u/ChartanTheDM

Sphere Mixers 193 - Matter 1 and Time 1

Welcome to part 193 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 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.

Time 1

• Time Sense

Temporal understanding begins with the mage’s own perceptions of time. At this stage, she develops a precise internal clock and can spot the temporal ripples left behind by (or, in many cases, developing ahead of) Time Effects. Other phenomena, too, leave disturbances in the time-stream, and the mage can notice them as well. Combined with additional Spheres, this Rank allows the mage to detect the influence of the Time Sphere on other spells or Patterns too.

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

reddit.com
u/ChartanTheDM — 13 days ago

Sphere Mixers 192 - Matter 3 and Mind 3

Welcome to part 192 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 3

••• Alter Form

At this Rank, the mage can alter the shape of materials in whatever ways she desires, and she can temporarily transform their essential state into a different one – steel, for example, into fog or water into glass. (Permanent changes require Matter 5.) That crafter may change an item’s density, fuse broken pieces together, or rip solid ones apart.

By mixing Matter 3 with other Spheres, the mage can join inert matter with living tissue, disintegrate it into dust, shift objects with the power of thought, or otherwise perform amazing transformations upon apparently solid materials.

Mind 3

••• Mental Link / Project Illusions/ Dreamwalk / Psychic Blast

With increasing skill, the mage learns to link minds, forge telepathic communications, read or influence another person’s thoughts, craft mental illusions, enter someone’s dreams and explore dream Realms, and blast psychic assaults into an unwilling rival’s consciousness. At this stage, Mind attacks can inflict painful – though rarely fatal – damage. Combined with Correspondence, Forces, Matter, or Life, he is able to employ telekinesis, pyrokinetics, and psychophysical assault, influencing objects, elements, or people with the power of his mind. Unlike most other Effects, this sort of thing is not coincidental, although such talents do have a place within popular culture.

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

reddit.com
u/ChartanTheDM — 15 days ago

Sphere Mixers 188 - Correspondence 5 and Forces 2

Welcome to part 188 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.

Forces 2

•• Manipulate Forces / Elemental Touch

Although she cannot conjure energies just yet, the mage may now alter the flow of existing forces. Sound can be muted or amplified; shadows can be gathered, shaped, or dispelled. The mage can warp light to make things invisible, change their colors by altering the spectrum of localized light, or render them silent by bending sound waves in their vicinity. With a wave of her hand, she can disrupt electrical currents; flare flames; or direct the course of winds, momentum, or gravity.

Combining this Rank with other Spheres, that mage could also make an object (Matter) or organism (Life) attract or repel forces. Thus, she could weave minor protection spells or force-fields… or, conversely, turn that target into a magnet (perhaps literally) for the forces in question.

Despite its powers, this Rank is limited in scale. Assume that the mage can command energies around a single human-sized character or within a small area (20’ or less). To affect a larger area, you need a higher Rank in Forces.

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

reddit.com
u/ChartanTheDM — 24 days ago

Feedback Request - M20 casting process clean-up

Greetings Mage fans!

As some of you may have caught the hints of, I've been sneaking in time to clean-up the Effect casting process that M20 gave us. And now I'm ready to toss a draft out there are get all the feedback you can muster. Issues or compliments, big or small, here or in the doc comments; I want to hear it. TIA.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sRbMAwgsN1QEYnxzgzZNrjilyPEjrxBubPu2VlhKDvo/edit?usp=sharing

I've got three of the four planned sections in here.

  1. Casting Steps Overview: This is the highest level. A couple of lines about what is done in each step. Aligns with what M20 talks about when it describes the steps.
  2. Casting Outline: This gives a little more detail on the contents of each step. It's intended to be paired with an updated version of my casting flowchart. (currently here)
  3. Casting Cheat Sheet: This attempts to distill down the rules for casting into a two-page hand-out. I intend to include the tables from p502-505 in addition to that hand-out.

Part four is a full text clean-up. I've already shuffled sections around to be in a better order. There's textual changes I need to make for clarity. But I figured that I should get some feedback before diving into that.

u/ChartanTheDM — 25 days ago

Sphere Mixers 186 - Mind 1 and Time 1

Welcome to part 186 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.

