House Rules

House Rules - Mage

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Arete Wait Time for Raises

Chargen caps Arete at 3.

We have put into place waiting times between Arete increases as follows.
The MENTOR BACKGROUND may be used to reduce this wait time. For the sake of making this useful,
all Mentors (regardless of rating) are considered to have Arete 5, and can teach up to Arete 5.

Mechanic: GM will roll your Mentor rating diff 8 once for each month of wait time. Each

success will reduce wait time by 1 month. Wait time can not be 0, if rolls would reduce to 0, wait
time is 1 month. You have to spend some time studying. Caveat: If your mentor botches any roll
then no more rolls will be made. You will still benefit from any previous successes rolled. It is
possible for a mentor to be entirely unhelpful in which case the wait times below apply.

Studying from a suitable Grimoire may reduce your Xp cost. Grimoires for Arete 5+ are nearly impossible to find.

Arete Waiting Times from Last Increase

Rating	Time		Rating	Time
0 to 1	Time for staff to process		4 to 5	8 months
1 to 2	2 months		5 to 6*	10 months
2 to 3	4 months		6 - 8*	1 year for each level
3 to 4	8 months		8 - 10*	1.5 year for each level

These waiting times are on RL time, not IC time which may run on 1:1 time ratio or faster.

• May be reviewed at a later date when it/if it actually comes into play.
• This chart may be altered at Staff Discretion. More likely towards shorter times rather than longer.

Staff may also elect to let a player raise arete beyond 5 on a case-by-case basis. An Arete 6+ character must have a player who is responsible and has made significant contributions to the game as a whole. It is expected that the player be in good standing and productive part of the sphere to go that far.*

Sphere Learning Times

Wait time is measured from last XP spend on ANY sphere. Arete requirements must be met for sphere increases.

Example 1: If you bought Forces 1 on April 1, 2023, then want to buy Life 4, you can do so on August 1, 2023.

Example 2: If you bought Mind 3 on April 1, 2023, then want to buy Prime 1, you can do so May 1, 2023.

Level	Wait Time		Level	Wait Time
1	1 month		5	8 Months
2	1 month		6* & 7*	10 months each
3	2 months		8* & 9*	12 months each
4	4 months		10* -- 2 year

Mentor Background may reduce your wait time. Ask staff for a mentor roll. Each Success reduces wait time by 1 month. Where wait time would be reduced to 0, minimum wait time is 1 month.

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XP Chart
New Sphere: 10 xp
Affinity Sphere: current x 7xp
Other Sphere: current x 8xp

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• Not opened for play till Arete 6+ is opened for play.

Avatar (Background)

For those that like to write a rich and varied character story.
The number of mages coming out of chargen with Avatar 5 will be monitored.
Take the level of this Background that makes sense for your character, don't cheat the system.
Avatar is a background you must buy in chargen to be a mage. This rating stops at 5 in chargen. The rating you buy in
chargen is all you have

TO BE PLAY TESTED AT A LATER DATE
Once a mage reaches Arete 6, they may begin raising their Avatar rating. They can elect this as part of their Seekings
or pursue it in-between seekings with logs supporting their personal PrP to do so.
This isn't meant to be an easy feat. As such XP cost for raising Avatar is NEW x 8.
To raise Avatar Background in this manner requires a minimum of 1 year between Avatar raises.
Time may be reduced at staff discretion at the completion of TP handled by staff.
All required XP cost must be available for spend by end of TP.

Currently this House Rule for Avatar will stop at raising avatar to 5.
Avatar above 5 maybe be opened in the future as staff sees how the game plays.

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Avatar Xp Chart

+Avatar XP Chart			Staff Discretion for Play Testing
Avatar Rating	XP Cost		Avatar Rating	XP Cost
1 to 2	16xp		5 to 6	48 xp
2 to 3	24xp		6 to 7	56 xp
3 to 4	32xp		7 to 8	64 xp
4 to 5	40xp		8 to 9	72 xp
			9 to 10	80xp

FOCI CLASSIFICATIONS AND BENEFITS

Ref: M20 pg 587 - 588

Standard Foci

"Despite the march of science, certain symbols have become so deeply ingrained in the Consensus that they could
be called standard instruments. Such tools provide the default focus for mystic or hypertech training and practices.
In game terms, a standard tool offers no bonus or penalty....

You might incur a penalty if you work without one, or receive a bonus if you use one in an especially significant manner.
For the most part, though, these instruments simply provide the appropriate toolkit for a mage’s practice."

