Mana Manipulation

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Basics

  • Roll: Manipulation + Occult vs (3 + level)
  • Modifiers: -1 difficulty for areas of strong Mana (Nodes and the like)
  • Duration of casting: 1 turn (level 1-2) / 2 turns (level 3-4) / 3 turns (level 5-6). Each additional roll doubles total casting time.
  • Duration of effect: Varies
  • Rituals: "Infusion (ritual)" (2), Shape Mana (3)

Aspects

Instead of aspects, this Path offers certain feats that may be performed at each level.

Mana Manipulation
Dot-filled.png The sorcerer can sense Mana energies. In simple terms, a quick meditation or invocation allows the sorcerer to determine if an area or item is charged with power (Quintessence, Mana, vampire blood, what have you). With three or more successes, the sorcerer can tell if it has a specific Resonance-- recognizing a sacred grove as a place holy to nature and growth or determining that some sort of stored Mana is actually flavored with a destructive, poisonous Resonance, for instance.
Dot-filled.pngDot-filled.png While an initiate can sense magical energy in places or objects, a sorcerer with this level of Mana Manipulation can see the magical energy in and around creatures. The sorcerer's perceptions let him determine if someone is using magic and allow him to see obstructed or occluded magical flows (like blocked chi energies or curses). The sorcerer can also make a rough estimate of the potential magical energy held by an individual, though this does not guarantee separating a supernatural creature from an otherwise normal human.
Dot-filled.pngDot-filled.pngDot-filled.png Skilled sorcerers can displace or alter the flow of Mana around an area. The sorcerer can briefly block a Mana flow (each success causes a Node or other wellspring of Mana to become dormant for a turn) or push it in a different direction (again, for one turn per success). The sorcerer can cause Mana to become trapped in a simple object, though a given object can only hold a single point of Mana through a brief spell of this sort.
Dot-filled.pngDot-filled.pngDot-filled.pngDot-filled.png Manipulation of personal Mana energies allows a sorcerer to store additional Mana (temporarily), draw from a place of power to fuel his magic or even disrupt a person's Mana flow to cause injury. The sorcerer can draw Mana out of a place of power; each success allows the sorcerer to channel one point of Mana (to the limit of the area's power), which must be used in the next turn. Striking at a person to destroy Mana allows the sorcerer to strip Mana from the individual's pool at a one-success-for-one-point rate; this can also discharge the power in other magical pools (like Gnosis) on a two-successes-per-point ratio. Mana Manipulation at this level can cause injury or healing by altering the flow of life energy through a subject, essentially promoting health or disease. (This has no immediate effect, but over time may cause degeneration or better health; long-term or powerful alterations are better performed with the Healing Path.)
Dot-filled.pngDot-filled.pngDot-filled.pngDot-filled.pngDot-filled.png The master of Mana can not only sense and redirect Mana, but can use Mana to infuse countermagic (creating a magical "shield" that allows him to add Mana to a countermagic dice pool), block another sorcerer's use of Mana (each success stops an opponent's point of Mana from empowering an effect) or even change the Resonance of Mana (turning poisoned Mana into neutral, "clean" energy that could be used with helpful spells or bending otherwise passive Mana to a more active, fiery Resonance for use with destructive magic), with successes dictating the level of change-- one success would alter the Resonance slightly, three would cancel out a characteristic and five would reverse it.
Dot-filled.pngDot-filled.pngDot-filled.pngDot-filled.pngDot-filled.pngDot-filled.png A legendary sorcerer can briefly cause an area to become a nexus of Mana energy. With a spell of this level, the sorcerer creates a flow of Mana for a few moments, turning himself into a sort of magical magnet. Successes garnered on such a spell are split between duration (in turns) and power (in Mana per turn). The sorcerer or others present may channel this Mana normally. Doing so, however, can be very debilitating; such magic often has side effects or burns out the caster (score one level of bashing damage for each success rolled).