"Welcome to part 174 of Sphere Mixers! This where we randomly choose two Spheres and two Ranks and brainstorm ideas for...

• Conjunctional Effects using both of these Spheres or
• Two Effects, one of each Rank, that work well together.

Matter 4

•••• Complex Transmutation

Complex and radical transformations now become possible, especially with the addition of other Spheres. Pumpkins can be changed into carriages (Life 2), people into thrones (Life 5), cars into robots (combinations of Forces and Prime), or thin air into banquets, so long as the mage doesn’t mind racking up a little (or a lot…) of Paradox. Different principles can be combined in complicated ways, creating cybernetic machines or electrified gold. Complicated devices (guns, cars, computers) may be conjured out of empty space if the mage understands the principles behind such things (in game terms, possesses the proper Abilities). As usual, though, complicated creations demand extended rituals and many successes.

Prime 4

•••• Expel or Infuse Energy / Tap Wellspring / Craft Tass & Permanent Wonders

The terrible power of draining Quintessence from objects or forces (though not yet from living things) can disintegrate those targets, consume them in Primal flames, or decay them almost instantly. Reversing that flow, the mage can craft objects that cannot be broken, or bond organic and inorganic materials together to create cybernetic implants, nanotech, and other Wonders. At this stage, she is able to enchant items permanently and draw Quintessence from the energetic Wellsprings of exciting events. By infusing her personal Quintessence into a Periapt, the mage might use Matter 4 to craft a Soulgem: a portable vessel that’s filled with her own Resonance and energy.

Previous Mixers: Check out our wiki page for past Sphere Mixers; feel free to go back and add your new ideas."

"Welcome to part 173 of Sphere Mixers! This where we randomly choose two Spheres and two Ranks and brainstorm ideas for...

• Conjunctional Effects using both of these Spheres or
• Two Effects, one of each Rank, that work well together.

Forces 3

••• Transmute Minor Forces / Telekinetics / The Dragon’s Touch

Now the mage can alter and invoke the energies she could only touch before. By adding Prime 2, she may conjure winds, fire, electricity, gravitational wells, and so forth. Combining this Rank with Life or Matter, she can transform people into electricity (Life 5/ Forces 3); change water into air (Forces 3/ Matter 3), or attach elemental force to material forms – making them fly, pinning them to the ground, and having other, similar effects (generally with Life or Matter 3). And by adding an ephemeral Sphere to this Rank, she might erode or enhance energies (Entropy 3); manifest thoughts into energies (Mind 3); transmute spirit-stuff into physical energies (Spirit 3); or set triggers for energy fluctuations at some later interval (Time 4).

At this Rank, the scale of effect grows larger, now encompassing several dozen yards or a handful of characters.

Spirit 5

••••• Forge Ephemera / Gilgul / Break the Dreamshell

The Spirit Master is now able to command ephemera itself, creating, challenging, and destroying spirit matter as he Wills. With such power, he may craft Realms, imbue or drain a spirit of Essence, instill a soul within an empty shell of Life or Matter, and bestow the awful sentence of Gilgul – the destruction of a mage’s Avatar. Such powers are always vulgar and feature devastating consequences even when the mage succeeds.

This power also allows the mage to break the Dreamshell and venture beyond the Horizons, wandering into the Deepest of Umbrae. Such tasks demand at least 10 successes, but a courageous Master can travel as far as his soul wants to go.

Previous Mixers: Check out our wiki page for past Sphere Mixers; feel free to go back and add your new ideas."

"Welcome to part 172 of Sphere Mixers! This where we randomly choose two Spheres and two Ranks and brainstorm ideas for...

• Conjunctional Effects using both of these Spheres or
• Two Effects, one of each Rank, that work well together.

Life 1

• Sense Life

Basic Life knowledge allows a person to read the presence and health of nearby life-forms. With such knowledge, the mage can discern a living being’s age, sex, and overall health. By combining those perceptions with other Spheres, he can also sense distant organisms (Correspondence 2), guess their potential for sickness or misfortune (Entropy 1), perceive them through past or future states (Time 2), or read the streams of Quintessence that bind them to the universe (Prime 1).

