MAGE BACKGROUNDS

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There are two sets of background. Ones that can be bought after the character creation and ones that can't be 

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                           Can be bought with XP LATER                             

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IRON WILL (1 - 5): +1 to Resolve rolls for each level ( 30 XP Per Level )

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QUICK THINKING (1 - 5): +1 to Wits rolls for each level ( 30 XP Per Level )

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ACUTE SENSES: +1 to Perception rolls ( 30 XP )​

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BLIND FIGHTING: Ignores blindness penalties ( 30 XP )

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WEAPON SPECIALIZATION: +1 to specific weapon type rolls. (Must specify the weapon, such as hand guns, knifes, swords, etc) 

( 30 XP )

 

LUCK BE A LADY: Get one reroll per Scene. However you can't reroll a botch. ( 30 XP )

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AMBIDEXTROUS: Allows to dual wield weapons. This has really no effect when mixing 1 ranged and one melee weapon beside removing a need to spend a turn swapping weapons. However when using two one handed melee or long range weapons, this adds +2 to attack rolls. (No, you don't combine both weapons, just use one weapon bonus +2 from Ambidextrous)

( 30 XP )

 

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QUICK REFLEXES: Allows to draw weapon(s) and act in same round, as well as perform some quick actions called by Storyteller.

( 30 XP )

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RESOURCES ( 1 - 5 ) ( 30 XP Per Level )

Resources can come in many forms, such as wealth and connections. We do not wish to use resources as a way to prevent people from running businesses, anyone on the sim have an ability to run business even if they do not have a single point in resources. 

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◉  You are not on a budget. You may lose some money in a gamble or pay off low bonds easily. 

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◉◉   You may can afford to buy rather expensive art piece, hire a low skill professional for something (+5 in a roll).

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◉◉◉  You may pay off debts, high end bonds, as well as have an NPC (regular summon stats) as your driver or guard or anything else. 

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◉◉◉◉  You are wealthy and likely well know due to that as well as you can afford things of great expense. 

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◉◉◉◉◉  Your wealth is vast. You may have now 2 NPCs (regular summon stats) with you at all times, as well as no price is too small for you. 

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MARTIAL ARTS ( 30 XP per move )

Martial arts allow you to use different combat moves and bonus. These moves are unnamed so that you may pick your own fighting style and apply that move in that style (Ex: A counter attack for boxing could be cross counter while same counter attack for karate could be a karate chop.) NOTE: UNARMED COMBAT ONLY

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• Passive Moves are always on

• Active abilities must be declared when used.

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Combat Stance: Passive +1 to attack and defense rolls.

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Full On Defense: Active Skip your own action in order to reroll your failed defense roll. 

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Offensive Move: Active +2 to next attack roll but -2 to next defense roll.

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Defensive Move: Active +2 to next defense roll but -2 to next attack roll.

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Knock Out: Passive Upon scoring 5+ successes on attack roll, knock a mortal out (does not work on shifters or undead). 

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Counter Attack: Passive If your opponent botches an attack on you, then you may immediately hit them back. Your counter attack is treated as regular attack in terms of defense against it. 

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Counter Throw: Passive Upon scoring 5+ successes on defense roll, throw your opponent down to the ground, dealing 1 minor damage to then. 

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Knock Down: Passive Upon scoring 5+ successes on attack roll, knock an opponent down to the ground. 

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Staggering Attack: Passive Upon scoring 5+ successes on attack roll, the opponent suffers a penalty of -3 to attack/defense rolls for next turn. 

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Grappler: Passive +3 to all grapple rolls, defensibly or offensively. 

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Prone Mastery: Passive When you are down, you do not suffer penalties. 

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Kick Off: Passive Allows to get back up without sacrificing an action, however you do suffer penalty of -1 to all physical moves for that round. 

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Disable Limb: Active During your grapple roll or while having someone in a hold you may roll a grappler attack to twist and disable someones limb. This attack works with 3+ successes scored, giving your opponent a penalty of -2 to all physical actions for the scene. 

