House Rules/Mage

House Rules - Mage "I am somewhat preoccupied with telling the laws of physics to shut up and sit down." -Vaarsuvius, The Order of the Stick

Awakening post-chargen See IC Awakening Guidelines Sketch Avatar Storm See Maelstrom Backgrounds Blessing: Should be based on a rote, but the roll is (some attribute + Blessing), not Arete. Difficulty is 6 unless otherwise specified. Some effects may require multiple successes. Can include flaws worth up to 1/3 (rounded to nearest) of what the Blessing would cost without any flaws. (1 can't be discounted, 2-4 can be discounted by 1, 5-7 can be discounted by 1 or 2.) Does not generate Paradox, unless it includes 1-dot flaw 'generates Paradox' (same as if the rote had been used). Does not trigger passive Awareness, unless it includes 1-dot flaw 'triggers passive Awareness' (same as if the rote had been used). Chantry: See '+rules chantry', also Home Base which is the non-mage version of the same shared-background mechanic. Nodes: See '+rules nodes' (or "Nodes" below). Resources 6+: Limited to Syndicate. Capped at 5 in chargen, 10 with XP. Raising above 5 requires minimum (current * 2) months, halved for Financiers and Disbursements. Sanctum: May be non-contiguous (e.g. linked by a coincidental Correspondence 4 portal), but may not be mobile (a Sanctum Van is a cool idea but would be overpowered). Spirit Allies (Dreamspeakers 61): Total background level can go up to 10 dots (but costs the same XP as regular backgrounds, not the cheaper Totem rate). You can allocate as many or as few of these dots to each individual ally as you want. Each ally starts with 4 (not 5) dots to divide between Willpower/Rage/Gnosis. Each ally gets (its level + 3) background points worth of totem-style powers. Horizon Realms A chantry can acquire a Horizon Realm by investing in the Chantry background and using it to support the Sanctum background. They can create a new one or find an existing gateway (see below). An individual can acquire a personal Horizon Realm by buying the Sanctum background directly, but only if they create a new one. The level of Sanctum determines the size of the realm. All magic cast there is coincidental or vulgar according to the realm's local rules (provided it doesn't reach outside the realm during casting). The Sanctum must be anchored by one or more nodes (communal and/or personal) whose total level equals or exceeds the Sanctum level; this ties up half their Quintessence and Tass production, rounded up (+rules nodes). Creating or increasing the size of a Realm works like creating or increasing the power of a node, except it requires Spirit 5 Matter 4 Prime 4. Finding a gateway to a Realm just requires buying the background, subject to same restrictions as finding a node. Traveling to or from a Realm requires an ongoing Spirit 4 Correspondence 4 effect, or alternatively each traveler can cast Spirit 3 each time (but can't bring anyone else with them). For the purpose of these rules, Dimensional Science can be substituted for Spirit. References: Book of Worlds 102, Void Engineers (old) 48, Book of Chantries 138 Merits/Flaws Spark of Life: If you and someone else are both in perfect health, then physical contact just feels good. Really, unusually, addictively so, depending how long it's kept up. Twin Souls: The "additional measure of Quintessence" is equal to the higher Avatar rating between the twins. (Twins with 3 and 2 have a total joint pool of 3+2+3=8. Twins with 4 and 4 have a total of 4+4+4=12.) Geas: Set "Geas (flaw)" to 1-5. More burden to avoid violating it = more points, but can't exceed whatever it's attached to. If attached to a merit or background, set that normally and add a +note. If attached to another flaw, add a +note, but don't add the flaw to +sheet (staff will perform the swap if/when the geas is violated). Confidence: Both modifiers depend on someone trying to mislead or intimidate you. Legendary Attribute: Limited to mages and sorcerers/psychics (who are at least mage-adjacent). Miscellaneous For every two ongoing effects that you're maintaining, you are +1 difficulty to any further effect. (MtA 155) For ongoing effects lasting a month or more, staff will set an +effect for 'Rotes' to help keep track of this. Nephandi / Infernalists Book of Madness covers Nephandi (whose goal is to destroy the world) in chapter 1 and Infernalists (whose goal is to gain power over the world) in chapter 3, but chapter 1 also uses the term 'Infernalist' inconsistently. Chapter 1 breaks Nephandi down into these sub-groups: a) 'Infernalists' who worship 'demons' (relatively mundane evil spirits) b) Malfeans who serve the Wyrm c) K'llashaa who worship the Lords of the Outer Darkness (Lovecraftian entities) Chapter 3: d) Infernalists who worship 'demons' but are not Nephandi We interpret 'Infernal Malfeans' as b), 'Infernal Nephandi' as a), other uses of 'Infernal' as either a) or d) based on context. All of these PCs can get Investments: Access to unusual backgrounds (e.g. Enhancement, equivalent to biomods and/or genegineering) Stat bonuses (same game mechanics as '+rules thralls') We do not use the additional powers from pages 96-100 For a) and d), the 'demon' may in fact be a DtF demon, in which case it's a Ravener NPC or PC (or a badly misinformed PC of another faction). We do not use Qlippothic spheres. See also: White Wolf wiki - Nephandic factions White Wolf wiki - Infernalists Policies - Antagonist PCs Nodes Node level Quint per week Tass per month Magick difficulty for casting near it 1 1 1 -1 2 3 2 -1 3 6 3 -2 4 10 5 -2 5 15 8 -3 Quintessence cannot be stockpiled, except by transferring it into an object (creating Tass) or mage or periapt. Tass may be stockpiled