Mind 5

••••• Control Subconscious / Forge Psyche / Untether Consciousness

A true Mind Master commands not only his own conscious but other minds as well. He may alter someone’s mind forever, raising (or lowering) her Traits, rewriting her personality, changing her Nature Trait, or (with Life 4) switching her mind into another body. He can do the same things to his own mind as well, and he can untether that mind to explore the deeper reaches of astral space for hours or even days at a time. His greatest power, though, is the ability to fabricate entire consciousnesses, creating minds where no mind had been before.

Previous Mixers: Check out our wiki page for past Sphere Mixers; feel free to go back and add your new ideas."

"Welcome to part 171 of Sphere Mixers! This where we randomly choose two Spheres and two Ranks and brainstorm ideas for...

• Conjunctional Effects using both of these Spheres or
• Two Effects, one of each Rank, that work well together.

Entropy 4

•••• Affect Living Things

At this Rank, the mage assumes the awesome power of blessing, cursing, and conferring outright health or decay. By influencing the flow of entropy within a living body, that mage can grant outstanding vitality to, or inflict sudden disease upon, his subject. Such influence, as noted above, inflicts or heals aggravated damage and may grant long-term luck or misfortune. (Storyteller’s option as to how this manifests.)

Life 1

• Sense Life

Basic Life knowledge allows a person to read the presence and health of nearby life-forms. With such knowledge, the mage can discern a living being’s age, sex, and overall health. By combining those perceptions with other Spheres, he can also sense distant organisms (Correspondence 2), guess their potential for sickness or misfortune (Entropy 1), perceive them through past or future states (Time 2), or read the streams of Quintessence that bind them to the universe (Prime 1).

Previous Mixers: Check out our wiki page for past Sphere Mixers; feel free to go back and add your new ideas."

"Welcome to part 170 of Sphere Mixers! This where we randomly choose two Spheres and two Ranks and brainstorm ideas for...

• Conjunctional Effects using both of these Spheres or
• Two Effects, one of each Rank, that work well together.

Mind 1

• Sense Thoughts & Emotions / Mind Shield / Empower Self

With basic mental magick, the mage learns to sense the emotions and surface impulses of other people. Although he cannot read specific thoughts, he’s able to perceive psychic impressions about a person or (with Matter 1) a place or object. Through this perception, he can guess at the nature of weak Resonance signatures and read the stronger ones outright. Even without Resonance, that mage can scan auras, note mood shifts, discern truth from lies, or grasp someone’s overall state of mind by way of a successful Arete roll.

Meanwhile, the mage also learns to shield his own mind from the thoughts and emotions of other people, constructing mental barriers around his aura, emotions, and consciousness. Each success on a coincidental Arete roll removes one success from any other character’s attempt to read those psychic elements.

On a related note, he also learns how to multitask and absorb data with startling acuity. Each success he rolls allows him to either consider an additional subject or speed the processing time that a normal person might require. For a scene or two, he can even raise one of his Mental Traits by one dot per success, thanks to a Mind Empowerment Effect that concentrates his mental faculties.

Prime 3

••• Channel Quintessence / Enchant Life / Energy Weapon / Craft Periapts & Temporary Wonders

By tapping into the flow of Quintessence around her, the Prime-skilled mage can draw both free and raw Quintessence from Nodes, Junctures (special times), and Tass (solidified Quintessence)… and she may also channel that energy into new and existing Patterns as well. With such powers, she could (with Life 3) enchant a living thing so that it could inflict or endure aggravated damage; inflict aggravated damage by shaking up that organism’s life force; pull small amounts of life force from a living sacrifice or (with Matter 2) from inert objects; instill Quintessence into a vessel called a Periapt; or – with other Spheres – craft temporary Talismans or Devices by infusing them with Primal Force. (Permanent enchantments require Prime 4 – see Crafting Wonders on p. 508, and Quintessence Amounts on p. 507.)

In desperate circumstances, a Prime-schooled mage can also create temporary weapons out of pure concentrated energy – blasts of Quintessence or swords of light. Such weapons inflict aggravated damage (as per the Base Damage or Duration chart) and cost one point of Quintessence per use… or, for weapons that last for a length of time, one point per turn. When the mage runs of out Quintessence, the weapon disappears. Unless channeled through energy-guns or conjured as miracles among the faithful, such attacks are inevitably vulgar.

Previous Mixers: Check out our wiki page for past Sphere Mixers; feel free to go back and add your new ideas."

"Welcome to part 169 of Sphere Mixers! This where we randomly choose two Spheres and two Ranks and brainstorm ideas for...

