Each Mage has a Paradigm, which dictates what he/she believes magic is and what it

can do. Paradigms allow Magick to happen, but also limits the Mage in his/her
choice of Instruments.

The recommended "standard" Mage character starts at Power Level 6.

All Mage Powers have the "Training" Origin Descriptor.

New Trait: Instrument (Specific Instrument). It costs a number of Power Points per
Rank equal to its next Rank, and every character starts with an Instrument at 1.

Instead of choosing Powers independently, Mages have ratings in Spheres (which are
roughly the same as the entries presented on the Power Profiles, tied to a specific
aspect of that Profiles: Offensive, Defensive, Movement or Utility). Each Sphere
must be tied to an Instrument, and each Instrument may only have a number of tied
Spheres equal to its Rank. The Instrument and the Mage's Paradigm will determine
the Spells' Source Descriptor.

Mages have access to any Power that falls under a Sphere he/she possesses and a
cost no greater than his/her rank in that Sphere, though they cannot come up with
new Powers when it is their turn (so as to not slow down the game).

A Mage may choose to tie a Sphere to more than one Instrument.

Powers (as related to Mage characters) will hereafter be referred to as Magick.

When Vulgar Magick (Magick that defies what the masses would qualify as possible
given the circumstances) is cast, the Mage who cast it suffers the effect of a
Power (determined by the Game Master) with the same Rank as that Magick. This is
called Paradox, and it tends to afflict the Mage based on his/her view of magic and
the effects of the Vulgar spell that brought the Paradox. If there are Mortal
witnessess to the Spell (humans with no Powers and that do not share the same
Paradigm with the Mage), Paradox is multiplied by the magnitude of witnessess:
x2 for 1-2
x3 for 3-10
x4 for 11-50
x5 for 51-250
x6 for 251-1250
x+1 for yy+1-yy x5

Mages accumulate Power Points but cannot spend them until they have enough to raise
their Power Level, and doing so requires them to undergo a Seeking. A Seeking is a
mystery play experienced by a mage and guided by the Avatar. Successfully
accomplishing a Seeking often grants insights into oneself, magic and the Tapestry.
They are usually comprised of a number of challenges equal to the Mage's Power
Level /2, rounded up. The first challenge presents a difficulty equivalent to that
of a character with a Power Level equal to the Mage's, minus the Mage's Avatar
rank. After each challenge, the Power Level of the next one becomes one higher,
until every challenge is completed. When that happens, the character may pay
increase his Power Level by one.

Time is mutable, but conspires to prevent changes to anything other than the most
inconsequential events.

New Advantage: Node [General] (1-10) - You have access to a place of power. You can
freely sense and draw up to 5 points of Quintessence per rank per week while in
contact with it. Unless you pay triple the cost, it can be sensed by any Mage or
person with Expertise: Magic within a rank distance rank by making a Perception
check with a DC equal to 15 - rank. It is thought to be in a rural area, having it
be in a deep wilderness or otherwise "safe" area (maybe in a city, but with heavy
security measures, though you must still pay the necessary points for having such
security) increases the cost to x2 (unless you are already paying more for having
it be undetectable).

New Advantage: Mentor/Library/Grimoire [Skill] (1-10) - For every 4 months (instead

of the usual 12 months) you spend studying (720 hours studied at the end of 4
months), you gain 1 Power Point. Once you reach a Power Level equal to rank + 9,
your Mentor/Library/Grimoire has nothing left to teach you. The game master should
roll a d20 at the beggining of each game session, if the result is equal to or less
than rank, you will encounter a complication related to this Advantage during that
session. It is possible, though not recommended, to have two or even all three
aspects of this Advantage.

New Advantage: Avatar [General] (1-5) - Your inner self drives you ever onward. You
start the Game with rank points of Quintessence, and can spend up to rank x2
Quintessence to boost a Power. You can accumulate up to rank x4 Quintessence in
your own soul. The strength of your Avatar also determines the difficulty of
Seekings.