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Disarm: Active Upon scoring 3+ successes on attack you forfeit doing damage but you disarm your opponent of the weapon they hold. 

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                       ON CHARACTER CREATION ONLY                       

 

Note that these still may be achieved through story, but can't be simply bought.

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ARCANE / CLOAKING  ( 1 - 5 ) ( 30 XP Per Level )

You know the fine art of disappearing. Whether this involves a not-so-simple trick, the ability to cloud men’s minds, nanotech sensory disrupters, or some nameless power of obscurity, you possess a talent for getting lost. Especially in the age of cell-phone cameras, global databases, electronic trackers, DNA samples, and Closed Circuit TV monitors on every corner, Arcane – or its Technocratic version, Cloaking – is a useful Trait to have. Records get lost; cameras malfunction or record fuzzy images in your place; folks recall “Some guy… or girl, I guess – I’m really not sure.” Although this talent isn’t invisibility per se, it helps you blend in with crowds, blurs your features on camera, and allows you to slide in between the cracks of an increasingly monitored world.

Game-wise, you add your Arcane/ Cloaking dots as extra +1 modifiers on all Stealth-related rolls. Your opponents reduce their Perception by -1 per arcane dot you possesses. This benefit lasts for as long as you remain inconspicuous. In combat, folks can see you normally, although videos or pictures of that fight remain blurred. A Cloaked character who runs around shouting and being obvious will be obvious, although witnesses will probably disagree about his exact description after the event has passed.

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The Arcane/ Cloaking effect does not conceal really memorable features. A purple-haired dude with facial tattoos is going to get noticed, although folks may disagree about the shade of purple or the patterns of his tattoos.

X You’re as obvious as anybody else.
◉ You blend into crowds.
◉◉ Your presence slides out of memory.
◉◉◉ You’re that person no one easily recalls.
◉◉◉◉ Records, pictures, even memories of you are few and hard to find.
◉◉◉◉◉ You’re like a ghost in this world, known only to the folks you want to trust.

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Arcane has no ability to obscure a mage from supernatural perceptions. It has no ability to remove "Witness" from vulgar effects as the sleepers STILL witness the heinous twisting of reality, therefore Arcane does not help with paradox. Arcane is best utilized versus mundane security measures and from keeping the police or hunters tracking you down.

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DREAM / HYPERCRAM  ( 1 - 5 ) ( 30 XP Per Level )

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Knowledge is everything to a mage. Being the conduits to cosmic consciousness that they can be, certain mages are able to access information that they have not personally studied or practiced. After taking a bit of time to meditate (or, in the case of Technocrats and other scientifically-minded willworkers, to Hypercram), such mages can temporarily tap into the wealth of knowledge and experience that’s out there, channeling Ability Traits they don’t normally possess.

SYSTEM:

USE ONCE PER DAY FOR ONE TASK  FOR ONE TURN ONLY

ROLL PERCEPTION + DREAM RANK

DIFFICULTY 12+
X You lack that special connection to the collective consciousness.
◉ You catch hazy bits of related information. +1 to the task.
◉◉ Helpful insights present themselves during a trance. +2 to  the task.
◉◉◉ Your meditations produce serious results. +3 for the task.
◉◉◉◉ From a trance, you can pull amazing bits of knowledge. +4  for the task.
◉◉◉◉◉ You’ve got a direct line to the collective consciousness. Given time to focus, you can pick up phenomenal things. +5  for the
task.

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AVATAR / GENIUS  ( 1 - 5 ) ( 30 XP Per Level )

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Awakening defines the mage. Whether she refers to it as some mystic inner god or the scientifically explainable Enlightenment of higher consciousness, the Avatar or Genius allows a willworker to do the things she does. Some Avatars, though, are more potent and effective than others. This Trait measures your Awakened self, reflects its ability to shift and hold Quintessence, and determines how real it is in your character’s perceptions. Every mage character has an Avatar of some kind; unless you purchase at least one dot in this Trait, however, your ability to actually do much with your magick is extremely limited.

