Mage House Rules
House Rules - Mage
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Arete Wait Time for Raises
**IC Seekings are still required to advance.
**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.
| Rating | Time | Rating | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 month | 5 | 8 months | |
| 2 | 2 months | 6* & 7* | 10 months each | |
| 3 | 4 months | 8* & 9* | 1 year for each level | |
| 4 | 6 months | 10* | 2 years |
- May be reviewed at a later date when it/if it actually comes into play.
- This chart may be altered at Staff Discretion for game balance.
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.*
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Archmage, Exemplars and Oracles
M20 Prism of Focus tries to explains an advanced mage which is defined as a mage with Arete 6+.
Upon completing a Seeking for Arete 6 the player must choose one of three paths: Archmage, Exemplar, or Oracle. Archmage is the most common choice, and Oracle is the rarest.
HR: If everyone starts choosing Oracle, this decision will be decided with a staff die roll and weighted appropriately to the three choices. At this point in a mage's development they will be switched the Practice-rating system outlined in Prism of Focus.
HR: Choosing a path can't be avoided or delayed, or changed in the current incarnation. You will have to start the path all over again with a new character.
Archmage
Archmages have chosen their Focus and power over other incentives. Archmages tend to remain active in mage society. They are the great and legendary leaders of their Traditions, Conventions, or Crafts. They often dedicate themselves to massive tasks that will take them years, decades, or centuries. Such as building horizon realms, shifting the consensus, or defeating their enemies in the Ascension War. Many become prolific Mentors. "Whatever they choose to do, their personal power and accessibility make them political heavyweights who are not challenged lightly.
- May learn spheres up to the 6th dot.
- Archmages can only gain one archmastery per Sphere
- Forever unable to surpass their Focus (Practices/Instruments/etc). Instead, they become the true masters of their Practices.
- May continue to raise Practice-ratings to 6 dots.
- Upon reaching a Practice-rating 6, any low-level (2nd level Spheres or less) rote cast using that practice is no longer consider vulgar.
- Gain 1 dot of resonance related to the 6th level Practice. (Can not be masked except by Prime Exemplars)
Exemplars
These mages have become so obsessed with understanding a single sphere of magick that it begins to consume them. When their exemplary sphere is only at 6 or 7, they tend to remain accessible to their faction, though often distant as they become more and more alien. Beyond that, however, they lose the
ability to relate to normal humans, even mages.
- Can learn 1 sphere up to 10 dots, and no other sphere greater than 5.
- Cannot use any other sphere at a level higher than 10-exemplary sphere (the sphere they have chosen to embody). So a character with Forces 7 cannot use Life 4, but Life 3 will still work for them.
- no longer need to use their Practices for low-level effects that only use their exemplary sphere.
- At Sphere 6, they can ignore Focus for effects of rank at most 2;
-- at 7, they can go up to 4
-- at 8, up to 6
-- 9 up to 8,
-- and all uses at rank 10, at which point they can use no other spheres and have left humanity and human perspectives far behind.
- For each dot above 5 in a Sphere, choose one Archmastery.
- Subtract dice equal to their exemplary sphere rating-5 from all social rolls involving beings not tied to their exemplary sphere, such as spirits from the Shade Realm and other Exemplars of the sphere. As a result, almost all Exemplars eventually retreat to the appropriate Shade Realm.
Oracle
These mages have had the revelation that their Practice is limiting them, and some even realize that their Tenets are true for them but not for others. They seek to surpass their Focus and move beyond their mundane perspective to encompass the entire universe in their greater enlightenment.This is the one true path to Ascension.
- Oracles can never gain an Archmastery
- Any effect that uses Spheres rated below their Arete-5 can be used without invoking their Practices, though using them provides a -1 difficulty bonus.
- For all purposes of Reality Zones, Sanctums, Rituals, etc., they act as though they have a rating of their Arete-5 in all Practices, making it a simple matter for an Oracle to work with any mage whatsoever.
- Oracles rarely interact with their former Traditions, Conventions, or Crafts as members.They tend to outgrow loyalty to any organization of mages rapidly.
- Oracle can never learn any Sphere at 6, they are also the only one of the three paths that leads to Ascension, rather than to a dead end that the mage will not be able to move past until their next lifetime.
- Often Oracles will take it upon themselves to speak with mages on the verge of an Arete 6 Seeking to dissuade them from becoming Archmages or Exemplars so that they don’t give up their potential for Ascension in this life.
