Mage Certamen

RULES OF CERTAMEN

All information is found in The Book of Shadows nearly verbatim.

Certamen: A magickal, non-lethal duel between Council mages. (MtA pg.11) Council; Council of None: The collective name for the Nine Mystick Traditions and the federation they have formed.

The Marshall, an adept of Prime, must be present to conduct the ritual. Ideally this position should be run by a staffer to ensure fairness on all sides.

A certamen circle must also be present. This is already provide for in the Horizon cave. This circle gathers magickal energy into literal spheres, which hover and crackle with power. These spheres epitomize the energy which creates them. Ie. Life Spheres pulsates organically, forces sphere bristle with St. Elmo's fire..etc. The exact form the Spheres take on varies from Tradition to Tradition, but their nature remains clear to all who see them.

---

Summoning

Each combatant draw forth 1 Sphere per point of Arete but can not summon duplicates of the same (ie., two life spheres, or two force spheres). Any spheres not Summoned can not be used. A mage's rank in a certain Sphere is not important - if she/he has any knowledge of an element, she may summon the appropriate Sphere.
First Sphere drawn MUST be PRIME. This does count against the total number of spheres the mage can summon. This Sphere enables them to utilize the others.
The spheres form glowing balls of light as they rise up from their appropriate symbols from the certamen circle. Summoned Spheres may not be used for magickal Effects: the form they take IS an Effect in itself.

Example: A Mage with Arete 2. Must call prime first if they possess knowledge of it. IF they do not, they can not participate in the certamen themselves but may appoint a champion for themselves. If the same mage has at least Prime 1, they must summon that + one other sphere they have knowledge of.

---

Arming

The combatants form the Gladius(weapon) and Aegis(shield) for the upcoming combat.
Of the previously summoned spheres each combatant chooses 1 to form into the gladius and another to form into the aegis. This is done by mentally visualizing the sphere morphing into a dagger or shield. It is customary for the challenger to call out his Gladius Sphere upon challenging, and it is customary for the challenged to call out his Aegis Sphere at the same time. It is bad form to change your Gladius or Aegis, but its been known to happen.
Any other remaining Summoned spheres are left hanging in reserve until needed.
Example: Mage with Arete 4 summons spheres are Prime, Matter, Time and Life. The mage being strongest in Matter and Life "forms" Matter into his Gladius and Life into his Aegis. Prime and Time as held in reserve.

---

The Locus (Center)

Each mage surrenders part of their quintessence to form their locus, the TRUE target of the certamen. A Mage is not required to surrender his full quintessence pool on the locus, but its considered polite to do so. Many consider holding onto Quintessence to use in the battle as cheating.
THE GOAL:
The goal of a certamen is to rob your opponent of all quintessence in her locus. The Gladius is used as a tool to move past or pierce an opponents Aegis, which forms a channel between attacker's locus and the defender's locus. (invision pong without the ball in the middle)

---

Combat

Attacks: Wits + Sphere. Attackers roll the rating of the Gladius Sphere against the defender's Aegis Sphere +3, rather than the usual dex+brawl or melee roll of 6
Example: Above Mage (arete 4), choose to use Matter for his Gladius. His Matter sphere rating is 4. We'll say his opponent is using Life as his aegis, he has a life rating of 3. Our attacker will then roll Wits + Matter(4)= 6 (our opponents life sphere rating +3)
If the attacker fails, her attack has been blocked by the opponent's aegis. A successful attack hits the opponent's Locus, draining 1 quintessence PER success.
A loci can soak drain damage: roll the defender's Prime score against difficulty of 6.
A defender may use part of his dice pool for that turn to block an incoming attack entirely by rolling <wits> + <Aegis sphere rating> against the attacker's Gladius rating +3. If he succeeds, the Gladius gets nowhere near the Locus.

---

Victory Conditions

When one mage's Locus is drained, the battle is usually over, unless both agree to "refuel" and try again. The winner then dissolves her Locus and the Quintessence is stored in her pattern.
A draw occurs if both mages drain each other's locus simultaneously. Draws are RARE, but they have occured, especially with particularly adroit warriors.
Optionally, a combatant may yield to his opponent. He does this intentionally by dissolving his Locus (but this may be a prelude to a terrible attack, as well..) The shield which protects the contest will only be dropped when both parties' Loci are dissolved. At that time, the Gladius and Aegis of both vanish as well.
Stakes very with the mages concerned. Often a simple apology or retraction from the loser will suffice. Other times the winner may claim some payment or service from the loser. In extreme cases, losers of certamen may be exiled from their Chantry or cabal. The winner usually keeps whatever Quintessence she wins in the contest. Refusing to honor the outcome of a certamen duel is a serious breach of etiquette, but it happens more often than the Traditions like to admit.
He can also try a Locus Dodge, rolling Wits+Arete=6, but cannot attack on that round if he does. Each success takes away 1 of the attacker's successes.

---

Special Circumstances

Botching

A botch means the mage "fumbles" his sphere and looses control of it. It disappears. See re-arming.

Disarming

A mage can try to disarm his opponent by attacking either her weapon or shield with his own. This desperate maneuver is at a difficulty of 9, but success will disrupt the oppenent's Sphere for one turn per success. Four or more successes destroys the chosen Sphere for the duration.

Re-arming

A combatant may find himself without a Gladius, and Aegis, or both. He must then either form a new weapon or shield by drawing on one of more of the Spheres he has held in reserve or, if he has no appropriate Spheres in reserve, by summoning a Sphere anew. Forming a new weapon or shield from a reserve sphere takes only one round, while summoning a new sphere and forming a weapon or shield from it requires two rounds. During this time, devastating damage may be done to the combatant's Locus. (reserve Spheres must be used first if there are any)

Refueling

It is possible for a mage to carry Tass into a duel in order to refuel the Locus. If this is not agreed upon ahead of time, if this is not agreed upon ahead of time, it can be a form of cheating. Still, the tradition of carrying tass into certamen originated with the Order of Hermes and it still goes on today.
Refueling take 1 round. It is necessary to have the prime sphere active and in reserve. The sphere must be at least 2 and a normal prime effect must be cast. The difficulty for the effect is 6. The number of successes equals the quintessence points that go to refuel the Locus.
Technically, it is possible to refuel from a node during certamen, but this is truly bad form.

---

Certamen and Essence

CERTAMEN AND ESSENCE:

A mage's essence can affect his or her strategy. Knowing the nature of one's opponent is useful.
Dynamic mages are known for their inconstancy and seemingly random choices of strategies.
Pattern mages are the opposite: they have set strategies that they often use, and they are very methodical certamen opponents. They are, however, excellent at analyzing weaknesses and exploiting them.
Primoridal mages are very base in their strategies and attacks. They seem to have a driving energy which underscores their consciousness.
Questing mages focus on one goal and move towards it unerringly. Of course, this means they are not incredibly adaptable, and can be somewhat predictable.

---