Mage Chapter Two

TRAITS (2.0)

A mage has Trait maximums of ten (plus her Arete) for each Attribute category, five for each Ability, and ten Willpower. The Beyond Human Limits and Archmage Spheres optional rules are used in the Sanctioned chronicle.

ADVANTAGES and DISADVANTAGES (2.1)

The High Approval Storyteller can approve a character changing Traditions, moderating the game effects of such a change on a case-by-case basis.

Some Tradition, Union, and Disparate Advantages give permanent Traits of some kind or another. These Traits act as normal but can exceed the character’s maximums.

Akashic Brotherhood
Akashics do not need to have three levels of Brawl to possess the Do specialization. It requires High Approval for any non-Akashic to learn the Do specialization of Brawl.

Virtual Adept
Virtual Adepts do not gain extra time to solve puzzles if doing so will disrupt game play. Instead, the Narrator should give them the extra clues.

Orphan
Orphans have no Advantage or Disadvantage, but may select a specialty sphere during the Assign Specialty Spheres step of character creation, as noted on page 76 of Laws of Ascension. Once selected, the specialty may not be changed. Hollow Ones do not get a specialty sphere.

ABILITIES (2.2)

High Approval is required for characters outside the Technocracy to have any of the following Abilities: Biotech, Construct Politics, Energy Weapons, Helmsman, High Ritual, Hypertech, Jetpack, Microgravity Operations, RD Data, and Subdimensions.

BACKGROUNDS (2.3)

Note that Node and Resources can also be considered Chantry Backgrounds. Additional Backgrounds can be found on page 53 of Dark Epics.

High Approval is required for the following Backgrounds: Backup, Requisitions, Secret Weapons, and Spies.

Adversarial Backgrounds are not used in the Sanctioned Chronicle.

Blessing
If this Background duplicates a custom Effect that would normally require approval, the same level of approval is required. A blessing can only use one Sphere, and employs no additional Grades of Success.

Destiny
Rather then making a test at any point in a session to regain Willpower, a character must expend a Destiny Trait at the same time he spends a Willpower Trait. If he succeeds in the Simple Test for Destiny, he immediately regains that Willpower Trait.

Enhancement
This Background has been altered for the Sanctioned chronicle. A player’s character may gain Attribute Traits, mechanical devices, or biological modifications, but all Enhancements suffer from the Cyborg disadvantage.

Library
Each Trait of this Background shaves two weeks off of the character’s learning time for Spheres. No Sphere may be learned in less time than two weeks per level.

Mentor
Due to the scarcity of Adepts and Masters, four Trait Mentors are Mid Approval while five Trait Mentors are High Approval.

Node
Due to their extreme value and rarity, two and three Trait Nodes require Mid Approval, while four and five Trait Nodes require High Approval. Nodes provide Tass once every two weeks, as detailed in Laws of Ascension.

Influence
Because the Technocracy is the undisputed master of Influence among mortals, any mage who acquires a large number (twenty or more) of Influences should be warned that they risk drawing Technocratic attention.

A Word on Background Maximums
While most Backgrounds’ levels are limited to a maximum of five, the total levels of Chantry/Construct, Familiar/Companion, & Wonder are not. Players should make suggestions for these Backgrounds regarding statistics and powers, but the Storyteller always holds the final decision on the specifics.

Wonder
A wonder can have an Effect that uses multiple Spheres, but not more then five Sphere levels. It can also have multiple Effects, as long as no specific Effect has more then five Sphere levels. Effects created by a wonder are at the first Grade of Success. (Effects may make use of one additional Grade of Success, but only to increase duration.) Thus, a wonder that duplicates Trick Shot is allowed, as that only requires four Sphere levels, but one that duplicates Void Strike is not, since that requires six Sphere levels.

Talismans will absorb all Paradox generated for using one to create a Vulgar Effect. If a Talisman absorbs Paradox equal to it's Trait value in a twenty four hour period, it is rendered inoperative for twenty-four hours thereafter. Failing to create an Effect with a Talisman renders it inoperative for an hour or scene.

A talisman can only have more than one Trait of Arete with High Approval. (Each additional Arete Trait requires four more Wonder Traits). When using any Effect generated by a talisman, the mage uses the Arete of the talisman to create the Effect, ignoring modifiers for Resonance and any Effects the mage is maintaining, while reducing the difficulty by two Traits for using a Unique Focus. Talismans can benefit from the Spending Extra Time rule.

MERITS AND FLAWS (2.4)

Note that the rules in Prime for Merits and Flaws override those on page 54 of the Laws of Ascension Companion where they conflict. Thus, a character can gain a maximum of seven Free Traits from Flaws, and any Merit with a Trait value of eight or greater defaults to Top Approval.

Physical Enhancement, Resistant Pattern, Sleepwalker, and Twin Souls require Mid Approval.

Dual Traditions, Fae Blood, Ghoul, Shapechanger Kin, and Stormwarden require High Approval.

Shattered Avatar requires Top Approval. Bigot, Construct, Inner Knight, and Technobabbler require Top Approval for non-Technocrat player characters.

Non-Technocratic player characters may not take Demented Eidolon, Fifth Degree, or Rogue.

Sphere Inept
This Flaw is only worth one Trait in the Sanctioned chronicle, unless it is taken with the mage’s specialty Sphere.

ARETE (2.5)

The Extended Challenge rules in Prime are not used for Arete Tests.

In addition to spending Experience Traits and succeeding in a Seeking to raise a character’s Arete, there is a minimum amount of time required to have passed since the character's last successful Seeking (or since its creation). This minimum time is a number of months equal to two plus the character’s current Arete. Thus, someone with an Arete of three must wait at least five months before attempting to undergo a new Seeking to raise his Arete to four.

Characters with Arete ratings of five, six, seven, and eight require High Approval for a successful Seeking. Characters with Arete nine require Top Approval for a successful Seeking.