Time 1

• Time Sense

Temporal understanding begins with the mage’s own perceptions of time. At this stage, she develops a precise internal clock and can spot the temporal ripples left behind by (or, in many cases, developing ahead of) Time Effects. Other phenomena, too, leave disturbances in the time-stream, and the mage can notice them as well. Combined with additional Spheres, this Rank allows the mage to detect the influence of the Time Sphere on other spells or Patterns too.

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

reddit.com
u/ChartanTheDM — 29 days ago

What ZAMM tells us about Mage

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cGfTUbNyX2JmNigVX8kns4g1wm42zBcTquwFIVD6SLU/edit?usp=sharing

Here's a portion of the text of Zen and the Art of Motorcyle Maintenance. ZAMM is the single dedication on page 2 of M1ed. Clearly it's an important source of inspiration for Mage and worth seeing what we can learn from it.

  • Technocracy vs Traditions: I include some lead-up for the extra context, but you can get away with about a page and a half here (p15-17).
  • Patterns: A short passage about viewing something from different angles providing different sense data, but that we trust there is a Pattern to that sense data which indicates an underlying substance to that object (what we would call Quintessence).
  • Arete: And a couple of pages where the author equates Arete to Dharma to Virtue to Quality.

If you find other sections that relate to Mage, I'd love to be pointed at them.

u/ChartanTheDM — 30 days ago

Sphere Mixers 185 - Life 4 and Mind 2

Welcome to part 185 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 4

•••• Alter Complex Life-Forms / Transform Self

At this Rank, the mage may enact radical changes on any complex organism – people, dogs, horses, and so forth. He can uplift other species with new limbs, opposable thumbs, increased brain capacity, etc., so long as he doesn’t change their intrinsic nature.

Working with his own Pattern, that mage can transform himself into other life-forms of similar size and mass; he could become a Great Dane, for example, but not a hummingbird. Special abilities of that form (flight, water breathing, and the like) do not carry over, however, unless he builds them into that new form with additional Life Effects, and the new body might require an adjustment period before the mind and reflexes reflect the new form.

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.

reddit.com
u/ChartanTheDM — 1 month ago

Mage Tarot collection

I finally was able to obtain a Revised era deck, in beautiful condition. Now I think I have them all.

u/ChartanTheDM — 1 month ago

Sphere Mixers 184 - Correspondence 1 and Entropy 3

Welcome to part 184 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 1

• Immediate Spatial Perceptions / Landscape of the Mind

Basic spatial understanding allows a mage to sense things in her immediate vicinity even if she can’t perceive them with her normal senses. Using that perception, she can estimate the distances between objects; intuitively find a direction (North, South, East, West); notice hidden objects or characters; and spot spatial instabilities – warps, anomalies, wormholes, etc. – especially the ones caused by other Correspondence Effects.

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.

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

reddit.com
u/ChartanTheDM — 1 month ago

Sphere Mixers 183 - Matter 5 and Prime 4

Welcome to part 183 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 5

••••• Alter Properties

With Mastery, the crafter can create substances that transcend the limitations of scientific possibility, conjure materials unknown to Earthly reality, or share the deadly legacies of radioactive matter. Such Masters can shape armor out of air (with Prime 2), turn vampires into lawn furniture (Life 5), or melt steel with a thought (Mind 3). Again, such deeds remain incredibly vulgar, but they recall the godlike feats of legendry.

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.

reddit.com
u/ChartanTheDM — 1 month ago

Sphere Mixers 182 - Spirit 5 and Time 2

Welcome to part 182 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 2

•• Past & Future Sight / Thicken the Walls of Time

Now the mage can look forward or backward through time. Although those impressions are fleeting, hazy, not entirely accurate, and bound by the limitations of that time and place (that is, what a bystander in that specific time and location could sense under the circumstances), they allow the Time-seer to catch glimpses of the past or future.

By itself, this Effect allows the mage to see in her present location only. By combining Past/ Future Sight with other Spheres, however, she could read the probable past or future impressions of objects or places (Matter), living things (Life), and alternate locations (Correspondence). Entropy 2 even allows her to glimpse multiple futures and pick out the one most likely to occur.