Personal Foci

Certain mages employ personalized or unique tools – a lucky baseball, rowan wand, hand-built guitar, and so forth.
Such personalized instruments resonate with the mage who employs them. There is, perhaps, a touch of Resonance
between such symbols and an individual character. In game terms, a personal tool reflects that character’s connection,br> to a Sphere – a bridge between artist and Art....

The personal tool represents your mage’s original training and connection with the Sphere in question.
In return for sticking close to your roots, you can reduce by -1 the difficulty of a roll that employs that Sphere.
After all, that instrument is significant to your mage, so he employs it as if it were a significant tool.

Unique Foci

This tool really is one of a kind, and if the mage loses it, he also loses a vital connection to his Arts. Unlike
other kinds of tools, a unique instrument must be something your mage can lose: a fiddle crafted by your dead
grandfather, a locket with your mentor’s last portrait, a shirt given to you by a now-lost lover, and so forth.

Game-wise, a unique instrument reduces the difficulty of your Arete roll by -1 when you work with a particular Sphere.
If that tool is both personal and unique (or significant and unique), then it reduces the difficulty by -2. Only your mage can
use that instrument in such a way. That fiddle might sound great, but it truly sings in your mage’s hands alone.
If your character loses that unique instrument or finds herself working without it, then she’s essentially Working
Without Focus.

Note: Personal and unique meaning that if lost, and if it could be replaced, it wouldn't hold the same emotional connection to you. If you lose your wedding band you can buy a new one, but you'll forever know it wasn't the one that you received on your wedding day.

MENTOR BACKGROUND

Mentor Background must be justified at chargen.

• A mentor is considered to be Arete 5, and a Master in <mentor rating # of spheres>.
• Mentor Background may help reduce wait time between Arete and sphere increases.
• May help (with ST approval) raise Avatar rating
• May help learn out-of-sphere lores. (st approval)

If we put Arete 6+ into play, the mentor will be useless to you as ICly they can no longer tutor you on your journey.
It is time to leave them. You may +request to EITHER have this background reimbursed (removed from sheet at CHARGEN
COSTS. (Ie. 1 xp per dot) OR have this Mentor turned into an equivalent Ally. (Ie: Mentor 5 turned into 1 - 5dot Ally, or Contact)

PC Instructor - Reduces Xp Cost

Reduces XP requirement of Student. Role-play enforced. Abilities Only (Talent/Skill/Knowledges)

Player-Characters are eligible to buy the Instruction skill at their leisure during game play and they are also encouraged to provide RP and be the source of learning for many characters. An Instructor is sometimes available based upon what is being learned, and only at the whim of the player who is responsible for the character.

• Student may decide to end lessons at any time.
  
  

TO use this method please submit a +xpsubmit similiar to the example:

+xpsubmit <your character: stat>=Teacher: <teacher name>%RDuration: <# of months>

Example 1: +xpsubmit Marty:Computer 2=Teacher: McFly%RDuration: 1 month

Example 2: +xpsubmit Becca:Empathy 3=Teacher: McGonagal%RDuration: Till Xp cost reduced to 1 xp (or other amount of xp reduction)

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• STOPPING LESSONS
  

Teaching rolls are made monthly, you can't decide after 2 weeks to stop taking lessons with an instructor and expect to get any benefit from this.
Consider that you are contractually obligated ICly complete whatever month you have started. One full learning log is required for this method. If there are OOC reasons why you want, or need, to end this relationship, contact staff.

• Student-Instructor relationship may continue till xp cost is lowered to 1.
  
  

You, as the player, must weight which is more important to you. Lowered XP cost or a quick xp-spend in the xp room. The choice is yours, but you can't have both.

• Instructors may only teach 1 topic to 1 character per month.
  
• Instructors can only teach up to their rating minus one in any Talent, Skill or Knowledge they know.

(ie: Singing 2, they can only teach singing 1)

• A Mage Instructor may teach outside lores at their discretion. (ICA=ICC if someone finds out ICly and takes offense)
  
• Role-playing log requirement is 1 teaching/learning log per month to match teaching roll.
  
  

The point of having an PC Instructor is to have role-play, not having staff making rolls behind the scenes.

Mechanics: GM rolls(or oversees the roll): One roll is made per month of study
Instructor's Manipulation + Instructions=(diff 11-student's intelligence)

1. of Successes = XP discount.
   

May not reduce to 0. Must pay at least 1 xp.

