Mage: The Ascension
That Which Must Not Be Named.
Mage: The Ascension
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» Mage: The Ascension
Summary:
Mostly banned, but some elements are salvageable.
Some of Faye's work on the subject of Sorcery:
For the purpose of house gaming it has been discussed by several GM’s that we should replace Mage with Sorcerer. This will put Magi on a more equal footing with the other denizens of the House Gaming world. But for this to work Sorcerer, a vague book at its best, has to be revised. I am adding several new paths to allow Sorcerers to fill in the void left by Mage, as well as making some other simple rules calls. I am sending this to everyone who I know works behind the scenes on rules calls and web sites, as well as posting it here. If I did not e-mail you and you wanted to be on that list send me your e-mail address.
COINCIDENTAL AND VULGAR MAGIC
There is a reason that you do not see Sorcerers sending fire balls down fifth avenue, the world just can’t except it. On the hand, what they don’t know can’t hurt them, right?
Coincidental Magic: Difficulty 3+ highest aspect/ path rating used.
Magic that could pass for a normal occurrence.
Vulgar Magic: Difficulty 4+ highest aspect/path rating used. An additional difficult modifier is added if there are witness to the effect (+1 for 1 witness, up to a plus +3 for many witnesses). Witness means some one unawakened. Almost any other house gamer does not count.
Obvious and extraordinary effects.
To those familiar with Mage this may seem a slap on the wrist, but keep in mind that the abilities of Sorcerer are not as elastic as those of Mage and there are no penalties for comparable gifts, such as Psychic Powers, Mythos Magic, Werewolf Gifts, or Thaumaturgy.
Note on ritual-only paths: A ritual is a formula or tried and true method which a sorcerer can purchase for any path at a cost of 3 xp. Generally they allow the sorcerer to do more then the level of the path they are purchased at but take hours more or even days of effort depending on the difficulty of the ritual. In the book it says that you can create things from enchantment and alchemy (both ritual-only paths) without buying the ritual, but at an increased difficulty. This does not mean on the fly, just that you do not have to spend the 3 xp. I am changing this. At each new level in a given ritual-only path a sorcerer gets 1 new ritual of that level without paying for it. Other then that they have to write out their rituals and buy them like they would for any other path. Also it is important to mention that you can not hang a ritual from one of these paths, as many are tailored to a specific object or require time sensitive materials. The idea of someone being half way through making an enchantment zombie, hanging the ritual and then finishing the casting in game on a random dead person, or on the body they just happened to bring along is silly and I won’t allow it.
CHORUS
This is a passive path that allows sorcerers to work together in concert, combine spell paths, and hang more spells. This path does not require the sorcerer to make any rolls, when the level is reached she is able to do the abilities listed. The three aspects of this path are listed below.
Previously, sorcerers were not allowed to combine paths, and had severe penalties for hanging even one spell (+1 difficulty on all rolls for the first spell, and another +1 difficulty for every 2 hung spells after that).
Acting in Concert
Understanding ones self can leads to a better understanding of others. As the sorcerer progresses along this path she learns to work magic in a group, adding her abilities to the whole. To work together Sorcerers must still find some kind of common ground, a way that their disparate views of magic can coexist.
*If each mystic has the path ratings necessary to perform the effect, each one makes a roll, in turn, as if she was casting the spell solo. All successes are added together; the result counts toward the total needed.
*If less-knowledgeable Sorcerers are assisting a more powerful one, only one role is necessary. Each "helper" adds one success to the main caster’s efforts.
*If Sorcerers are working on a ritual that requires more then one path to cast, each Sorcerer can contribute rolls from a different path to the ritual, provided all sorcerers participating have Chorus at the rating required to cast the ritual.
(Example: Titania has Enchantment 3, Chorus 4, John has Mana Manipulation 4, Chorus 2. They both have Chorus high enough to cast a ritual combining 2 paths. To cast a ritual combining Enchantment and Mana Manipulation, Titania rolls her Enchantment and John rolls his Mana Manipulation. All successes are added together, the result counts toward the total needed.)