• Conjunctional Effects using both of these Spheres or
• Two Effects, one of each Rank, that work well together.

Correspondence 4

•••• Rend Space / Ward / Co-locate Self

Creating larger holes in space, the mage can now open permanent gates between locations (10 or more successes); isolate forces, spaces, objects, or people into their own tiny realms (by combining Correspondence 4 with Forces, Life, Mind, or Matter); and ward certain locations against specific Patterns (again, combining Forces, Life, Mind, or Matter with Correspondence) or Resonance energies (combining this Sphere with Prime 4). This warding effect can impede or even block the forbidden elements from crossing into, or out of, the protected space. (For extensive details about wards, see the sourcebook How Do You DO That?)

Using the Co-location Effect, that mage can also appear in several different places at once. To function, however, she must add Mind 1 to that Effect. Each self mirrors the original’s actions unless she also adds Life 2 to that Effect, granting independence to every self.

Matter 4

•••• Complex Transmutation

Complex and radical transformations now become possible, especially with the addition of other Spheres. Pumpkins can be changed into carriages (Life 2), people into thrones (Life 5), cars into robots (combinations of Forces and Prime), or thin air into banquets, so long as the mage doesn’t mind racking up a little (or a lot…) of Paradox. Different principles can be combined in complicated ways, creating cybernetic machines or electrified gold. Complicated devices (guns, cars, computers) may be conjured out of empty space if the mage understands the principles behind such things (in game terms, possesses the proper Abilities). As usual, though, complicated creations demand extended rituals and many successes.

Previous Mixers: Check out our wiki page for past Sphere Mixers; feel free to go back and add your new ideas."

"Welcome to part 168 of Sphere Mixers! This where we randomly choose two Spheres and two Ranks and brainstorm ideas for...

• Conjunctional Effects using both of these Spheres or
• Two Effects, one of each Rank, that work well together.

Forces 3

••• Transmute Minor Forces / Telekinetics / The Dragon’s Touch

Now the mage can alter and invoke the energies she could only touch before. By adding Prime 2, she may conjure winds, fire, electricity, gravitational wells, and so forth. Combining this Rank with Life or Matter, she can transform people into electricity (Life 5/ Forces 3); change water into air (Forces 3/ Matter 3), or attach elemental force to material forms – making them fly, pinning them to the ground, and having other, similar effects (generally with Life or Matter 3). And by adding an ephemeral Sphere to this Rank, she might erode or enhance energies (Entropy 3); manifest thoughts into energies (Mind 3); transmute spirit-stuff into physical energies (Spirit 3); or set triggers for energy fluctuations at some later interval (Time 4).

At this Rank, the scale of effect grows larger, now encompassing several dozen yards or a handful of characters.

Mind 2

•• Read Surface Thoughts / Empathic Bond / Create Impressions / Mental Impulse

Now the mage begins to skim the contents of unshielded minds, discern emotional states, read memories that have been left behind on objects or places, and project single words or emotional impulses to other people. The simpler the emotional content, the easier it is to send or read; a flash of rage, for instance, is easy to project or receive, but the complex stew of reflective melancholy presents a challenge to inexperienced Mind-mages. (Game-wise, such complex feats demand more successes than a simple feat does.)

Previous Mixers: Check out our wiki page for past Sphere Mixers; feel free to go back and add your new ideas."

"Welcome to part 167 of Sphere Mixers! This where we randomly choose two Spheres and two Ranks and brainstorm ideas for...

• Conjunctional Effects using both of these Spheres or
• Two Effects, one of each Rank, that work well together.

Correspondence 5

••••• Spatial Mutation / Co-Location

Distance and dimensions become child’s play to a mage at this Rank. She can distort space; alter sizes and stretch or compress objects (Matter), bodies (Life), or forces (Forces); connect different Patterns to one another across intervening space; or even superimpose places or objects on top of one another (extremely vulgar). Combining this Rank with Life 3, the mage may also expand her senses to perceive many different places at once.

Prime 2

•• Fuel Pattern / Construct Patterns / Enchant Patterns / Body of Light

Attaining a degree of control over Prime energies, the mage may divert Quintessence into new or existing forms. Combined with other Spheres, this allows that mage to create new Forces, Life, or Matter Patterns (conjuring them from thin air), and to infuse existing items with Primal Force to strengthen them or enhance their protective or destructive power.