USING A LIBRARY

Quoted Reference: M20

"In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, this Background Trait reflects access to a multimedia archive that’s vital to that

particular mage. An old-fashioned magus might shake his gray head at all that Internet foolishness, but even he will probably still have photographs, record albums, film reels, and probably even *gasp!* DVDs, CDs or MP3s in his archive, if only because so much of the last century has been recorded in such media. An urban witch might have a small but significant collection of classical magick tomes or old ‘60s-era psychedelic magazines to compliment his broadband connection, and even the most sublime transhumanist retains a few dog-eared copies of Mondo 2000 or Piss Clear in her collection. The exact nature of your Library, then, will depend upon your personality and yet give you unrestricted access to an impressive amount of information when you need it.

Because your Library Background is based around a store of useful information for your mage, it includes material that helps

you research your chosen Abilities and Spheres. You’ll need to add to your collection from time to time when learning about new topics (no wonder mages tend to be inveterate datahounds), but then you’ll be able to research topics dealing with those Traits by making successful Intelligence + Library rolls. Such research, of course, demands time and effort… and with bigger archives, both that time and effort can be substantial!

To reflect enormous archives, this Background can go above 5. A tight-knit and trusting group can also pool this Background,

creating truly impressive archives. In this case, the group’s Library Background equals the Library Background of the highest- rated member of that group, plus one dot for each additional contributor. (A cabal whose members have, respectively, Library ratings of 3, 2, 2, and 1 would have a total combined Library Background of 6.) After all, a combined archive will have redundant material… and how many copies of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban do you really need?"

         X  Those copies of Cosmo won’t help you learn Spheres.
         •  You’ve got a few New Age paperbacks.
        ••  Lots of fiction, little substance.
       •••  There’s some useful stuff in there when you go digging for it.
      ••••  Your collection of arcane data is respectable.
     •••••  You’ve got a pretty decent collection of diverse lore.
    ••••• • You enjoy a huge personal archive.
   ••••• •• Your database features extensive written, recorded, and virtual information.
  ••••• ••• You’re got full access to a national archive.
 ••••• •••• You enjoy unrestricted access to personal, national, and classified databases.
••••• ••••• Given enough time (and assistance), you can access almost anything that’s been written
            down and stored. You might not understand it (damn those codes, lost languages, and foreign
            tongues!), but you could probably find it.

Library Regarding Lores

• IN PLAY TESTING - MAY BE MODIFIED**
• STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS*

As you grow your library, you are sure to collect information about other races in the World of Darkness.

Ideally, characters learn their lores ICly from other characters. Since we don't have all the races open for play, we are making the Mage libraries useful for this.

Starting at Library 3, your library will gain 1 dot of Lore, randomly choosen by random selector. This is meant to represent information that just happens to be in the media you've collected, but you hadn't actually learned yet. Every level of Library there after gains another 1 dot of Lore. Not to exceed Lore 3 of any one type.

IF you want to choose exactly what is in you library, both the XPcost for the new Library dot -AND- 3 xp for the 1 dot of Lore must be spent. This is to represent that you are actively selecting books of a specific type but not that you are actually -LEARNING- the full content of it. Ie, you haven't studied it, it isn't on your +sheet.

Thus, if you reach Library 10, you will have 7 dots of Lores. These lores are not limited to just

spheres that are closed to RP, it can be any lore, based on the flavor of your character (if you were picky), or random (if you weren't picky). A Verbena might have some changeling lore in their's; An Order of Hermes might focus on Demon or Spirit lore, as examples.

A few examples:
        Library A ***** - would have 2 lore dots divided or not. Example: Shifter Lore 2, 
                           OR Shifter Lore and Changeling Lore 1.
        Library B ***** *- Could have Shifter Lore 3, OR Vampire, Shifter and Demon Lores @ 1 each, 
                            OR Changeling Lore 2 and Fianna Lore 1
        Library C ***** ***** - Could have Shifter Lore 3, Vampire Lore 3, Spirit Lore 1
                                OR it could have 7 separate Lores at 1 each.

As stated above, a mage may choose to lend the use of their library to someone. A Borrower will pay the full Xp cost for the Lore they are learning (it will go on their sheet). A Borrower may choose to copy what they study, if they are able to. Some tomes maybe be warded against this.

• • • STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS***

CABAL APPLICATION AND INFO

1. Cabals are small groups of mages, typically 3 or more, that work together within a chantry.
   
2. Cabals may be of a single tradition or mixed tradition.
   
3. It is not a guarantee that the members of a cabal can work magick together, especially if they are mixed

traditions. There are times that even member of the same tradition may not be able to work together.