Reversing her powers of perception, that same mage can thicken the walls of time, which makes other Time Effects more difficult. Each success she rolls deducts one success from the attempts of other Time-savvy characters.

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

reddit.com
u/ChartanTheDM — 1 month ago

Sphere Mixers 181 - Entropy 1 and Forces 1

"Welcome to part 181 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.

Forces 1

• Perceive Forces

Unlocking basic perceptions of the elements, a Forces-savvy mage can sense the flow of forces in her environment. She can boost her perceptions into the infrared or ultraviolet spectrums, notice electrons, see in the dark, view X-rays, discern the flow of sound or radio waves, spot kinetic energies, and hear frequencies beyond the normal human range.

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

reddit.com
u/ChartanTheDM — 1 month ago

Sphere Mixers 180 - Correspondence 1 and Mind 1

"Welcome to part 180 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 1

• Immediate Spatial Perceptions / Landscape of the Mind

Basic spatial understanding allows a mage to sense things in her immediate vicinity even if she can’t perceive them with her normal senses. Using that perception, she can estimate the distances between objects; intuitively find a direction (North, South, East, West); notice hidden objects or characters; and spot spatial instabilities – warps, anomalies, wormholes, etc. – especially the ones caused by other Correspondence Effects.

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."

reddit.com
u/ChartanTheDM — 1 month ago

Sphere Mixers 179 - Forces 2 and Mind 4

"Welcome to part 179 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 2

•• Manipulate Forces / Elemental Touch

Although she cannot conjure energies just yet, the mage may now alter the flow of existing forces. Sound can be muted or amplified; shadows can be gathered, shaped, or dispelled. The mage can warp light to make things invisible, change their colors by altering the spectrum of localized light, or render them silent by bending sound waves in their vicinity. With a wave of her hand, she can disrupt electrical currents; flare flames; or direct the course of winds, momentum, or gravity.

Combining this Rank with other Spheres, that mage could also make an object (Matter) or organism (Life) attract or repel forces. Thus, she could weave minor protection spells or force-fields… or, conversely, turn that target into a magnet (perhaps literally) for the forces in question.

Despite its powers, this Rank is limited in scale. Assume that the mage can command energies around a single human-sized character or within a small area (20’ or less). To affect a larger area, you need a higher Rank in Forces.

Mind 4

•••• Control Conscious Mind / Alter Consciousness / Astral Projection

The fearsome power of Black Suits and psychic assailants allows the mage to command another person’s actions as well as her thoughts, alter her perceptions or mental state, and project his own mind from his physical form. At this Rank, a mage can change someone’s memories, drive her crazy (or sane), overlay her aura with a desired impression, and set up posthypnotic suggestions and commands. (See Social Conditioning and Reprogramming, pp. 605-607.) And by using internal rather than external powers, he can also project his astral form, as detailed in Chapter Nine, pp. 476-478.

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

reddit.com
u/ChartanTheDM — 2 months ago

Sphere Mixers 178 - Correspondence 2 and Prime 4

"Welcome to part 178 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 2

•• Sense, Touch, Thicken & Reach Through Space / Correspondence Sensing

That mage can now extend her senses across intervening space, sensing things in other locations. Such extensions, however, leave minor ripples in space… the kind noticed by Rank 1 Correspondence. Fortunately, she can also thicken space to cover her tracks; each success used in doing so deducts one success from the roll of a character who’s trying to spy on her or notice her sensory Effects.

By adding Life or Matter to Rank 2 Correspondence, the mage can grasp small items or organisms (housecat-sized or smaller) and then pull them through tiny holes in space. This lets her snatch business cards, guns, rabbits, and such from another location, apparently pulling them out of nowhere.

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."

reddit.com
u/ChartanTheDM — 2 months ago

Sphere Mixers 177 - Life 4 and Time 5

"Welcome to part 177 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 4

•••• Alter Complex Life-Forms / Transform Self

At this Rank, the mage may enact radical changes on any complex organism – people, dogs, horses, and so forth. He can uplift other species with new limbs, opposable thumbs, increased brain capacity, etc., so long as he doesn’t change their intrinsic nature.