Weapons or attacks infused with Quintessence through Prime 2 Effects may hurt spirits or inflict aggravated damage, and substances infused the same way may protect against such harm. (See Chapter Nine’s Combat section for details.) On a related note, she may also – with Life 2 for simple organisms, or Life 3 for complex ones – consecrate a living thing at this Rank, as if that life-form were an object described above.

Through similar applications of energy, the mage can also conjure a simple Body of Light: an idealized self projected from ephemeral energy. Although this Body of Light has no substance or special properties (unlike the astral form described in Chapter Nine, p. 477), it presents a glowing holograph of the mage herself.

Previous Mixers: Check out our wiki page for past Sphere Mixers; feel free to go back and add your new ideas."

"Welcome to part 166 of Sphere Mixers! This where we randomly choose two Spheres and two Ranks and brainstorm ideas for...

• Conjunctional Effects using both of these Spheres or
• Two Effects, one of each Rank, that work well together.

Spirit 1

• Spirit Sight / Spirit Sense

To most of humanity, the spirit world remains invisible. Not to a mage who knows the Spirit Sphere. Although he’ll be most attuned to spirits with Resonance similar to his own, that mage can read the local Gauntlet’s thickness, discern auras, sense spirits of all types, peek into the Penumbra through the Vidare (see Chapters Three and Four), and determine whether or not a material object has a spiritual component (as mystic Fetishes do).

Combined with other Spheres, that mage can spot forces, places, or items with unusual ties to the spirit world, such as Awakened objects, elemental spirits, possessed organisms, Shallowings, Nodes, and so forth.

Time 4

•••• Time Determinism / Trigger Effect / Time Bubble / Anchor Point

Now the mage learns to withdraw herself from the normal flow of time, hold Effects until they get triggered by events, or – by adding in Correspondence, Forces, Life, Matter, and/ or Spirit – capture other beings or phenomena in bubbles of time. Thus, a mighty (vulgar) Time/ Forces/ Entropy Effect could capture a tornado and shunt it off into no-time space until some trigger sets it free. At this level of expertise, the mage can also set a temporal anchor point for herself for when she dares to travel through time at Rank 5.

Previous Mixers: Check out our wiki page for past Sphere Mixers; feel free to go back and add your new ideas."

"Welcome to part 165 of Sphere Mixers! This where we randomly choose two Spheres and two Ranks and brainstorm ideas for...

• Conjunctional Effects using both of these Spheres or
• Two Effects, one of each Rank, that work well together.

Life 5

••••• Transform & Create Complex Life-Forms / Perfect Metamorphosis

Now the Master of Life may adopt any form he wishes to achieve and may transform other complex organisms the same way. His expertise allows him to make permanent changes to life-Patterns, create complex life-forms from energy (with Prime 2), give them consciousness (with Mind 5), transmute them into other elements (Forces or Matter 3) or raw energy (Prime 5), radically age or de-age them (Entropy 4 or Time 3), or instill them with spirits (Spirit 3 or 5). Without such measures, however, his creations remain mindless, soulless sacks of life – alive, but nothing more.

Matter 4

•••• Complex Transmutation

Complex and radical transformations now become possible, especially with the addition of other Spheres. Pumpkins can be changed into carriages (Life 2), people into thrones (Life 5), cars into robots (combinations of Forces and Prime), or thin air into banquets, so long as the mage doesn’t mind racking up a little (or a lot…) of Paradox. Different principles can be combined in complicated ways, creating cybernetic machines or electrified gold. Complicated devices (guns, cars, computers) may be conjured out of empty space if the mage understands the principles behind such things (in game terms, possesses the proper Abilities). As usual, though, complicated creations demand extended rituals and many successes.

Previous Mixers: Check out our wiki page for past Sphere Mixers; feel free to go back and add your new ideas."

"Welcome to part 164 of Sphere Mixers! This where we randomly choose two Spheres and two Ranks and brainstorm ideas for...

• Conjunctional Effects using both of these Spheres or
• Two Effects, one of each Rank, that work well together.

Correspondence 5

••••• Spatial Mutation / Co-Location

Distance and dimensions become child’s play to a mage at this Rank. She can distort space; alter sizes and stretch or compress objects (Matter), bodies (Life), or forces (Forces); connect different Patterns to one another across intervening space; or even superimpose places or objects on top of one another (extremely vulgar). Combining this Rank with Life 3, the mage may also expand her senses to perceive many different places at once.

