House Rules: Mage
Mage: The Ascension is in 20th Anniversary edition! Fun story though: after more than doubling the size of the core book and exporting much of the practical knowledge of how to do magical effects to a second book (aptly named How Do You Do That?), the rules got significantly less clear in a number of respects coming from Mage: Revised.
Contents
Sphere Level Clarifications
| Correspondence | Life | Prime |
| Entropy | Matter | Spirit |
| Forces | Mind | Time |
Durations
These are successes specifically dedicated to duration above the successes required to cast an effect at all.
| Zero successes | Immediate effect/one turn* |
| One success | One scene |
| Two successes | One day |
| Three successes | ~ One month * |
| Four successes | ~ Three months * |
| Five successes | ~ One year * |
| Six successes | Discuss semi-permanent and permanent changes with wiz |
For each *, consider paradigmatically how your character would envision the effort expended to extend duration effects and also the limitations. A Son of Ether might grapple with battery limitations, a Virtual Adept might have to work around annual solar flare radio interference, a Verbena might contain effects to seasons - whatever forms natural divisions of time within your character's paradigm might shift the durations per success slightly.
Optional Rules
Daily Rituals
Specific Rote Clarifications
Clarifications for handling particular rotes (usually from How Do You Do That?) will go here.
Crafting Wonders
- See Charms & Gadgets
- Permanent Wonders coming at some point
Weird Things From Non-Mage Sources
- W20 p313 says Mage avatars are visible in the penumbra. This is generally inconsistent with everything written in the Mage system about avatars. Barring special circumstances - merits, plots, magickal effects, seekings, etc - avatars are not visible in the penumbra.
Wank From M20 We Reject Because We Hate It
- M20 p367-369 discusses seekings. The following headings are stricken in their entirety: Managing a Seeking, Consistent Elements of a Seeking, and Six Steps to a More Enlightened You. You may wind up with a seeking that resembles the format described under these sections and under those circumstances. You might not. A full page on Seekings, how we see them, and the various ways we handle them, is in the works.
Miscellaneous
- Sanctums:
- A single Mage may have more than one sanctum
- The total point value of sanctums for a single Mage may not exceed 5 points (sanctums require ongoing effort to stock and maintain)
- Pooled/cabal sanctums may be subject to a different maximum to be determined and noted here by Mage staff in the future
- Damage taken from Paradox:
- Cannot be healed through magick by the person who received the paradox, period
- Can be healed as normal damage after the affects of any Paradox flaws or non-damage effects have run their course
- While Paradox flaws/non-damage effects are present, damage may only be shifted to one or more joint healers, amount "healed" divided among them
- May only be healed with a staff judge