Working with his own Pattern, that mage can transform himself into other life-forms of similar size and mass; he could become a Great Dane, for example, but not a hummingbird. Special abilities of that form (flight, water breathing, and the like) do not carry over, however, unless he builds them into that new form with additional Life Effects, and the new body might require an adjustment period before the mind and reflexes reflect the new form.

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."

reddit.com
u/ChartanTheDM — 2 months ago

Sphere Mixers 176 - Entropy 2 and Prime 5

"Welcome to part 176 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 2

•• Control Probability

Now the mage can control the factors he could only sense before. Pulling the strings of apparently random events, he can influence activities and results – directing the fall of dice or cards, repeatedly hitting weak spots, and directing people and things toward a conclusion of his choice. Of course, it’s easier to control small events (the winner of a horse race) than large ones (causing a six-car pileup). In game terms, large alterations demand more successes than small ones do.

Prime 5

••••• Infuse or Withdraw Life Force / Create Node & Soulflower / Nullify Paradox

A Prime Master can draw Quintessence from anywhere, at any time, and channel it into other vessels as well. A dark, vulgar aspect of that power allows her to obliterate a living being by consuming all of his life force, whereas the reverse of that power infuses him with life force so strong that he’s essentially blessed. Combining that ability with Life 5, she may turn complex organisms into Soulflowers: living Periapts who become walking batteries of boosted Quintessence. Such Mastery also allows the mage to create Nodes in significant places, and to nullify Paradox as described under Nullifying Paradox, p. 549.

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

reddit.com
u/ChartanTheDM — 2 months ago

Casting process overview - feedback request

Some of you may remember my previous breakdown of the casting process I created, in an effort to help us keep straight what happens when. I got some feedback that pushed me to review it and compare to what's in the book.

The casting process presented in M20 (p528-547) covers a lot of ground.  It also suffers from a lack of focus.  While each of the four steps says what it’s going to talk about, the author doesn’t stick to it.  Moving things that are not on-topic to a more appropriate section helps it all flow much nicer (and reduces repetitive text).

Keeping the four steps from the book (and moving sections into appropriate steps), I was able to map my flowchart to those steps pretty cleanly. I've mashed all of this together, added a few new bubbles, and a new flowchart has popped out the other end. I'm looking for some fresh feedback on this one. Note: I'm aware that this deserves a bunch of documentation text to explain things; M20 will have to suffice for now.

M20 Casting Process 011 (updated to be slightly more compact)

u/ChartanTheDM — 2 months ago

Sphere Mixers 175 - Mind 5 and Spirit 3

"Welcome to part 175 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 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.

Spirit 3

••• Pierce Gauntlet / Step Sideways / Rouse & Lull Spirit

Now the mage can cross over, transmuting his living tissue to ephemera. He may carry a few material possessions, although transmuting them as well raises both the difficulty of the roll and the number of successes required for the trip. (Normal clothing and items raise both factors by +1; bulky clothing and items raise them by +2.) That traveler must step sideways on his own; bringing large items or other people across demands a higher Spirit Rank. Meanwhile, a combined Spirit 3/ Mind 2 Effect allows the mage to read Resonance, Synergy, and other spiritual energies (Essence, a spirit’s place within a hierarchy, etc.).

At this Rank, a mortal mage can also harm an Umbral entity as if he was using Life 3 against that entity. While Spirit 2 allows the mage to touch that entity, Spirit 3 lets him actually damage its ephemeral Pattern’s integrity the way that Life 3 damages a physical creature’s form.

By combining this Rank with Matter 3 and Prime 2, the mage can also create short-lived objects from ephemera; such creations must be constructed as if they were material things, and they fade away at the end of the Effect’s duration.

Finally, this Rank helps the mage rouse the slumbering spirits within objects or places, or else put active spirits to sleep. (See Awakening Substances in Chapter Nine, p. 443).

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

reddit.com
u/ChartanTheDM — 2 months ago

Sphere Mixers 174 - Matter 4 and Prime 4

"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."

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u/ChartanTheDM — 2 months ago