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In game terms an Avatar /Genius rank allows you bonus quintessence.
X An ephemeral Avatar, allows you to spend 1 point of quintessence per ARETE  rank per turn.
◉ A notable presence that  works as above but allows 1 extra points of quintessence to be spent per turn.

◉◉ A dynamic presence that  works as above but allows 2 extra points of quintessence to be spent per turn.
◉◉◉ A discernable entity that  works as above but allows 3 extra points of quintessence to be spent per turn.
◉◉◉◉ A potent spirit that  works as above but allows 4 extra points of quintessence to be spent per turn.
◉◉◉◉◉ A powerful force of Enlightenment that  works as above but allows 5 extra points of quintessence to be spent per turn.

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DEMENSE  ( 1 - 5 ) ( 30 XP Per Level )

A mage’s mind is her castle. There, she can get away from it all to a world of her own making. Classical and Renaissance treatises refer to memory palaces, wherein a person builds a structure in her mind as an aid to meditation, study, reflection, and, of course, memory. Shaped from the builder’s consciousness, these constructs have no physical form, yet they offer a type of refuge. With this Background, you have such a place. Cosmologically, a Demesne exists in the Maya as a semi permanent Dream Realm inspired by your dreaming mind. This Realm might be something you created intentionally with the Talent: Lucid Dreaming, or it might exist in a place conjured by your subconscious imagination. Either way, it follows cues from your consciousness and features elements of personal significance for you. Your mind might build a temple that no one can defile, a field of flowers in honor of your beloved, a gallery of pictures that immortalize people or places you wish to remember… if you can dream it, you can create it… though you might not actually control your creation once the Demesne exists.
ENTERING YOUR DEMENSE:
When dreaming or meditating, your character can go visit his Demesne via the following system

ROLL: PERCEPTION + DEMSENSE RANK

DIFFICULTY: 

Normal Circumstances 12+

Under Torture 18+
Once he’s arrived, the character’s consciousness is free to wander around the Demesne. Although physical or mental distress can disrupt the Realm, it’s still a familiar – if not always welcoming – space.

While in a Demesne Characters have the following characteristics.

INTELLIGENCE: for attacks   WITS: for defence   WILLPOWER: as health.

A mage who can travel astrally, (Via mind 3) , may wander out of the Demesne and reach other Dream or Astral Realms from the demesne

PULLING ANOTHER INTO YOUR DEMENSE

A skilful Mind mage (that is, Mind 3 for a sleeping subject, Mind 4 for one who’s awake) can draw other people’s consciousness into his Demesne too.  A person who’s fighting the dream can roll every few turns to leave the Demesne; until the roll succeeds, however, that character is trapped. Again, this is not a physical trap, though being stuck in someone else’s nightmare can be pretty horrifying…

ROLL: Arete Rank + Mind 3 (sleeping target) or MIND 4 (target who is awake)

DIFFICULTY =  

15+ (sleeping target)

16+ (Awake target)

SUCCESSES REQUIRED

3 (sleeping target)

4 (awake target)

If a character does not wish to be pulled in to the mages demesne.

ROLL: Composure + Resolve (+3 if supernatural)

DIFFICULTY: Mages Arete + 10 + highest sphere used.

If your mage falls into a Quiet, you can roll his Willpower (difficulty 18+ ) in order to go into your Demesne; there, he’s still
trapped in the mindscape, but at least it’s familiar territory. A few successful Perception + Demesne rolls could lead him back
out again.
X No Dream Realm to speak of.
◉ Occasional visitor to the Realm. You have a name for it and recognize a few significant features.
◉◉ A regular visitor, you’ve traveled extensively through the Demesne.
◉◉◉ In your dreams, you know this place quite well.
◉◉◉◉ This is your Realm, and though you don’t command its every feature or resident, they know and recognize you as someone of authority there.
◉◉◉◉◉ Lord or Lady of the Demesne, you know and command this Realm as if it were your kingdom… because it is.

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DEATHWALKER (Euthanatos only) ( 30 XP )

Your character has a special tie to the Underworld. While most mages must die or undergo the Agama rite to cross into the Shadowlands, you can use the third rank of Spirit to Step Sideways, just as if you were entering the Middle Umbra. Your aura turns pale and you take on the spiritual imprint of one of the dead. 

