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Spell Overview

Practices

Mages divide the art of magic into thirteen Practices of in- creasing complexity. Demonstrating their expertise with these methodologies is how mages claim rank and privilege: A Thyrsus who has demonstrated the ability to cast Spirit Unmaking spells has earned the right to call herself a Master, for example. When they require further gradation, mages specify the number of Arcana they have achieved their highest rank in: if the same Thyrsus also successfully casts a Life Making spell she may call herself a second-degree Master.

1. Initiate

  • Compelling spells nudge a preferred but possible outcome into reality. A coin toss can be made to come up tails (Fate), a bored worker can be made to take that coffee break now (Mind), or a spirit can be forced to avoid its bane (Spirit). Making the coin hover and spin in midair, making the worker walk into her boss’s office and quit, or making the spirit ignore its favorite prey are beyond the bounds of a Compelling spell.
  • Knowing spells deliver knowledge about something direct- ly to the mage (or to another target). A mage can divine the cause of a corpse’s death (Death), sense whether someone has a powerful destiny (Fate), or unerringly know which way is north (Space). This knowledge is a direct awareness of Supernal truth; the mage doesn’t have to interpret ev- idence based on her senses or try to divine the truth out of cryptic riddles.
  • Unveiling spells expose hidden things to the mage’s senses. She might gain the ability to hear radio waves (Forces), peer across the Gauntlet or perceive things in Twilight (Spirit), or see the flow of Mana across the landscape (Prime).

2. Apprentice

  • Ruling spells grant fuller control over phenomena than a mere Compelling spell. Water can be made to flow uphill or into unnatural shapes (Matter), animals (or even human beings) can be commanded (Life or Mind), or time can be momentarily made to accelerate or slow down (Time). A Ruling spell can’t fundamentally alter its target’s abilities: Water can be directed, but not turned solid or gaseous. Time can be altered, but not overwritten. An animal can be commanded, but not made stronger or fiercer.
  • Shielding spells, sometimes called Warding spells, offer protection against phenomena under the Arcanum’s purview. A Shielding spell might protect against a ghost’s Numina (Death), make the mage immune to fire (Forces) or disease (Life), or allow her to survive in a caustic atmo- sphere (Matter). Mages protect themselves from general harm through the power of their Arcana with the Mage Armor Attainment rather than Shielding spells.
  • Veiling spells are twofold: Firstly, they can conceal things under the Arcanum’s purview from detection: A target can be made to lose all sense of time (Time), a fire’s heat and light can be hidden from view (Forces), or a building made all but impossible to notice (Matter). Secondly, they can conceal a target from concrete phenomena under the Arcanum’s purview: a mage can render herself invisible to ghosts (Death), or ward a powerful Locus from detection by spirits (Spirit), or walk unnoticed through a crowd (Life or Mind), or past a camera (Forces). Short of archmastery, it’s impossible to Veil something against an abstract concept or force: a mage can’t Veil herself against death or hide from time, for example.

3. Disciple

  • Fraying spells degrade things, weakening them and enhancing their flaws. Fraying spells can weaken targets under the Arcanum’s purview: damping a fire (Forces), sapping Strength (Life), or eroding the barrier between worlds (Death, Spirit, or others, depending on the worlds in question). They can also directly attack targets using the energies of the Arcanum: inflicting damage via the chill of the grave (Death), psychic overload (Mind), or a blast of electricity (Forces). Damage inflicted by a direct-attack Fraying spell is always bashing.
  • Perfecting spells are the opposite of Fraying spells in many ways: they bolster, strengthen, and improve rather than weakening and eroding. A Perfecting spell might repair damage to an object or a person (Matter or Life), allow a machine to function perfectly with no wear and tear (Matter), or make a modest destiny into an earth-shaking one (Fate).
  • Weaving spells can alter nearly any property of a target without transforming it into something completely dif- ferent. Solid steel can be transmuted to liquid (Matter), a sword can be enchanted to damage beings in Twilight (Death or Spirit), or a few seconds of time can be rewritten (Time).

4. Adept

  • Patterning spells allow a mage to completely transform a target into something else that falls under the Arcanum’s purview. A memory can be replaced wholesale (Mind), the mage can turn herself (or a target) into an animal (Life), or she can teleport by “rewriting” her own location (Space). A spell that transforms the target into something that falls within the Purview of another Arcanum, like transforming into a living pillar of fire (Life and Forces), requires a mage to know the Practice of Patterning for the destination Arcanum.
  • Unraveling spells can significantly impair or damage phe- nomena under the Arcanum’s purview, or directly inflict severe damage using the forces of an Arcanum. A raging storm might become a calm summer’s day (Forces), or solid iron reduced to dust (Matter); even spells can be torn asun- der (Prime). Mages can hurl fire (Forces) at their enemies, or cause aneurysms and heart attacks with a glance (Mind or Life). Damage inflicted by a direct Unraveling attack is lethal, but can be upgraded to aggravated by spending a point of Mana and one Reach.

5. Master

  • Making spells allow for the creation of whole new phe- nomena ex nihilo. The mage can conjure gamma rays (Forces), birth new spirits (Spirit), or create a doorway to the Underworld (Death). Time can be dilated by creating more seconds, hours, or even days (Time).
  • Unmaking spells annihilate subjects under the Arca- num’s purview entirely. Life can be snuffed like a candle (Life), two locations can be forced into each other by destroying the distance between them (Space), even Hal- lows and Verges can be wiped from the Earth (Prime). Unmaking spells are beyond inflicting direct damage with attacks; a successful Unmaking destroys the target altogether.

Many Roads to travel

Astute players will likely figure out a multitude of ways to accomplish similar effects with different Arcana, sometimes at different dot levels. This is okay. Just because a Fate ••• spell can do a thing doesn’t mean a Forces • spell that does a similar thing is “broken” or should be disallowed. Take for example influencing the outcome of a coin toss.
A simple Compelling of Fate can easily tip the odds toward either heads or tails, but it’s theoretically possible to use a Forces Fraying spell to alter the kinetic energy imparted to the coin, causing it to spin slower, or use a Matter Weaving spell to change the coin’s center of mass.
Both are perhaps more complicated than the Fate approach, but they’re valid within the purview of their respective Arcana. Similarly, a Mind Weaving spell could force a target to feel love, while a Life Ruling spell could cause the target’s brain to release dopamine and other hormones that create a similar effect.