Spirit 2

•• Touch Spirit / Manipulate Gauntlet

Perception moves to contact. The Spirit-savvy mage can now reach through the Gauntlet for a turn or two; call across the Gauntlet; speak to spirit entities, or touch them for a brief moment; and thin or thicken the local Gauntlet. In the latter case, each success lowers or raises the Gauntlet rating by +1 for each success rolled. (Four successes would raise or lower it by four levels, for example.) That said, a human mage cannot lower the Gauntlet to less than 4 within the mortal world.

By adding other Spheres, that mage could project thoughts across the barrier (Mind 4 or 5); stir up elemental disturbances within the Otherworlds (Forces 2 or higher); imbue material objects with ephemeral power (Matter 2); drain Essence from a spirit (Prime 3); or help other living creatures sense or contact the spirit realms (Life 2).

Previous Mixers: Check out our wiki page for past Sphere Mixers; feel free to go back and add your new ideas."

"Welcome to part 163 of Sphere Mixers! This where we randomly choose two Spheres and two Ranks and brainstorm ideas for...

• Conjunctional Effects using both of these Spheres or
• Two Effects, one of each Rank, that work well together.

Entropy 3

••• Affect Predictable Patterns

Things eventually break down. At this Rank, the mage can control the speed at which material objects fail or decay. That’s easier to do with complex machines (cars, computers) than it is with simple ones (walls, stones) – after all, more things can go wrong with complicated things.

At this Rank, the mage can also start controlling the fate and fortune of objects and people, giving them good or bad luck by controlling the probability of events around them. Again, large feats demand more successes than smaller ones.

Mind 1

• Sense Thoughts & Emotions / Mind Shield / Empower Self

With basic mental magick, the mage learns to sense the emotions and surface impulses of other people. Although he cannot read specific thoughts, he’s able to perceive psychic impressions about a person or (with Matter 1) a place or object. Through this perception, he can guess at the nature of weak Resonance signatures and read the stronger ones outright. Even without Resonance, that mage can scan auras, note mood shifts, discern truth from lies, or grasp someone’s overall state of mind by way of a successful Arete roll.

Meanwhile, the mage also learns to shield his own mind from the thoughts and emotions of other people, constructing mental barriers around his aura, emotions, and consciousness. Each success on a coincidental Arete roll removes one success from any other character’s attempt to read those psychic elements.

On a related note, he also learns how to multitask and absorb data with startling acuity. Each success he rolls allows him to either consider an additional subject or speed the processing time that a normal person might require. For a scene or two, he can even raise one of his Mental Traits by one dot per success, thanks to a Mind Empowerment Effect that concentrates his mental faculties.

Previous Mixers: Check out our wiki page for past Sphere Mixers; feel free to go back and add your new ideas."

"Welcome to part 162 of Sphere Mixers! This where we randomly choose two Spheres and two Ranks and brainstorm ideas for...

• Conjunctional Effects using both of these Spheres or
• Two Effects, one of each Rank, that work well together.

Forces 4

•••• Control Major Forces / Gift of Zeus / Weather-Witching

Larger Effects become possible. Our mage may now use the lower-Rank Effects over larger areas – a mile or more – to change weather patterns; conjure darkness; drop or raise temperatures; protect locations… or destroy them; and otherwise employ the previous levels on a much greater scale. For obvious reasons, such Effects tend to be vulgar and demand many successes to achieve.

Matter 4

•••• Complex Transmutation

Complex and radical transformations now become possible, especially with the addition of other Spheres. Pumpkins can be changed into carriages (Life 2), people into thrones (Life 5), cars into robots (combinations of Forces and Prime), or thin air into banquets, so long as the mage doesn’t mind racking up a little (or a lot…) of Paradox. Different principles can be combined in complicated ways, creating cybernetic machines or electrified gold. Complicated devices (guns, cars, computers) may be conjured out of empty space if the mage understands the principles behind such things (in game terms, possesses the proper Abilities). As usual, though, complicated creations demand extended rituals and many successes.

Previous Mixers: Check out our wiki page for past Sphere Mixers; feel free to go back and add your new ideas."

"Welcome to part 161 of Sphere Mixers! This where we randomly choose two Spheres and two Ranks and brainstorm ideas for...

• Conjunctional Effects using both of these Spheres or
• Two Effects, one of each Rank, that work well together.

