CORRESPONDENCE        ENTROPY        FORCES        PRIME        LIFE        MATTER        MIND        SPIRIT        TIME                         

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The Pattern Spheres Many entries refer to “the Pattern Spheres” – that is, Spheres that govern physical elements and materials. When a mage creates a physical force, object, or body from “nothing,” that spell combines a Pattern Sphere with the raw creative energy of the Prime Sphere.

 

The Pattern Sphere crafts the form, and the Prime Sphere supplies the energy that makes that form “real.” As noted elsewhere, those physical Pattern Spheres are Forces (for energies), Life (organic bodies), and Matter (inorganic materials). Spirit is sort of an honorary Pattern Sphere that deals only with the metaphysical essence called ephemera. And so, when your mage conjures fire (Forces), butterflies (Life), stones (Matter), or ephemeral weaponry (Spirit), you combine the appropriate Sphere with the Prime Sphere in order to bring such things into existence.  For details, see the entries for each Sphere in question.

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 Mage’s various Effects come from Spheres; some employ a single Sphere, and others use a combination of Spheres. Sometimes referred to as conjunctional Effects, these combinations expand the potential of a single Sphere into Effects that no single Sphere could accomplish on its own. As an example, let’s say that Malcolm wants to influence someone’s mood. Mind 2 alone will do that. If he wants to alter a person’s body chemistry in order to induce euphoria, however, he’d need to use Life 3/ Mind 2… and if he wanted to set things up so that the body chemistry changed several hours from now, he’d need to add Time 4 to that Effect.

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The Three Spheres at the end of this section reflect the Technocratic refinements of three of the nine mystic Spheres, (the Data Sphere, an analog of Correspondence), the Syndicate (Primal Utility, the hypereconomic applications of Prime), and the Void Engineers (Dimensional Science, the scientific perspective on Spirit)., These Spheres may be purchased ONLY by Technocratic operatives, as these disciplines reflect the training, research, and conditioning of the Technocratic Union. The exception, Data, is based on innovations by the Virtual Adepts and has since been adopted by technomancers from all over the spectrum. In most respects, a Technocratic Sphere functions like a mystic one. These three variants, however, have a few noticeable bonuses and limitations, which get covered in the individual entries. A character cannot possess both a Technocratic Sphere and the corresponding mystic Sphere. Doing so would essentially reflect a divided perspective on Reality – believing two related yet opposed beliefs about the same thing. The other Spheres – Entropy, Forces, Life, Matter, Mind, and Time – follow the same rules, regardless of a mage’s affiliation. A NWO Black Suit would refer to his approach to the Mind Sphere as Psychodynamics, but Psychodynamics still functions, in system terms, the same way that the Mind Sphere does.

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        DATA                                                                    PRIMAL UTILITY                                            DIMENSIONAL ENGINEERING        

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OVERVIEW

To make a terrible pun of it, Mage’s Spheres reflect a “well-rounded knowledge” of nine different yet interrelated elements of reality. In story terms, these nine constructs represent a sort of “unified field theory” of Earthly metaphysics. In game terms, they measure what Mage characters do and cannot do, based upon their understanding of theoretical knowledge and practical results. The nine Spheres, and the fields they control, are as follows:

◉ Correspondence – the element of connection between apparently different things.

◉ Entropy – the principle of chance, fate and mortality.

◉ Forces – the understanding of elemental energies.

◉ Life – keys to the mysteries of life and death.

◉ Matter – the principles behind supposedly “inanimate” objects.

◉ Mind – exploration of the potentials of consciousness.

◉ Prime – an understanding of the Primal Energy within all things.

◉ Spirit – comprehension of Other worldly forces and inhabitants.

◉ Time – the strange workings of chronological forces and perceptions.

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Each Sphere features five different levels of progress and result. That progression gets represented by the number of dots in your character’s Sphere Trait. Each successive level allows your mage to understand a bit more about the principles of that Sphere. As a result, she can do more things with it, adding a new level of abilities onto the previous levels of accomplishment:

 

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Levels of Sphere Progress and Expertise

 

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When a mage begins working with a particular Sphere, her abilities follow a general progression of expertise.

The more she understands that Sphere, the more she can do with it. Mighty feats are only possible at the higher end of the spectrum, simple feats at the lower end of the spectrum, the more mighty a feat the more successes are required, this is why mighty feats can rarely be achieved with a single turn casting.

 

The levels of Sphere expertise feature five advancing steps: 

 

◉                 Perception (in game terms, Sphere Rank 1): An initiate grasps the essential principles and begins to perceive the ways in which that Sphere behaves. A Correspondence initiate learns to spot connections and reckon distances; a Forces initiate notes elemental phenomena; and a Time initiate achieves an uncanny sense of the ebbs and flows of time. The mage can’t alter anything just yet, but she can put her observations to good use.

 

◉◉             Manipulation (Sphere Rank 2): The mage begins to use the Sphere to make small alterations in her local reality. The Correspondence student can look across distances or pull small objects from “nowhere”; the Forces student can make burning candles flare or go out; and the Time student gains limited pre- and postcognition. Although not yet able to perform dramatic Effects, the mage gains a small degree of control over the Sphere’s principles… but for many tasks, a small degree of control is all you need.

 

◉◉◉        Control (Sphere Rank 3): Achieving a greater level of accomplishment, the mage can make notable changes to elements connected with the Sphere. Our Correspondence devotee can step through intervening space; the Forces devotee could conjure winds or make fire leap; the Time devotee might speed up or slow down her speed relative to her surroundings. Remarkable feats become possible, and the mage approaches the realm of true wizardry.

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◉◉◉◉      Command (Sphere Rank 4): An impressive command of the Sphere in question allows the mage to perform dramatic feats. The Correspondence adept might appear in several places at once, the Forces adept conjures storms, and the Time adept can literally stop time in her vicinity. Even when such Effects aren’t obviously magick, the mage attains significant influence over the principles associated with that Sphere.

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◉◉◉◉◉  Mastery (Sphere Rank 5): Magnificent feats become possible with such dominion within the Sphere. Our Correspondence master can stack several places into a single location; the Forces master commands vast phenomena – firestorms, blizzards, even nuclear blasts; the Time master can step outside of time, achieve limited immortality, or travel back and forth through time. Literally godlike miracles greet the master of a Sphere, and Reality literally shapes itself to her whim.

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