- Can work with 1 other caster
** Can work with 2 other casters
* Can work with 4 other casters
** Can work with 8 other casters
* Can work with 16 other casters
**Can work with 32 other casters
Hanging Spells
As the sorcerer becomes more attuned with magic it becomes less of a distracting force.
- Can hang 1 additional spell with out penalty
** Can hang 2 additional spells with out penalty
* Can hang 3 additional spells with out penalty
** Can hang 4 additional spells with out penalty
* Can hang 5 additional spells with out penalty
**Can hang 6 additional spells with out penalty
Combining Paths (ritual only)
All magic is just different faces of the same beast. As the Sorcerer comes into full understanding of this simple and yet complex idea, she is able to blend the paths she knows together, bringing about effects that anyone path alone could not. This requires study, and can never be done on the fly. These rituals must be purchased as normal, at the cost of 3 experience points and must be approved by at least one other GM. Difficulty is determined by the highest path/aspect used and number of successes needed is determined by the number of aspects and the path rating, as ususal.
- Can combine 2 paths
** Can combine up to 3 paths
* Can combine up to 4 paths
** Can combine up to 5 paths
* Can combine up to 6 paths
**Can combine up to 7 paths
EPHERMA
(Perception+Cosmology)
It has long been thought that ours is not the only reality. Magi that follow the path of Epherma know this for fact. This path allows Sorcerers to perceive and eventually interact with the spirt world, the dead lands, the dreaming, and other places lying just outside our reality.
Senses
This aspect determines how far the Sorcerer can perceive and interact with the other worlds.
- Sight
** Hearing
* Touch (minor, can move small things, may be felt by those on the other side)
** Touch (greater, can move things as though they were part of our reality)
* Spirt travel (The casters body is left behind in a catatonic state, while the spirt travels to other worlds)
Total Immersion ( Caster can now step into other worlds)
Number
At this level the Sorcerer can not only experience the sights of other worlds but can share them.
(starts at level 3)
* 1 other
2 others
* 3 others
**5 others
Barrier (Gauntlet or Shroud)
- 4 or less
** 5
* 6
** 7
* 8
**9
ARCANO-SURGERY (ritual only)
(Intelligence+Occult or Intelligence+Medicine)
Frankenstein’s monster, a chimera, a clone, all constructs made by man. Wither pushing the limits of modern surgery or combining bound bodies in an elaborately hermetic ritual, they are following the same path. It is not healing, but improvement, making life more then it once was. Stitching on limbs, or adding a bionic heart, this is bloody and often dangerous magic, and one of the few that can only be performed on others. In the beginning the sorcerer starts by altering what is already there, but by the end she is creating life in our own image.
- Allows the Sorcerer to push the limits of basic surgical procedures. (If the medical community can do it, you can do it better)
** Allows the Sorcerer expanded clinical analysis. (allows the practitioner to track a persons linage a hundred generations back, pinpoint the exact location of an infection, isolate the life residue or pheromones of an individual or species…)
* Alter single celled organisms. (Chang the host range of a parasite, make a harmless bacteria pathogenic, increase or decrease the rate at which an amoeba can reproduce, etc.)
** Alter Animals. (Graft limbs on dogs, clone sheep,…)
* Alter Humans ( clones! Reattach limbs, or add new ones, give a man the eyes of a wolf literally…)
**Alter Super natural Creatures ( graft limbs on a werewolf, alter the blood of a vampire, etc)
Illusion
(Manipulation + Occult)
Illusion, Manipulating peoples perception of reality. How much of what we see everyday is illusion? The teenie boppers push-up bra, the old man’s toupee, the leather jacket of the weekend warrior proclaiming he is hardcore and living on the edge.
We willingly accept what we expect to see, rarely questioning what our eyes perceive. It’s playing on these expectations that the path of illusion is born. It starts with simple slight of hand….