Matter 2

•• Basic Transmutation

With advanced knowledge, the mage can transmute one substance into another, so long as she doesn’t alter its essential shape, temperature, or basic state (gas, liquid, solid). Depending upon that mage’s practice, she might reshape lead into gold through alchemy, wood into stone through a hyperpetrification process, or water into wine (and, with Life 3, wine into blood) through a sacred miracle. Rare and/ or complex materials are more difficult to fabricate than simple ones; it’s easier to turn stone into iron, for example, than into gold. To reflect that challenge, such refinement requires a greater number of successes than a transmutation into a common material.

(On a related note, the mage cannot yet fabricate radioactive materials. Such elements merge their essence into the Sphere of Forces, and thus demand a greater level of expertise.)

When combined with other Spheres, this basic level of understanding allows a mage to conjure base materials from energy or dissolve them into Quintessence (Prime 2), transmute matter into living tissue (Life 4 or higher), move an object through space (Correspondence 2 or higher) or time (Time 3 or higher), change ephemera into matter and matter into ephemera, or awaken the slumbering spirit within material objects (Spirit 3 or higher). In all cases, Matter 2 allows the mage to work with simple, homogenous, non-living substances. Complex mixtures of various elements usually require Rank 3 or higher, although simple combinations (like those found in bread, milk, paper, or gunpowder) are possible if the player rolls plenty of successes.

Prime 4

•••• Expel or Infuse Energy / Tap Wellspring / Craft Tass & Permanent Wonders

The terrible power of draining Quintessence from objects or forces (though not yet from living things) can disintegrate those targets, consume them in Primal flames, or decay them almost instantly. Reversing that flow, the mage can craft objects that cannot be broken, or bond organic and inorganic materials together to create cybernetic implants, nanotech, and other Wonders. At this stage, she is able to enchant items permanently and draw Quintessence from the energetic Wellsprings of exciting events. By infusing her personal Quintessence into a Periapt, the mage might use Matter 4 to craft a Soulgem: a portable vessel that’s filled with her own Resonance and energy.

Previous Mixers: Check out our wiki page for past Sphere Mixers; feel free to go back and add your new ideas."

"Welcome to part 160 of Sphere Mixers! This where we randomly choose two Spheres and two Ranks and brainstorm ideas for...

• Conjunctional Effects using both of these Spheres or
• Two Effects, one of each Rank, that work well together.

Entropy 1

• Sense Flaws, Fate & Fortune / Ring of Truth

Basic Entropic understanding allows a mage to see the currents of probability, spot flaws in Patterns, and note the subtle yet telling details in a person’s speech and behavior that suggest whether or not she’s telling what she believes to be the truth. Although he cannot yet control such phenomena, the mage can predict dice throws, card draws, and other apparently random events; spot weak spots in objects, people, or arguments; and use those imperfect yet profound insights to his advantage.

Life 2

•• Alter Simple Life-Forms / Heal Self

Simple organisms – viruses, mollusks, insects, plants, etc. – become clay in the mage’s hands. He learns to adjust their Patterns (giving a crab wings, for example), and heal or kill them. Although he can’t yet transmute them into other states of being, he can cause flowers to bloom or wither, help trees bear fruit, and so on. Focusing on his own Pattern, he can also heal himself or perform small alterations (hair color, skin tone, height, weight, and so on) to his basic form.

Previous Mixers: Check out our wiki page for past Sphere Mixers; feel free to go back and add your new ideas."

STV: XMas in July sale (Mage: the Ascension)

If you've been waiting to grab some Mage titles, now's a good time. There's a nice discount on things for the next two weeks or so. Let us know what you pick up and how it's going to help your games.

"Welcome to part 159 of Sphere Mixers! This where we randomly choose two Spheres and two Ranks and brainstorm ideas for...

• Conjunctional Effects using both of these Spheres or
• Two Effects, one of each Rank, that work well together.

Prime 4

•••• Expel or Infuse Energy / Tap Wellspring / Craft Tass & Permanent Wonders

The terrible power of draining Quintessence from objects or forces (though not yet from living things) can disintegrate those targets, consume them in Primal flames, or decay them almost instantly. Reversing that flow, the mage can craft objects that cannot be broken, or bond organic and inorganic materials together to create cybernetic implants, nanotech, and other Wonders. At this stage, she is able to enchant items permanently and draw Quintessence from the energetic Wellsprings of exciting events. By infusing her personal Quintessence into a Periapt, the mage might use Matter 4 to craft a Soulgem: a portable vessel that’s filled with her own Resonance and energy.