If you want to form a cabal, pick one person to be the "leader" or "spokesperson" for the group and +request:

1. Include the name of the other mages you are forming a cabal with.
2. Give your cabal a name and state your purpose.
3. Do you plan to work together in a strictly mundane sense, or do you plan to work magick together.
   1. In the case of a mixed cabal that plans to work magickally together staff may ask for social rolls.
      
      
4. A mage can only belong to one permanent cabal at a time. Though Chantry leadership may assign any mage

to a temporary cabal as needed.

Chantry points follow the mage if they leave one cabal to join another. It may be frowned upon if a mage is found to be cabal hopping (changing permanent cabals often)

Chantries and Chantry Background

[Read about Chantries and Chantry background here]

Nodes

The number of nodes will be limited not only in strength but in quantity.

It is impossible for every mage to have a node. New nodes will be opened

for claiming by staff and scenes will be run to see who wins it. Staff

will announce the requirements and qualifications to be able to enter.

Therefore, Node is banned from being bought in chargen. If your background

justifies having access to an ancestral node or mentor's node, this will

be +noted on you. However, ICly that node is at least 6 hours away from

the cities and thus, not easily accessible. IF you need to access that

node for a working, contact staff via +magesubmit.

It is difficult to hold onto a powerful node. Level 5 nodes and up and

only held by chantries. Nodes of rank 4 and up are restricted. But if you get one,
be prepared to have to defend it.

It is possible, but rare for a newly chartered chantry to hold a Rank 1 Chantry

node, which is equal to a Rank 5 node below.

Chantry node levels are not posted, and likely won't be.

	Personal Node 1 month-supply quint/tass if node is not used.		Personal Node: 3-month rolling supply quint/tass if node is not used.
Rank 1	8 Quint/ 1 Tass		24 Quint / 3 Tass
Rank 2	16 Quint / 2 Tass		48 Quint / 6 Tass
Rank 3	24 Quint / 3 Tass		72 Quint / 9 Tass
Rank 4 *Restricted*	32 Quint / 4 Tass		96 Quint / 12 Tass
Rank 5 *Chantry Only*	40 Quint / 5 Tass		120 Quint / 15 Tass

Sanctums

Ref: M20 core, pg 324

Regardless of its nature, this space must be specially prepared by the group or mage who uses it, with constant maintenance (no less than once per month) to keep the space attuned to the people who use it. A Sanctum can be no larger than 500 square feet (46.4sq meters), and most of them are much smaller than that… typically a room or two. Because this is personal space, it’s often wise to limit the people coming and going throughout your Sanctum. Too much traffic can render a Sanctuary mundane, as far as reality’s Consensus is concerned.

    X No special space.
    • A tiny stock of goods; no reduction of ritual difficulties,
     though your magick is coincidental here. One dot in Arcane.
   •• Small stock of goods; ritual difficulties reduced by 1. Two dots in Arcane.
  ••• Decent stock of goods; ritual difficulties reduced by 1. Three dots in Arcane.
 •••• Fine stock of materials; ritual difficulties reduced by 2. Four dots in Arcane.
••••• Excellent stock of materials; ritual difficulties reduced by 2. Five dots in Arcane.

Size Reference: 500 sq feet equals approx a 22.5 ft x 22.5 ft area, about the size of a small studio apartment.
In the US, based on houses of 2500 sq.ft or less (232.2sq meters), here are some average room sizes for comparison.

          "Average walk-in closet": 4x3 (12sq ft / 1.2m x 91cm (1.11sq meters)
                     "Small Study": 7x10 (70sq ft) / 2.1m x 3m (6.1sq meters)
        "Average Standard Bedroom": 11x12 (132sq ft) / 3.3m x 3.6m (11.88sq meters)
          "Average Master Bedroom": 14x16 (224sq ft) / 4.2m x 4.8m (20.16sq meters)
                "Average Bathroom": 36-40sq ft / 3.3 - 3.7sq meters
                 "Average Kitchen": 100 - 200sq ft / 9-18sq meters

The sizes above still give you a little wiggle room to expand if you didn't count the kitchen.
HR Resources 0-1: Restricted to Sanctum 2. "Working Poor" and "Working-class" wages. You might have a small place to live, but little to spend on supplies considering all other living expenses.