New Advantage: Cult [Skill] (1-5) - You have a following of adepts that help out
during rituals (if you have this Advantage at rank 3-5, they also automatically
count as the Personnel Feature of your Headquarters). Each rank represents five
adepts, at the end of a ritual in which a multiple of 5 of your adepts were helping
you perform it, add that multiple x 2 degrees of success to the total.

New Headquarters Feature: Sanctum - This Feature costs 3 points. Any Mage with the
same Paradigm as yours will find his Spells to never be vulgar as long as it does
not affect anything beyond the walls of the Headquarters and is not witnessed by
anyone outside the Sanctum. Mages with very similar Paradigms (the same worldview,
with minor changes in specific areas) instead halve Paradox, rounding down. Those
with similar Paradigms (roughly the same principle of how the world works, except
with different terms) instead reduce Paradox by 2 (minimum 0). Any other Mage will
find all of his Spells to be Vulgar while inside it.

Removed Advantage: Ritualist.

Edited Advantage: Fearless - Instead of granting immunity, this Advantage reduces

the rank of any fear effect against you by half (rounded down) before determining
the DC for the resistance check.

The expenditure of a Hero Point when you would receive Paradox can hold it at bay.
This lasts for a scene, during this time any Paradox received is marked aside. When
the scene ends, all the accumulated Paradox is released at once (without the
possibility of delaying it further).

Quintessence: You may spend one point of Quintessence to increase the rank of a
specific Spell by 1 for a single use, the amount of Quintessence you can spend in
this way is determined by the Avatar advantage. When you would suffer Paradox,
spending points of Quintessence reduces the rank of the effect in a one-for-one
basis (two-for-one if the Paradox was being held at bay).

While in deep wilderness, Mages gain two extra Ranks in each and every Sphere trait
they have Ranks in. This bonus rises to +4 while in a Node, but changes to a -2
while in heavily populated areas. The penalty becomes -4 while in a Technocratic
lab (all of these values are subject to change, according to what most of the
population of these areas believe). These values apply as their polar opposite when
determining Paradox gained in such areas, and they are inverted if the character is
a Technocrat. Never stack these values.
Spells cannot grant or reduce Ranks in Instruments or Spheres, nor Counter, delay
or Nullify the direct effects of Paradox. Paradigm and ritual length are likewise
safe from Magical influence. Spells also cannot create Quintessence. They cannot
directly grant access to any of the Mage-specific Advantages for a period longer
than the Mage's rank in the Instrument to which the Sphere used to grant the
Advantage is tied to (the highest Instrument, if it is tied to more than one).

Every time a Mage rises in Power Level, he or she may choose a Sphere he or she
possesses and make it part of his or her Avatar. When that happens, all ties that
Sphere has to Instruments are broken (the Sphere's rank is used whenever something
would call for the rank of the Instrument that Sphere would be tied to), and the
Mage can perform Spells of that Sphere without using any Instruments. Furthermore,
any later reincarnations of said Avatar will share the benefit of having that
Sphere being untied, if they acquire any ranks in it.

You may try to cast a Spell beyond your usual knowledge in a Sphere, doing so
requires a ritual. The player must determine how long (in terms of Time Ranks in
multiples of 3, with a maximum equal to the Mage's Stamina) the ritual is to last,
and the specific Spell he/she is trying to cast, and at which rank he/she would
like to cast it. At the beggining of each Time Rank in multiples of 3, make an
Expertise: Magic check. The DC is 10 + (3 x number of Time Rank in multiples of 3
that the ritual is to last). For each degree of success, add the Mage's Intellect /
2 (rounded up) to the Sphere in question (even if a Mage accrues enough degrees of
success to have a Sphere rank necessary to cast a Spell through ritual before the
ritual is over, he/she must still continue the ritual to the end, though his/her
only concern then should be not to botch). More than one Mage can participate in a
ritual, so long as all participants possess the Sphere being used and do not have a
difference greater than 8 between their ranks in said Sphere, in this case every
Mage contributes degrees of success to the ritual, but they all acquire the same
level of Paradox. A botch from any participant in a ritual, at any time, will end
the ritual and scrap all degrees of success from it (though Paradox still applies,
as if the Spell had been successfully cast).

