Post by xaria on Feb 23, 2020 7:14:20 GMT -6
The wheel of Quintessence and Paradox reflects the interplay of opposing energies. The first reflects your connection to the essential substance of the cosmos, and the second reflects your separation from consensual reality. Your Avatar stores Quintessence, but Paradox cancels out that essential energy. Life for an active mage involves a constant ebb and flow of both energies; plenty of Quintessence grants him greater control over his Arts, but excessive Paradox makes him a hazard to himself and everyone nearby.
in your Avatar Background) in the squares from the
left-hand marker going clockwise up the wheel.
• Paradox starts at the same mark, but runs counterclockwise
across the bottom of the wheel. If you have permanent
Paradox points (see the Enhancement Background),
then mark those points on the wheel in ink – they never
go away.
• If Paradox and Quintessence meet in the middle and then
begin to overlap, then Paradox cancels out Quintessence.
Quintessence does not cancel out Paradox; if that Trait
reaches the Paradox points, then you stop absorbing
Quintessence.
• Because the two Traits may overlap, we recommend using
different marks to represent them – maybe checks for
Quintessence and Xs for Paradox. Except in the case of
permanent Paradox, use a pencil, not ink, to mark those points.
Game Effects of Quintessence
• You can spend Quintessence to reduce the difficulty
of a magick casting roll. Each point spent reduces that
difficulty by 1, to a maximum reduction of -3.
• That said, the amount of Quintessence you can spend at
one time is limited by your mage’s Avatar Trait. A character
with Avatar 2, for example, may spend or absorb only two
Quintessence points within a single turn.
• Your mage can also use Quintessence to counter Paradox
or fuel countermagick. See Prime 5 (p. 521) and
Countermagick in Chapter Ten, (p. 545) for details.
• A mage can absorb Quintessence through her Avatar;
through Prime Sphere spells or Procedures; or through
Tass or some Wonder that recharges Quintessence, like
a battery or energy drink.
• Channeling Quintessence through the Avatar requires
meditation at a Node; channeling more than your
Avatar rating through that Node requires Prime 1.
To absorb Quintessence energy from the materialized
Quintessence of Tass requires Prime 3. A Master can
absorb Quintessence from anywhere by using a vulgar
Prime 5 Effect. The number of Quintessence points
that can be absorbed this way depend upon the success
on the magick casting roll – see the Base Damage or
Duration chart, Chapter Ten, (p. 504).
• The Quintessence absorbed by your mage’s Avatar
essentially becomes personal Quintessence and cannot
be taken away from her – only spent by her. Your Avatar
Background rating reflects the maximum amount of
personal Quintessence you can store.
• In most cases, Quintessence remains invisible except to
mages with the Prime Sphere. Characters with Awareness
or other metaphysical perception abilities might feel
Quintessence being shunted around, but they won’t
be able to see it the way a Prime-skilled mage could.
When respectable amounts of Quintessence (three
points or more) get shifted around, lights tend to dim,
breezes blow, and the area’s temperature might rise or
fall several degrees. Folks feel ripples even if they have
no idea what’s actually going on.
• Large or violent reality shifts that move around 10 points
of Quintessence or more do become visible to mortal
eyes. Bright lights, ribbons of color, explosions, sudden
freezes, and so forth mark such disruptions. Effects at
that level tear the fabric of the Tapestry, and so they’re
always considered vulgar magick.
at least one point of Paradox. For details, see Step Four
– Results: What Happens? on the Casting Magickal
Effects chart in Chapter Ten (p. 501).
• Botching a magickal Effect also gathers Paradox, as noted
on that same Casting Magickal Effects chart.
• Large amounts of Paradox energy can backlash on the
mage, with hideous results – warped spells, explosions,
insanity, and so forth. See The Paradox Effect in Chapter
Ten (pp. 547-553) for the grisly details.
• Your mage’s Paradox rating becomes his Paradox pool.
When things go horribly wrong with her magick, the
Storyteller rolls one die per point in that pool in order to
see what happens. Thus, you’ll want to keep that Trait as
low as possible; the higher the pool, the worse its effects.
• A mage who builds up a bit of Paradox energy can bleed
it off by avoiding magick for a little while. For details,
see Shedding Paradox in Chapter Ten (p. 549).
• If your mage accumulates 20 points or more without a
backlash, she may drop into an intense Quiet, disappear
through a crack in reality (possibly to return as a warped
Marauder version of the person she once was), or simply
explode.
• Certain modifications can give a character a permanent
Paradox rating. For details, see the Enhancements
Background entry, the Permanent Paradox entry in Chapter
Ten (pp. 547-548), and The Toybox in Appendix II.
• Mages who store up large amounts of Paradox energy
become walking blights upon reality. They manifest odd
quirks of Resonance, display disturbing Paradox Flaws,
and simply don’t feel right to other people. Although
very few creatures will understand the nature of the
problem, they’ll instinctually avoid a ’Doxy wizard, if
only out of self-preservation.