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MOURNER'S CHANT (Euthanatos Only) ( 30 XP )

Your mage has a gift for relieving people of their despair when they are confronted by death. He might be a professional mourner in a traditional society, a grief counsellor or even just a compassionate soul willing to listen to and reassure anyone affected by death. His skill is such that the presence of ghosts and the walking dead bring no fear to his charges, so long as he can speak to them in a clear, unwavering voice. The character gains a -2 difficulty modifier on all Social rolls when trying to comfort someone struck by grief, rage or any other emotion brought on by death.

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 CLOAK OF THE SEASONS (Verbena only) ( 30 XP )

You are magically protected from the effects of the weather and the natural environment. You are perfectly comfortable in winter's chill or summer's blazing heat regardless of your clothing (or lack thereof.) You do not suffer from sunstroke or exposure. You're not even bitten by insects or other vermin. Your senses are still limited by the elements (including fog, rain and snow,) and you're not protected from either hunger or thirst.

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 HONOURED LINEAGE (Verbena only) ( 30 XP )

Your bloodline is descended from one of the oldest and most respected families among the Verbena, and you can trace your ancestry back to the Burning Times, if not farther. You are a true scion of the legendary Wyck, the First Ones. Among mages (particularly Verbena) who care about matters of lineage, reduce the difficulty of your Social rolls by two (but not to less than 12+.) You're also likely to receive a measure of deference and respect from these people, though others will also expect great things of you and could be disappointed if you don't live up to your heritage.

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NATURAL SHAPESHIFTER  (Verbena  only) ( 30 XP )

You are a natural and talented shapeshifter when using Life magic. You are never in danger of losing yourself to the identity of your beast-form, and any new shape you adopt is as comfortable to you as your own. Moreover, the difficulty of Arete rolls to change your own shape is two less than normal.

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TOUCH OF LIFE  (Verbena  only) ( 30 XP )

Your Avatar and your Pattern are filled to overflowing with the energies of life. You are especially vital and vivacious, and others find your presence uplifting and energizing (and possibly annoying, for those who don't care for such things.)

• You recover from injury as if your condition was one degree of damage less ,Lethal is recovered at bashing rate. Aggravated is healed at Lethal rate. Bashing is recovered at regular rate.

• Add 1 to Stamina + Composure rolls  rolls versus diseases and poisons

• More importantly, your liveliness tends to rub off on others. Plants thrive under your care

• Injured people under your direct care recover as quickly as you do 

The downside of this Merit is that your blood is particularly rich in life force, meaning vampires gain twice the normal amount of blood points when drinking from you. This might make you a target of bloodsuckers and similar life-draining creatures.

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HYPERSENSITIVITY (Cult Of Ecstasy only) ( 30 XP )

Your mage has very keen senses of touch and taste. Indeed, the Cultist can often sense minute motions, and she absolutely adores the touch of silk or the taste of wine. This Merit is different from just an Acute Sense; it's a qualitative difference. The Cultist derives a greater quality of satisfaction and pleasure from all manner of indulgences and carnal activities. The Cultist tastes subtle hints in drinks and can tell the most minute, soft touches. With a Perception + wits roll, your Cultist can often perform feats such as telling the exact vintage of a wine by a tiny taste or use a simple swatch of silk or a soft caress as a suitable focus, instead of indulging in more extreme measures.

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JUDGE'S WISDOM (Akashic Brotherhood only) ( 30 XP )

You aren't swayed by emotion. Ever. Perhaps you're a strict Legalist who follows Han Fei Tao's advice to keep emotion out of the business of living, or your heart has been calmed by years of meditation. In any event, even magical attempts to alter your emotional state almost always fail. Your character is immune to all Mind effects that work on the emotions, the power of vampiric Presence and similar effects.

He CAN still be swayed by attempts at direct mind control, such as possession, mental illusions, vampiric Dominate and the like, and extremely potent powers (with six or more dots) may overwhelm his defenses. Your character can be calm but weak-willed, after all. 