Time 3

••• Time Contraction or Dilation / “Bullet Time” / Rewind Time

Speeding or slowing her relationship with time, the mage can now gain multiple actions, slow other characters or phenomena, or rewind small snatches of time. In game terms, every two successes allow the character to take one additional action that does not involve casting magick (only one Arete roll may be made per turn); or else slow another character, object, or even herself down by one increment per success. (Four successes, for example, would slow a person down to a quarter of his normal speed.)

By rewinding time, the mage can also move her immediate surroundings back one turn for every two successes – an Effect that pulls her out of the normal flow of time and allows her to retcon an action or two. (See above.)

Combining this Rank with other Spheres, the mage can affect other Patterns (Forces, Life, or Matter 2), cast Effects across distance and time (Correspondence 3), move back in time while recalling events from the future she just left (Life 3/ Mind 1), or even invoke multiple probabilities (Entropy 3). Again, such attempts are Paradox magnets with awful long-term consequences.

Previous Mixers: Check out our wiki page for past Sphere Mixers; feel free to go back and add your new ideas."

"Welcome to part 158 of Sphere Mixers! This where we randomly choose two Spheres and two Ranks and brainstorm ideas for...

• Conjunctional Effects using both of these Spheres or
• Two Effects, one of each Rank, that work well together.

Entropy 1

• Sense Flaws, Fate & Fortune / Ring of Truth

Basic Entropic understanding allows a mage to see the currents of probability, spot flaws in Patterns, and note the subtle yet telling details in a person’s speech and behavior that suggest whether or not she’s telling what she believes to be the truth. Although he cannot yet control such phenomena, the mage can predict dice throws, card draws, and other apparently random events; spot weak spots in objects, people, or arguments; and use those imperfect yet profound insights to his advantage.

Matter 1

• Matter Perceptions

A Primary understanding of Matter allows the initiate to perceive the intrinsic properties of base materials – their underlying structure, innate properties, and integral stability or lack thereof. With that knowledge, she can view the material composition of an object, note its less-obvious structures, find its hidden layers or – when combining this perception with Entropy – spot its weak points. Combined with Life, this Sphere detects implants, enhancements, and other integrations of living tissue and inert materials.

Previous Mixers: Check out our wiki page for past Sphere Mixers; feel free to go back and add your new ideas."

I've seen a few people posting lately asking where they can find physical copies of Mage books. While we're quick to point to the STV and used book stores... I had a relatively free weekend and decided to knock an item off my project list. Check out the newest page on our wiki for a sort of hub for obtaining dead tree copies...

https://www.reddit.com/r/magetheascension/wiki/library/

As always, feedback is welcome. I'm not 100% happy with the order of the lists, so I'll likely play with them this week.

"Welcome to part 157 of Sphere Mixers! This where we randomly choose two Spheres and two Ranks and brainstorm ideas for...

• Conjunctional Effects using both of these Spheres or
• Two Effects, one of each Rank, that work well together.

Spirit 5

••••• Forge Ephemera / Gilgul / Break the Dreamshell

The Spirit Master is now able to command ephemera itself, creating, challenging, and destroying spirit matter as he Wills. With such power, he may craft Realms, imbue or drain a spirit of Essence, instill a soul within an empty shell of Life or Matter, and bestow the awful sentence of Gilgul – the destruction of a mage’s Avatar. Such powers are always vulgar and feature devastating consequences even when the mage succeeds.

This power also allows the mage to break the Dreamshell and venture beyond the Horizons, wandering into the Deepest of Umbrae. Such tasks demand at least 10 successes, but a courageous Master can travel as far as his soul wants to go.

Time 5

••••• Temporal Travel / Time Immunity

The “Dr. Who Effect” allows the mage to exist outside of time; immunize people, places or things from time’s passage; or travel forward or backward through time. Such godlike feats… feats that often cause a mage to become forever lost to history… are often best left to the Storyteller’s discretion. Even for Masters, Time travel is a mysterious and maddeningly imprecise art. For extensive details about such things, see the sourcebook How Do You DO That?

Previous Mixers: Check out our wiki page for past Sphere Mixers; feel free to go back and add your new ideas."