside magic. Such a matrix of power is visible to those with Mage Sight, appearing as ghostly white flames limning the form of the caster.

 - Prime Armor reduces the damage of all wholly supernatural attacks by the character’s Prime dots.

For example, it will defend against an Aimed damaging spell or a bolt of energy shot at the character, but not a werewolf’s claws.

Space Armor "Untouchable"

 The mage makes tiny changes in the fabric of space, moving attacks away from her. She shifts slightly to compensate for any incoming attack that she is aware of... if she cannot apply her Defense due to Surprise, she cannot apply Space Armor. 

The best policy for avoiding harm in a fight is to not be where attacks are directed. This armor enables a mage to perform slight intuitive “tweaks” on the local fabric of space to slip away from hostile attention. Generally speaking, this exceptional avoidance looks coincidental, something plausible for the individual in question. Thus, a seemingly clumsy mage blunders his way out of harm’s way, while a lithe, graceful martial artist flows like water, managing to avoid her enemy’s path at the last possible moment.

- Space Armor adds character’s Space rating to her Defense which also helps with Dodges.

Errata: - If the character Dodges, add the character’s Space rating to the dice pool.

-The character also applies her Defense to firearms attacks.

- If the character successfully Dodges an attack, the player can spend one point of Mana to redirect the attack to another applicable target. The attack hits with successes equal to the mage’s Space Arcanum rating.

Errata: - The mage can only apply this armor against threats the character is aware of.  If a threat would normally get a surprise attack, the armor does not apply.

 Spirit Armor "Spiritual Armor"

 The character cloaks herself in ephemeral armor, protecting the character from any attack stemming from Twilight, and slowing the force of physical attacks.

 - Spirit Armor downgrades lethal damage from kinetic attacks (bullets, claws, rocks, etc.) bashing, for a number of wounds equal to her rating in the Arcanum.

- Attacks that do damage made by all ephemeral entities are also downgraded from lethal to bashing equal to her rating in the Arcanum.

  

Time Armor "Temporal Dodge"

 Time Armor speeds or slows time in the mage’s area, allowing her to move out of the way of incoming attacks.

The mage protects herself from harm. She creates a small bubble of “warped” time, either speeding herself up or slowing things down as they approach her. She performs small manipulations to her immediate temporal surroundings, protecting herself from harm by delicately twisting the fabric of time. She could, for example, decelerate incoming gunfire (by expanding the fourth-dimensional axis of its movement) or slightly speed up her own motions so as to allow her to roll better with punches and other attacks.

- Time Armor adds the character’s Time rating to her Defense

- Time Armor also allows the character to apply her Defense to Firearms attacks. 

- If the character successfully Dodges an attack, the player can spend a point of Mana to reduce the attacker’s Initiative rating by the mage’s Time Arcanum dots for the remainder of the scene.

        Shielding Spells

 Again, it is important to note that Mage Armors are NOT spells that use the practice of Shielding anymore.  There are still plenty of spells out there that protect you from things.  Mage Armors tend to focus on physical damage directly to a mage's pattern.  But there is still plenty a person needs protection from...  The following are spells which are tracked against the active spells a mage currently has active.  They are more specialized than simply repelling damage.

Soul Armor (Death ••)

Primary Factor: Duration

Suggested Rote Skills: Academics, Occult, Survival

 This spell armors the subject’s soul against all who would 

profane it. Any spell or effect that would remove, manipulate, or injure the subject’s soul must first win a Clash of Wills.

Also keep in mind that a mage with Death 4 gets an Attainment that makes soul tampering very hard, almost negating the need for this spell and creating a more passive and long-lasting resistance.

Warding Gesture (Fate ••) 

Primary Factor: Duration 

Suggested Rote Skills: Brawl, Occult, Subterfuge 

The mage creates a ward protecting the subject against supernatural effects that manipulate her fate — a geas, a supernatural compulsion to act against her will, or having her fate manipulated by Fate magic or similar supernatural effects. Each attempt to change the subject’s destiny provokes a Clash of Wills with the mage. This spell has no effect on pre-existing alterations to the subject’s destiny. 