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MAD SCIENCE (Sons Of Ether only) ( 30 XP )

By experimenting with other dimensions, mind-wracking mathematics and Paradoxical technologies, the Sons of Ether risk their mental stability at the price of unique insights. Having touched the infinite, inhuman reaches of Truth, madness takes its toll, but it also brings inspiration.

Characters with this Merit receive  + 1 to all arete and Occult rolls while in the throes of Quiet or an active derangement.

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FAMILIAR /COMPANION ( 1 - 5 ) ( 30 XP Per Level )

Animal allies remain an integral part of the classical mage’s mystique. Who hasn’t heard of the witch’s cat, the telepathic steed, the wolf-brother, or the lab-assistant made of spare parts and ingenuity? Tradition calls such entities familiars, and most of the Nine Traditions tend to use that name as well. Other groups, as usual, employ their own names: assistants, brothers, soul-beasts, spirit animals, and so forth.

A Familiar/ Companion’s primary role involves companionship. Mages lead strange lives that often remove them from normal human interactions, and just as people crave pets of various species, mages crave the company of entities that understand those strange lives they lead. It might seem weird to staff your lab with hyperintelligent mice (and downright crazy to fill it with hyperintelligent apes!), but when weirdness defines your daily life, those companions seem perfectly appropriate. With very few exceptions, these creatures have at least a human level of intelligence, enigmatic levels of perception and arcane wisdom, and at least one or two physical abilities beyond what
you might expect from a normal animal or person.

What type of Familiar or Companion do you have? That depends on your approach to life and magick. Common Familiars/ Companions for various mage types include:
• Charismatic megafauna: Wolves, bears, alligators, eagles, hawks, apes, big cats, oxen, bison, horses, stags, reindeer, etc. (Shamans, nature witches, martial artists, clergy, wizards, and so forth.)
• Small but capable animals: Mice, rats, domestic cats and dogs, rabbits and hares, ravens, owls, foxes, pigeons, parrots, monkeys, snakes, etc. (Urban or rural witches, street folks, suburban mystics, mad scientists, academics, saints, and so on.)
• Attack Beasts: Large dogs, domesticated big cats, raptors, serpents, spiders, etc. (Witches, Black Suits, agents of authority, military personnel, war mages, etc.)
• Machines: Robots, androids, and other mechanical assistants. (Various types of technomancer.)
• Servitors: Clones; weird servants; incredibly strong, attractive, or capable “people” who seem unusually obedient and a bit more, yet less, than human. (Executives, celebrities, criminals, mad scientists, urban witches, seers, cult leaders, decadent tempters, Infernalists, etc.)
• Dead Things: Zombies, animated skeletons, disembodied yet “living” body parts – heads, hands, etc. (Necromancers, wizards, cult leaders, gutter kids, and other dark- side mages.)
• Constructs: Golems, cyborgs, technologically augmented animals, monsters stitched together from previously deadbodies, etc. (Mad scientists and other technomancers; old-school ritual magicians make them out of clay, stone, and so forth.)
• Hybrid Beings: Mermaids, centaurs, satyrs, unicorns, and so on. (They’re attracted to high-mythic mystics, wizards, nature witches, mad scientists, Marauders, etc.)
• Aliens: Greys, Bug-Eyed Monsters, Horrors From Beyond Space and Time. (Void Engineers, Etherites, mad scientists,crazed cultists, lone geek weirdoes, Black Suits, etc.)
• Imps: Little devils, demonic beasties, scary little critters, etc. (Infernalists, wizards, scary witches, cult leaders, etc.)
• Spirit Servitors: Elementals, invisible servants, minor ghosts, nature spirits, epiphlings, etc. (Shamans of alltypes, seers, wizards, witches, etc.)
• Data Beasts: Incarnated programs on the Digital Web. (Internet-based technomancers of all kinds.)