Number of people you wish to affect
- One person
** Two people
* A small group (less than 10)
** A Party (up to 50)
* A crowd of people (hundreds)
**A stadium full of people (thousands)
Duration
- A short while (a few minutes or so)
** One Scene
* A day or two
** A couple of weeks
* Several months
**Indefinitely
Influence
- Minor static illusion, one sense
** 2 senses, with simple repetitive movements
* 3 senses, with minor movement or interactivity
** 4 senses, with minor movement and interactivity
* 5 senses and completely interactive
**Horrid reality
"…the world just can not *accept* it." Not *except*. Two different words that sound the same. In the context you have used it, except would mean "to leave out" which results in a sentence with the opposite meaning that you obviously intended.
Best,
The English Nazi
I take it the staggered asterisks denote ranks 1-5 for the new paths. Are any of the paths from Sorcerer significantly altered?
Yes … I've been working with Mark on getting them more or less up to par with the other powers that are available. I've got a character with Divination, Conveyance, Hellfire, Healing, and Mana Manipulation. It's been interesting working through some of the kinks, but I hope that I haven't been TOO much of a burden to Mark. Anyways, the answer to your question is that all have been altered in some way, some majorly (Healing), others have been tweaked and some have been dropped all together.
Feel free to post or pass on the modified Paths. I've been toying with a Sorcerer character for a while now and would like to know what they're really capable of. Also, glad you reworked healing, how useless were they trying to make it?
I'd also like some specifics on using magic in combat. If you have to spend three hours chanting over a pure white rabbit on the third Tuesday of the month to use Hellfire, why bother?
Hellfire has been improved, with the base Damage up by +1 (3 levels, not dice, per Success applied). A Background called Fast casting is almost a must for any Mage, which shaves 1 round off the casting time per level for spontaneous spells. Drew has been iusing Hellfire to great effect, typically dealing 12 Aggravated levels at Difficulty 9 yo soak per cast. Likewise, Titania (A Vet) is easily among the most powerful characters in the Games & she is a pure Sorceress.
Sweet. It's going to be quit a while before I introduce the character I'm toying with, but I've learned to be very careful about building them and setting their feet on the path. It definitely pays to think ahead.
Any comments on Facination from sorcerer? It's one of my character's main abilities right now.
It is? Wow…I thought you were using more conventional powers. Fascination is one of the most powerful paths, though it's effects are somewhat imprecise.
1st of all, throw out the modifiers for Supernatural beings. It works fine on anything you can understand…that's the key: some aliens/monsters may be resistant or immune due to your inability to comprehend what would fascinate them.
2nd the innate resistance roll to mind/emotion control is improved a bit, to a 1 for 1 success ratio.
Lastly, & most importantly: Fascination is neither Mind Control, nor technically Emotion Control. Iron Will, Jaded, & similar abilities will have NO effect. It's more like a Vampiric Blood Bond, so the appropriate defense would be Unbondable. I'll get a chart set up to give you an idea of the differing levels of Bond intensity; basically the more you abuse the Fascination the weaker the Bond gets. The downside to this effect is that you don't have any precise control over what a Fascinated target will do. While they will aim to please you, & probably follow your suggestions, they are still able to act as they will.
Oh, okay. Thanks!
So do the mind/emotion control resistance roll improvements effect fascination even though it isn't mind control? Could you go into a little more detail about the specifics of resistance? Thanks again!
Not quite. Resistance to Mind/Emotion control generally does not help against Fascination, though certain exceptions occasionally arise. The resistance I mentioned earlier is in the descriptive text, that Willbinders are a bit more savvy about manipulation than most, & can roll (as I recall) Wits + Fascination to resist any form of mental or emotional domination.
I'm working on placing a basic mechanic write-up on the wiki … please feel free to comment on it here :D
All done, for now! Sorcery Mechanics
/forum/t-156695/mage:the-ascension#post-