Again, there is a Fate 4 attainment that makes manipulating the mage's fate very difficult.  There is also a nifty mechanic I recommend that makes it much easier to exclude targets from AOEs.

Additionally, the mage may selectively exclude the subject from any area-effect spell he casts. If cast on multiple subjects, this spell allows the mage to exclude each valid subject on a case-by-case basis.

+ 1 Reach: The mage can selectively exclude the subject from any spell she casts or any Attainment she uses.

+2 Reach: The mage may selectively grant protection from supernatural effects that target an area instead of individuals.

Environmental Shield (Forces ••) 

Primary Factor: Duration 

Suggested Rote Skills: Occult, Science, Survival 

The mage can shield herself against harmful environmental conditions. This spell provides complete resistance to any Conditions or Tilts caused by environments, up to an Extreme Environment level of the spell’s Potency. The spell only protects against indirect damage, like heat and cold and minor hazards like hail. The mage can still drown or be crushed by crashing waves. While the spell wouldn’t protect her against lightning if something forced it to strike her, she wouldn’t naturally attract the bolt. The spell requires a Clash of Wills to work against magical weather effects.

I'm sensing a pattern here, the Forces 4 Major Utility Attainment (Environmental Immunity) provides this without the need for a spell.

Purge Illness (Life ••)

Primary Factor: Potency

Suggested Rote Skills: Athletics, Medicine, Survival 

A mage with this spell can purge her subject’s body of diseases. Compare Potency to the severity level of the infirmity (see illness rules). If Potency is less than the illness’ rating, reduce it by the difference, and if greater, the spell eliminates the illness from the subject entirely.

Alchemist’s Touch (Matter ••) 

Primary Factor: Potency

Suggested Rote Skills: Crafts, Survival, Persuasion

Draped in the leaden shrouds of Stygia, the subject may handle even the most dangerous of substances without fear. When the spell is cast, the mage chooses a particular form of matter: The subject is largely immune to its deleterious effects. The material cannot inflict bashing damage on her at all, and she reduces the damage from lethal sources of harm by the spell’s Potency. The spell has no effect on aggravated damage. This spell only protects the mage from harm that comes due to an intrinsic property of the material. The damage from a gun or a sword, for example, comes from the force behind the impact and thus isn’t reduced by this spell. However, a mage under the protection of this spell can handle radioactive or caustic substances or walk through a cloud of chlorine gas with no ill effects.

+1 Reach: The mage chooses another form of matter the spell protects against. 

+2 Reach: The mage is immune to bashing and lethal damage from the material, and reduces any aggravated damage by the spell’s Potency.

 Add Forces ••: The subject is protected from extreme temperatures caused by the substance’s state. She can walk across lava, scoop up a handful of molten steel without being burned, or dip a finger in liquid nitrogen without it freezing.

Mental Shield (Mind ••) 

Primary Factor: Potency 

Suggested Rote Skills: Academics, Intimidation, Survival 

The mage erects a mental shield that protects the subject from goetic attack. The shield provokes a Clash of Wills against any mind Goetia Numina, Influences, or Manifestations targeting the subject.

+ 1 Reach: The spell may also shield from one of the following per Reach applied; the Mind Arcanum, another supernatural creature’s mind-affecting abilities.

Wards and Signs (Prime ••)

Primary Factor: Duration 

Suggested Rote Skills: Intimidation, Occult, Survival 

By cloaking her subject in Aetheric symbols of victory and indomitability, the mage shields the subject from the effects of hostile magic. When the subject is the target of a spell, that spell is Withstood with the Potency of Wards and Signs. Only spells that directly target the subject can be Withstood; a spell that turns the air around her into fire cannot be Withstood. Likewise, if the subject is one of many subjects, Wards and Signs only Withstands the spell with regards to her. Other subjects suffer the full effects.

So this is functionally similar to the new version of the Mage Armor: Magic Shield.  However, this one bolsters the target's ability to withstand any spell that would normally have to deal with a Withstood Attribute.

Ward (Space ••)

Primary Factor: Potency 

Suggested Rote Skills: Athletics, Subterfuge, Weaponry 

Space is mutable, until a magician wills otherwise. Cast on an area or individual subjects, this spell locks its subject down, preventing the space within from being manipulated. Magic that uses the sympathy of Warded subjects or attempts to warp Warded areas provokes a Clash of Wills. The mage is aware when one of her Wards is attacked. 