ARCHMASTERIES
| Area of Effect | The mage may target all people within an area simultaneously. The required successes are determined by the Correspondence chart for the area size rather than the number of targets. |
| Counter-Counterspell | The Archmage’s magick with this Sphere requires twice as many successes to counter or unweave. |
| Doublecast | The Archmage can perform two effects involving this Sphere simultaneously. |
| Easier Conjunctions | Effects where the archsphere is the Primary Sphere (determined at Storyteller’s discretion) have their conjunctional requirements halved and rounded down. |
| Efficient Quintessence | Quintessence and tass costs are halved, rounded down, and may become zero. This is particularly prized by Archmages of Prime who intend to make Wonders. Exemplars may take this Archmastery multiple times. |
| Extreme Specialization | The Archmage no longer doubles 10s when using their Specialty. Instead, they roll two dice for each dot of Arete.Exemplars may take this Archmastery multiple times. |
| Larger Dicepools | The Archmage rolls Attribute + Ability + Arete for rotes. |
| Paradox Magnet | The Archmage may, upon casting a vulgar effect with this Sphere, cause all Paradox accrued by others using this Sphere to apply to them rather than the caster. This effect lasts for a
scene and cannot be canceled early. |
| Permanence | The archmage may permanently extend an effect’s duration without the usually required successes by expending a Willpower dot. |
| Shade Access | The Archmage may roll Arete at difficulty 6 to immediately take themself to the Shade Realm of their archmastered Sphere. |
| Universal Specialization | The archmage understands their chosen sphere to such a degree that they treat all effects using it as though their specialty applies. |
Sphere Learning Times
When you begin to learn a new sphere Icly, submit a +xpreq. Only 1 sphere spend may be in process at any given time. You don't need to have all the required xp at the time of the request, but you must have it before the learning time below has passed.
Failure to have collected the required xp can be interrupted ICly as having trouble understanding the subject matter, paradox interruptions, loosing focus on studies, etc. In which case, at the end of the learning time, the request will be closed as a failure, and your studies will have to start again.
| Level | Wait Time |
|---|---|
| 1 - 2 | 1 month |
| 3 & 4 | 3 months |
| 5 | 6 months |
- May be altered for game balance at staff discretion.
- May be altered for game balance at staff discretion.
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.
Library finding a suitable Grimoire in a library may also reduce your Xp cost, at staff discretion. Contact Staff (There are currently no Grimoires in play as of 4/9/23.)
XP Chart
New Sphere: 10 xp
Affinity Sphere: current x 7xp
Other Sphere: current x 8xp
Avatar (Background)
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
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,
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 for to you ICly for increasing your Arete as 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)
- 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)
- 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
- Cabals are small groups of mages, typically 3 or more, that work together within a chantry.
- Cabals may be of a single tradition or mixed tradition.
- 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:
- Include the name of the other mages you are forming a cabal with.
- Give your cabal a name and state your purpose.
- Do you plan to work together in a strictly mundane sense, or do you plan to work magick together.
- In the case of a mixed cabal that plans to work magickally together staff may ask for social rolls.
- In the case of a mixed cabal that plans to work magickally together staff may ask for social rolls.
- 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
Per game setting there is currently only one node, and it is limited. Node background may not be bought in chargen. Any new nodes must be created Icly, somehow. Contact staff for a tp if you desire this to discuss options.
Chantry node levels are not posted, and likely won't be.
Node Code refills Quintessence on a weekly basis, Tass refills on a monthly basis.
| 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
HR: Staff will require a dedicated room for your sanctum. There are a few exceptions we can think of, but don’t count on your sanctum being public space.
HR: We have had to divide Sanctum into two stats Sanctum Size and Sanctum Supplies. This was done for a couple of reason, the major one being that Sanctum is a double-cost background, and this is an easy way to get the cost correct without recoding the entire chargen for one stat.
HR: You are required to buy Sanctum Size and Sanctum Supplies at the same level wether that is in chargen or a new spend post-approval. Your first spend on Sanctum must be equal levels of both. ie Sanctum Size 3 and Sanctum Supplies 3.
HR: After your first buy of Sanctum you may raise either Size or Supplies independently with some restrictions. Any given Sanctum Size may only hold up to one level higher in Supplies, at Max.
HR: Other Stats In the event that you Sanctum Size and Supplies are not identical matches, your other stats of your sanctum (difficulty reduction and arcane) will be the average of both stats rounded down. For example: Size 4, Supplies 2 would equal, Difficulty reduction of 1 (2+1=3/2=1.5 rounded down= 1), and an Arcane of 2 (4+1=5/2=2.5 rounded down=2). A +note will be set on your sanctum with these stats.
HR: COST Raising either 'Sanctum Size' or 'Sanctum Supplies' cost Currentx6 per the Mage xp chart.
HR: Resources You must also have a resources level to maintain your sanctum. You must have enough resources to be able to afford the size space you need. Resources 1 characters may only have up to a level 2 Sanctum (Size 2 and Supplies 2).