DROPPING FOCI

Ref: M20 Core pg 329

Mystic mages

Mystic mages begin to realize that magick comes from internal excellence, not from external focus. Beginning at Arete 3, a mystic mage can begin to discard the instruments she uses to focus her magickal style. Although she doesn’t have to stop using her tools, she can discard one instrument per dot in Arete over the second: one instrument at Arete 3, another at Arete 4, another at Arete 5, and so on. Typically, this is the instrument she relies upon the least, which makes it the instrument she’s most able to grow beyond. By Arete 9, she will have outgrown the need for instruments at all, and will thus have become an instrument of magick herself.

HOUSE RULE: The above leaves a loophole for learning a sphere without having a foci. This doesn't make sense for a sphere you are just now learning. We are considering that in addition to the above, the Sphere whose foci you drop must also be at rank 3 before dropping it.

Technomancer Mages (Traditions)

Applies to Virtual Adepts, Society of Ether or any mage who uses technology to work their magic.

Technomancers cannot discard instruments until they reach Arete 6; at that point, they can set aside a single instrument. This provides a breakthrough; from Arete 7 onward, a Technomancer can set aside two instruments per dot in Arete. Again, by Arete 9, the mage will have transcended the need for an external focus.

Technocracy Mages

Thanks to thorough indoctrination, members of the Technocracy cannot transcend their focus at all. Until and unless he leaves the Technocratic Union entirely and embraces a new belief system – as the Society of Ether and Virtual Adepts have done – a Technocrat remains bound to the idea that his tools allow him to do what he does. At Arete 10, a Technocrat assumes that he, his instruments, and his approach to science are all one integrated whole. Technocratic oracles are essentially ghosts in the Machine: human consciousness incarnated in technology.

Traditions

All TRADITIONS are OPEN at this time, with the exception of Hollow Ones. Please do not apply for a Hollow One at this time. We are following the M20 idea of how the traditions have changed. This is mostly in name changes. This just for your information. Older Magi, those that awakened before 2010, may still call themselves by the old name.

The Akashayana: Renouncing the innate chauvinism of its westernized name, the Akashic Brotherhood formally adopts its insider name as the default form of address. All references to "brothers" are purged in favor of the name Akashayana, which also acknowledges the groups pan-Asian elements over its previous China-centric veneer.

The Celestial Chorus: In the new millennium, the Chorus focuses on righteous deeds rather than religious adherence. Shaking free of corrupt religious institutions, Choristers embrace the more nomadic role of kind pilgrims in the mode of Jesus and his followers. Despite this Christian influence, however, the Chorus embraces monotheists from every spiritual path... up to and including certain Divinity-is-One neopagans.

The Chakravant: (formally Euthanatos) Striking the entire notion of death from their name, this revitalized Tradition returns to its Sanskrit roots. Once again, the Tradition defines itself by the Great Cycle, or Wheel - not by mortality but by renewal. In place of their previous morbidity, many Chakravanti favor bright colors that combine Indian dye-work and Mexican D a de los Muertos decorations, balancing the recognition of death with the vitality of life.

The Khavadi: Abandoning its "slave name," the Dreamspeaker Tradition assumes its longtime "spirit title" as the groups official honorific. No longer "dreamers" but "speakers," the Khavadi position themselves as the collective voice of oppressed cultures and forgotten spirits, bringing new visions to a contaminated world.

The Order of Hermes: Trusting the stability of their venerable Arts, the Hermetics retain that Traditions emphasis on discipline, merit, and excellence. Even so, the new Masters avoid the stifling hubris of the previous generation, preferring Hermes the Wise Trickster over Hermes the Revered Master.

The Mercurial Elite: The outdated concept of being "virtual" makes way for the changeable technomysticism of the Mercurials. Adopting a play on words that reflects capriciousness, mutability, and the recognition of Mercury/Hermes as the God of All-Space, the Elite shuck old-school cyberpunk in favor of being everywhere at once and yet nowhere for long.

The Sahajiya: Realizing that a "Cult of Ecstasy" is not being taken seriously, the Ecstatic Tradition reverts to its older name, whose meaning - "the Naturals" - reflects the groups embrace of human passions, natural cycles, postmodern neotribalism, and rejection of the Technocratic civilization process.

The Society of Ether: It finally happens! With many of its old Masters dead, the Etherian Tradition dumps its sexist name to pursue a romantic futurism for everyone.

The Verbenae: The witch-folk remain perhaps the most militant Tradition, combining their romantic primitivism with urbanized technopaganism. Revitalized by the popularity of fantasy and neotribal subcultures, the group tightens its alliance with the Khavadi and Sahajiya, crafting a global network of activist "tribes" that undermines the Technocratic hold.