+1 Reach: The mage may specify a Key that allows use of Space magic on the Warded subject.

+2 Reach: The mage may cast Ward upon an Iris or its Key, preventing the Iris from opening while the Ward remains in effect.

  

Cap the Well (Spirit ••)

Primary Factor: Duration 

Suggested Rote Skills: Politics, Survival, Persuasion

Any creature becomes more pliable when its food source is controlled. This spell wards a source of Essence, making it difficult for spirits to feed from it — but not harder to sense. Any attempt by a spirit to feed on the Essence (or a mage, werewolf, or other being to siphon the Essence) provokes a Clash of Wills.

Ephemeral Shield (Spirit ••) 

Primary Factor: Duration 

Suggested Rote Skills: Animal Ken, Medicine, Stealth 

To master the spirit world, one must show no vulnerability. This spell protects the subject against the Numina, Influences, and Manifestations of spirits. Such attacks must succeed at a Clash of Wills to harm the subject.

Not to be confused with the Spirit Mage Armor, this spell's primary function is to weaken spirit abilities that do not do direct damage.  Combine the to with that Reach that extends the protection to a spirit's physical attacks and you have a situation where the spirit has to deal with a Clash of Wills then try to overcome the Mage Armor.

+1 Reach: Spells of the Spirit Arcanum and the spiritual magic of werewolves are likewise deflected.

+1 Reach: The protection afforded by this spell extends to spirits’ physical attacks. 

Add Death •• or Mind ••: The shield affects ghosts or Goetia, respectively.

Constant Presence (Time ••)

 Primary Factor: Duration 

Suggested Rote Skills: Occult, Persuasion, Survival 

Mages versed in Time know the tell-tale signs of disruption to the Patterns of time travelers, and not many Awakened are willing to trust that a traveler has honorable intentions. This spell preserves its subject against alterations to the timeline. Any alteration to history through the action of time travel provokes a Clash of Wills. If the mage wins, the subject is treated as though she were returning from a trip to the past herself when history settles, safeguarding her against being rewritten.

Old Shielding Spells

The following is a list of additional shielding spells that are not subsumed by newer rules and spells.  They are still relevant and usable but require conversion to the Mage 2.0 ruleset.

Quiet Grave (Death ••) - prevents attempts to raise and animate a corpse

Occulde Destiny (Fate ••) - a spell of veiling and shielding placed on a subject to hide and protect their Fate

Fireproofing (Forces ••) - This spell essentially grants the elemental damage resistance that Forces Armor provides combined with Environmental shield.  It only works on one energy type however: Fire and Heat/temperature.

Insulate (Forces ••) - This spell essentially grants the elemental damage resistance that Forces Armor provides combined with Environmental shield.  It only works on one energy type however: Electricity.  If fully insulated against electricity, the charge won't even pass through the mage as if they were rubber.  Not grounding out handled or contacted electricity has other applications, such as inflicting that shock on something else.

Stay the Invisible Fires (Forces •••) - this spell grants immunity to radioactivity and radiation sickness and damage.  This is not the same thing as being immune to the heat produced by a nuclear reactor.  As long as the spell is active the mage cannot get irradiated and Alpha, Beta, and Gamma waves.  They may want to wash off before the spell ends to make sure radioactive particles are not clinging to them though...

Containment (Forces ••••) - The mage casts this spell in an area around himself. If the mage or anyone or anything within this area is attacked either physically or with magic, the spell activates. Once activated, the spell protects everything within a small radius.

Price of Hubris (Prime •••) - A specialized form of universal counterspell that allows the caster to fling the spell back at the original caster.

Girding the Champion's Faith (Prime •••) - A specialized armor that downgrades aggravated damage and provides some general armor.  It also flares the caster's nimbus in ways that intimidate.

Interpose (Space •••) - During the course of defending those weaker than themselves, warriors are occasionally required to put their own bodies in harm’s way, so as to spare others pain and suffering that they are ill-equipped to endure.