up to three months. Creating or increasing the power of a node requires Prime 5, in addition to buying the background. Large nodes (4+) are subject to staff discretion. A mage's Node background may correspond to two or more smaller nodes, but they won't be right next door to each other; consider how much territory you can reliably defend. Seeing through illusions In order to pierce mental illusions/effects of any kind (such as Obfuscate, Chimerstry, Dementation, and unless otherwise specified in the rules), a Mage must: Have activated a Mind 2 defensive effect beforehand. Roll Perception + Awareness vs 7 against the power's dice pool vs 7. When the effect doesn't have dice pool, roll <Level of power/gift/item> + Subterfuge vs 7. Ties are in favor of the illusion/effect. The mage must be actively searching to pierce an effect/illusion or detect an invisible person. (See: +rules sniping) Paradox Mages gain Paradox: When they use vulgar magic (even if they succeed and no one is watching). When they botch (even if the magic was coincidental). See Mage Charts ('Paradox' at lower right) for more detail on how much they gain. Staff ruling for what is considered 'sleeper witnesses' are plain, simple, vanilla, everyday mortals/animals with no supernatural powers at all, and not already accepting of vulgar magic (so your acolyte is OK even if they don't have any powers of their own yet). However, hunters do count as sleeper witnesses. If your Paradox + Quintessence ever exceeds 20, then you lose Quintessence to bring the total down to 20. (MtA 128) Backlash timing: If you gain Paradox during turn N, then you take backlash at the end of turn N+1. (This clarifies "a turn or two" from MtA 194.) If you also gain Paradox during turn N+1, then you also take backlash at the end of turn N+2 (if you still have any Paradox left at that point). Exception: When you gain Paradox, you can choose to immediately spend a Willpower, in which case you don't take backlash until the end of the scene. (MtA 195) Backlash damage: N is your total Paradox, not just your most recent gain. (MtA 195) N = 1-10: Take N dice of bashing damage. N = 11-20: Take (N-10) dice of lethal damage. N = 21+: Take (N-20) dice of aggravated damage. This damage is soakable as usual (typically bashing but not lethal/agg). Additional backlash effects still occur per the book, this is just clarifying the damage portion. Backlash burnoff: Roll your total Paradox vs 6, lose one Paradox per success. (MtA 153) This is separate from the damage roll above. Dissipation: If your Paradox is 10 or less, and remains constant for a week, then 1 point dissipates. (MtA 128) 'Permanent' Paradox (e.g. Enhancement background, raising an attribute above 5 for long enough) can only be lost by removing the cause (removing the Enhancement, lowering your attribute to 5 or less, etc.). Seekings Normally, a Seeking is required for a Mage to increase their Arete. Instead, we limit the rate at which mages can raise Arete above 3. The XP cost is also house-ruled. Arete Minimum time XP 1 to 2 1 month 8 2 to 3 3 months 16 3 to 4 6 months 24 4 to 5 8 months 32 A mage who studies a Grimoire/Principia can raise Arete sooner, see '+rules grimoire' for details. As Awakening can take you straight to Arete 2 or 3 (MtA 124), we only time-limit raising Arete above 3. Technocratic Equipment These rules pertain to the Device, Enhancement, and Requisitions backgrounds. Each item has a level value (L) and a "Background Cost" value (B). "Background Cost" or "Background Points" or "Points" counts as B. Any other comprehensive level value (including Device, Arete/Enlightenment, or dot symbols without a word label) counts as L. If B is not explicitly stated, then B = L*2. If only B is explicitly stated, then L = B/2 (rounded up). If both B and L are stated, but they don't match the usual 2:1 ratio: If B < L*2, then for these rules, use B = L*2. If B > L*2, then for these rules, use L = B/2 (rounded up). N dots in the Device background gives N items, costed using L. Even if a Device is implanted within your body, it can be targeted without Life and removed using Correspondence. N dots in the Requisitions background gives 5*N items, costed using B. PCs can roll Requisitions to try for more. Requisitions are reviewed at staff and/or PC leader discretion. N dots in the Enhancement background gives one of the following: 3*N cybernetics, costed using B. 3*N biomods, costed using B. Total of +N to one or more allowed stats (Guide to the Technocracy 182). Enhancements count as part of your Pattern, requiring Life to target, and preventing removal using Correspondence. Additional restrictions on Enhancement: Cybernetics and stat boosts can't be combined. Biomods (including biomod versions of cybernetics) can be combined with either cybernetics or stat boosts. Each dot allocated to cybernetics requires 1 dot of permanent Paradox. Each dot allocated to stat boosts requires 1 genetic flaw (examples at Guide to the Technocracy 230-232). Each dot allocated to biomods requires 1 permadox and 1 genetic flaw. (GttTech 182: "Hence, the Life magic penalty does not apply to biomods. The permanent Paradox, however, does, Like other genegineered agents, a character with biomods must also take at least one Genetic Flaw per level of Enhancement.") The advantage of biomods is that Reality Deviants can't use Life magic to make your body reject them, and also they don't trigger metal detectors. Thresholds If a mage effect would otherwise be difficulty 9+N (after applying all modifiers), roll at diff 9 and cancel N successes. If this cancels all successes, it's only a botch if the mage rolled a 1. For extended effects, apply this rule to each roll individually.