Sacrificing a very rare item or substance (a Dragon's last drop of blood, the dying
breath of a panther, ashes of an ancient vampire, etc.) that is appropriate to your
Paradigm allows you to double your rank in a single Sphere for a Time Rank equal to
your degrees of success on an Expertise: Magic check with a DC equal to 10 + Sphere
rank. Sacrificing an unique item (such as the lance of Longinus) will instead
triple the Sphere rank.

Changing someone's Paradigm can only be done with human Mortals (those with no
Powers) and only to change it to the one possessed by the persuator. It requires a
Persuasion check against Will, with a -10 circumstance modifier. The persuator must
accumulate a number of degrees of success equal to the Will +6 of the one being
persuaded. The roll is made once for every month of indocrination (during which the
persuator must have spent at least 180 hours focused on changing that specific
person's Paradigm). If he/she succeeds, the indocrinated makes an Awareness check,
on a result of 16-20, he/she undergoes the first Seeking (if it is successful, a
new Mage "awakens"), otherwise that person remains "asleep", but he/she no longers
counts as a witness to Mages sharing his/her Paradigm. If the indocrinator fails at
any time, the entire process fails, and he/she can no longer try to change that
person's Paradigm. If a botch happens at any time, that person becomes Hostile to
the character and he/she cannot change that disposition on his/her own, also no
Mage with up to a similar Paradigm to that of the Mage who botched may try to
change that person's Paradigm.

Acquiring the first rank in a Sphere requires study and dedication. Therefore a
Mage must spend a number of months equal to the total number of different Spheres
he/she possesses in order to learn a new one. The expenditure of Hero Points reduce
the necessary time by one month per point (for a minimum of one day).

For every rank in Benefit - Wealth, you gain 2 points worth of Equipment (not the
Advantage).

If a Mage suffers a Paradox with a severity of at least his own Power Level x 3, he
also gains one point of Permanent Paradox, which is added to every Paradox he
suffers then on.

Maximum Ability rank is equal to Power Level (for Mages and humans only).

There are three types of Corruption (as per the Supernatural Handbook): Madness,
Wickedness and Submission. When circumstances that would make you gain Corruption
come into place, make an Awareness check (using your base AWE, regardless of its
current value) against a DC determined by the GM, if you fail you gain one point of
that form of Corruption (a botch earns two points). While you have half (rounded
down) or more of your threshold for a form of Corruption filled, consider all of
your Sphere ranks to be double their base values, also empty your threshold for
other forms of Corruption and you cannot gain them (this state is called Quiet).
When you would lose Corruption while in Quiet, make an Awareness check (using your
base AWE, regardless of its current value) with a DC equal to 10 + Corruption, if
you fail you don't get to erase a pont of Corruption, as the character does not
want to get better, while a botch also earns you another point of Corruption. The
state of Quiet can temporarely change the Source Descriptor of your Powers. When a
Mage reaches the threshold of Corruption, he/she becomes a Marauder, Nephandus or
Drone, depending on what form of Corruption took her (this state is called
Insanity). An Insane Mage considers each of his/her Spheres to be triple their base
values, but all of her Powers have the Uncontrolled Each form of Corruption has a
Threshold equal to 7 + AWE (tracked separately), increasing that threshold by one
for a single form of Corruption costs a Power Point. and work as follows:
Madness - Earned from exposure to traumatic events. In addition to the normal
effects of a failed Will resistance check against fear, each degree of failure
after the first (starting with the second degree) inflicts a point of madness on
the character. For every two weeks of rest with no further gain of Madness, you
lose 1 point of Madness (being treated and professionally accompannied halves that
time).
Wickedness -

Power Points are awarded as follows at the end of each game session:
2 per game session (minimum 1 after modifiers)
-1 for meta-playing (except in very minor cases)
-1 for poor roleplaying
-1 for distracting the players from the game or otherwise being a nuissance
-1 for playing less than 5 hours
+1 for exceptional roleplaying
+1 for overcoming a major challenge
+1 for making at least one remarkable action
+1 for completing a personal goal
+1 at the end of each story