Whatever form your associate takes, the Familiar/ Companion has a mind and consciousness of its own, with agendas and desires you might assume but never truly know. There’s always something vaguely alien about them, and not even the greatest Mind-based Arts can completely penetrate the thought process of such entities. Beyond companionship, that character confers several other benefits onto his mage:

• Advice: The Familiar/ Companion has access to certain types of information and can lend insights to his associated mage. Generally, this works as a handful of Knowledges. Once per story the mage may ask a storyteller for "insight" stating his familiars type (see list above) and ranking. The storyteller will then decide what "Snippet" of obscure knowledge they will impart , if any, it may be the creatures type and rank would not know anything useful at all about the particular situation.

• The Feast of Nettles/ Paradox Nullification: When an impending Paradox backlash threatens the Companion’s mage, or when that mage absorbs dangerous amounts of Paradox energies, the Familiar can absorb a certain amount of those energies. So long as the Companion
stays close to his mage, usually within 10 yards (30 feet) or so, he can bleed off a few points from a mage’s Paradox trait or consume a pending backlash. The Familiar can hold up to five points of Paradox for each rank it has. The Familiar nullifies those points at a rate of one point per week. If Paradox exceeds the familiar’s capacity  then the whole amount of Paradox explodes in a horrific backlash that affects both the mage and the
Familiar equally. By the way, Familiars don’t enjoy this sort of thing at all, and they may get fed up (so to speak) with a mage who makes them “eat nettles” very often. A Familiar gets quite cranky when he’s stuffed with Paradox, and he may break the bond or otherwise act up if his mage keeps using him like a Paradox battery.

 

Quintessence Feeding: In return for those benefits, the Familiar requires a certain amount of Quintessence  per week. Mystic critters devour magickal energies by suckling on the mage, bathing in her aura, or otherwise sharing physical  or metaphysical contact. Technological Companions eat through physical contact (affection, mind-melds, sex, and so Quintessence-rich snacks (that is, Tass), absorb Quintessence

on), or get powered up by the mage’s hypertech machines. In game terms, it’s all the same thing: the mage offers Quintessence and the Companion feeds on it. No Quintessence, no Familiar; the disgruntled Companion disappears and the mage loses all of the benefits associated with her Companion.

Familiars also crave gifts, favors, affection, and so on. The nature of those offerings depends on the individual Companion and might be weird, arbitrary, or outright horrifying. Smart mages are protective of their Familiars… and with good reason. If a Familiar dies, the associated mage automatically loses all benefits of that relationship

NOTE: Storytellers may NPC the companion freely especially if they believe you are abusing it. If the familiar is lost then it is lost forever along with one permanent dot of resolve and two x companion rank amount of quintessence.
 

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X No special pets.
◉ Your Companion has access to a few scattered bits of helpful information.

QUINTESSENCE FEED REQUIREMENT 1

PARADOX CAPACITY  5
◉◉You’ve got a pretty cool Companion.

QUINTESSENCE FEED REQUIREMENT 2

PARADOX CAPACITY  10

◉◉◉ A magnificent Companion shares its wisdom and loyalty with you. 

QUINTESSENCE FEED REQUIREMENT 3

PARADOX CAPACITY  15

◉◉◉◉ You’re favored with the presence (if not always the good behavior) of a smart and miraculous creature. 

QUINTESSENCE FEED REQUIREMENT 4

PARADOX CAPACITY  20

◉◉◉◉◉ Your Familiar probably knows more than you do, can be quite demanding, and has a very outspoken personality.

QUINTESSENCE FEED REQUIREMENT 5

PARADOX CAPACITY  25

(will give you lots of shit about both.)

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DYNAMIC PATTERN  ( 1 - 5 ) ( 50 XP Per Level )

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Some mages are blessed with a Dynamic Pattern, a pattern that is very malleable and less resistant to changes. Most notably this malleable pattern lends itself, not unsurprisingly to pattern altering magics. This can both be a curse and a blessing, other mages can alter your pattern at -1 difficulty per dot, but on the plus side you can stave off the damage of pattern bleed caused by pattern buffs. This reduction means the mage suffers 1 less point of damage per dot of Dynamic Pattern caused by pattern bleed.

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