The Quintessence/ Paradox Wheel
• On the Quintessence/ Paradox wheel, you fill in your
permanent Quintessence rating (one point for each dotin your Avatar Background) in the squares from the
left-hand marker going clockwise up the wheel.
• Paradox starts at the same mark, but runs counterclockwise
across the bottom of the wheel. If you have permanent
Paradox points (see the Enhancement Background),
then mark those points on the wheel in ink – they never
go away.
• If Paradox and Quintessence meet in the middle and then
begin to overlap, then Paradox cancels out Quintessence.
Quintessence does not cancel out Paradox; if that Trait
reaches the Paradox points, then you stop absorbing
Quintessence.
• Because the two Traits may overlap, we recommend using
different marks to represent them – maybe checks for
Quintessence and Xs for Paradox. Except in the case of
permanent Paradox, use a pencil, not ink, to mark those points.
Game Effects of Quintessence
• You can spend Quintessence to reduce the difficulty
of a magick casting roll. Each point spent reduces that
difficulty by 1, to a maximum reduction of -3.
• That said, the amount of Quintessence you can spend at
one time is limited by your mage’s Avatar Trait. A character
with Avatar 2, for example, may spend or absorb only two
Quintessence points within a single turn.
• Your mage can also use Quintessence to counter Paradox
or fuel countermagick. See Prime 5 (p. 521) and
Countermagick in Chapter Ten, (p. 545) for details.
• A mage can absorb Quintessence through her Avatar;
through Prime Sphere spells or Procedures; or through
Tass or some Wonder that recharges Quintessence, like
a battery or energy drink.
• Channeling Quintessence through the Avatar requires
meditation at a Node; channeling more than your
Avatar rating through that Node requires Prime 1.
To absorb Quintessence energy from the materialized
Quintessence of Tass requires Prime 3. A Master can
absorb Quintessence from anywhere by using a vulgar
Prime 5 Effect. The number of Quintessence points
that can be absorbed this way depend upon the success
on the magick casting roll – see the Base Damage or
Duration chart, Chapter Ten, (p. 504).
• The Quintessence absorbed by your mage’s Avatar
essentially becomes personal Quintessence and cannot
be taken away from her – only spent by her. Your Avatar
Background rating reflects the maximum amount of
personal Quintessence you can store.
• In most cases, Quintessence remains invisible except to
mages with the Prime Sphere. Characters with Awareness
or other metaphysical perception abilities might feel
Quintessence being shunted around, but they won’t
be able to see it the way a Prime-skilled mage could.
When respectable amounts of Quintessence (three
points or more) get shifted around, lights tend to dim,
breezes blow, and the area’s temperature might rise or
fall several degrees. Folks feel ripples even if they have
no idea what’s actually going on.
• Large or violent reality shifts that move around 10 points
of Quintessence or more do become visible to mortal
eyes. Bright lights, ribbons of color, explosions, sudden
freezes, and so forth mark such disruptions. Effects at
that level tear the fabric of the Tapestry, and so they’re
always considered vulgar magick.
Game Effects of Paradox
• Each time a mage employs vulgar magick, he gets atat least one point of Paradox. For details, see Step Four
– Results: What Happens? on the Casting Magickal
Effects chart in Chapter Ten (p. 501).
• Botching a magickal Effect also gathers Paradox, as noted
on that same Casting Magickal Effects chart.
• Large amounts of Paradox energy can backlash on the
mage, with hideous results – warped spells, explosions,
insanity, and so forth. See The Paradox Effect in Chapter
Ten (pp. 547-553) for the grisly details.
• Your mage’s Paradox rating becomes his Paradox pool.
When things go horribly wrong with her magick, the
Storyteller rolls one die per point in that pool in order to
see what happens. Thus, you’ll want to keep that Trait as
low as possible; the higher the pool, the worse its effects.
• A mage who builds up a bit of Paradox energy can bleed
it off by avoiding magick for a little while. For details,
see Shedding Paradox in Chapter Ten (p. 549).
• If your mage accumulates 20 points or more without a
backlash, she may drop into an intense Quiet, disappear
through a crack in reality (possibly to return as a warped
Marauder version of the person she once was), or simply
explode.
• Certain modifications can give a character a permanent
Paradox rating. For details, see the Enhancements
Background entry, the Permanent Paradox entry in Chapter
Ten (pp. 547-548), and The Toybox in Appendix II.
• Mages who store up large amounts of Paradox energy
become walking blights upon reality. They manifest odd
quirks of Resonance, display disturbing Paradox Flaws,
and simply don’t feel right to other people. Although
very few creatures will understand the nature of the
problem, they’ll instinctually avoid a ’Doxy wizard, if
only out of self-preservation.