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, 100 sq feet max (a 10 ft x 10 ft room)
•• Small stock of goods; ritual difficulties reduced by 1. Two dots in Arcane, 200 sq feet max (10 ft x 20 ft room)
••• Decent stock of goods; ritual difficulties reduced by 1. Three dots in Arcane, 300 sq feet max
•••• Fine stock of materials; ritual difficulties reduced by 2. Four dots in Arcane, 400 sq feet max
••••• Excellent stock of materials; ritual difficulties reduced by 2. Five dots in Arcane, 500 sq feet max
Size Reference: 500 sq feet equals approx a 22.5 ft x 22.5 ft area, about the size of a small studio apartment, or a 2-car garage with storage space.
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.
Status
Respect is important. Fortunately, you enjoy a certain degree of respect within your chosen group. This Background reflects your overall reputation among your Awakened peers
– Virtual Adepts, Templars, Progenitors, etc. At the highest levels of Status (4 and 5), that rep extends to affiliated groups (all the Traditions, Disparate Crafts, Technocracy Conventions) and might extend outside your faction as well. (“I’ve heard a lot about you, Mister Leonard – even here, we’ve heard of you…”)
Story-wise, Status gives you a certain amount of respect from associated mages. This, in turn, grants you some deference: folks open doors for you, address you by your desired name
and title, send you invitations for special events, and so forth. If you need a small favor, or get involved in a dispute, Status lends your cause a bit of weight.
In game terms, you may add this Background to your dice pool during Social rolls when dealing with your peers; an admired Virtual Adept, for instance, would add four dice to her
Social rolls among the Adepts. That bonus is halved (round up) among mages from a different but allied sect; the same Adept would get a two-dice bonus among other Traditions. You don’t get that bonus among enemies or strangers, though they might acknowledge you in story terms. (“Our files on you, Ms. Vasquez – or perhaps I should call you ‘Voodoo’ – are most… impressive…”)
Obviously, Status must be based on something you do or have done. A brand-new mage isn’t going to have Status 5 – she’ll have to earn it. This Background reflects a reputation among mages, not among Sleepers or other entities, though certain beings in the know (like vampires or spirit-lords) might recognize a Status 4 or 5 mage.
This Background is granted by the Storyteller as a reward for your actions throughout the chronicle. You can also lose Status by failing to live up to it; an agent known for
cowardice won’t command respect for long…
X No special status.
Acknowledged; your peers recognize your name if it comes up.
Credible; you’re considered noteworthy.
Respected; your word carries weight.
Admired; most people in your group look up to you.
Revered; you’re considered a paragon of your group’s principles.
Players may send in nominations for Status increase for OTHER mages. Staff will take these nominations by +request, and will be taken into account when considering Status increases. Status nominations must have IC merit, you must present proof. (ie. Logs)
DROPPING FOCI
Ref: M20 Core pg 329
Mystic Mages
HOUSE RULE: While the books say a mystic can begin dropping foci at Arete 3, we feel that is a bit too soon in a mage's development, even for a Mystic Mage.
A Tradition mage cannot discard instruments until they reach Arete 4; at that point, they can set aside a single instrument, and drop one another at Arete 5. From Arete 6 onward, a Tradition Mage can set aside two instruments per dot in Arete. Again, by Arete 9, the mage will have transcended the need for an external focus.
Dropping a instrument only means you don't need it anymore, you don't suffer difficulty penalties for not using it.
However, you may still CHOOSE to use them for difficulty reduction.
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.
Paradigms, Practices and Instruments
Paradigms
Paradigms explain your character's beliefs and why they work the way they do. You may pick one paradigm, or pick several that you can make a sentence out of. Paradigm changes are exceedingly rare, but allowable. Seekings run by staff will be required and the player must have a very good reason for persuing this course.
See: Paradigms for a list and explanation chart.
Practices
Practices are methods of working that fit with your paradigm. They are as in-grained for mages as the paradigm is. You must pick at least one Practice associated with your Paradigm(s). If you picked multiple paradigms, it is advisable that your practices work with all of them, though not entirely necessary.
The book does make an allowance learning new practices, but not for dropping them. Here is our take on this..
- Learning new practices - This is easier and is a combination of skill learning as outlined in the book with Esoterica rolls, and a seeking run by staff. The new practice should still be one allowed within your paradigm(s). Your Avatar may not like the new practice, or may accept it easier or need some convincing. This seeking may be failed, in which your mage will be considered "In conflict with avatar" (+1 to +3 difficulty modifier) for all your arete rolls until resolved. Resolved means you either convince the avatar to accept the change, or the mage gives up seeking that change; which is a lesson in-and-of it's own.
- Dropping Practices - The book doesn't state this is possible, so this will be harder to do. Your mage, and the avatar, are use to working a certain way. Seeking will be required. It is possible to fail and as above the mage would be considered "in conflict with Avatar" (+1 to +3 difficulty modifier) for arete rolls. It would be more ideal to drop practices you rely on the least, as explained in Instruments below.
Instruments
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Specialties
HOUSE RULES
