Paradox

Paradox is not well understood, but it’s perhaps one of the most feared (and most common) problems mages suffer. When a mage exerts the force of magic to change the world in spectacular ways, he violates the accepted nature of reality - people can’t really tum invisible or change lead into gold! - and a Paradox results. Often, the result ranges from inconvenient side-effects to disaster.

Paradox isn’t a sentient force that’s out to get mages. Rather, it’s the backlash of universal forces against the meddling and manipulation of the Awakened. It doesn’t play favorites or hunt mages down. It simply strikes - often in some form of fatigue or injury as the mage’s spell goes awry -when a mage tries to rewrite the Tapestry. After all, the Tapestry is so complex that no mortal could ever anticipate its response to manipulations completely.

Paradox most often strikes when a mage performs vulgar magic. The force of the mage striving to overcome static reality causes a Backlash or warping of magic. With some difficult spells, the mage might really screw up and be damned. Paradox can result as the mage fails spectacularly at some enchantment.

Paradox Accumulation

You gamer Paradox when you work a vulgar Effect, or when you fail an Effect miserably.

• If you cast a vulgar Effect, you gain one Paradox Trait for the highest Sphere level invoked. Therefore, casting a vulgar Disciple-level Effect garners three Paradox.

• If Sleepers watched your vulgar Effect, you get a n extra Paradox Trait. Lucky you.

• If you cast and fail an Effect that has a base difficulty of twice or more of your Arete Traits, you botch it. A botched coincidental Effect gains one Paradox 2 Trait per highest Sphere level. A botched vulgar Effect, gains that amount plus one more. A botched vulgar Effect with Sleeper witnesses gives a mage two Paradox Traits per level of the highest Sphere plus two more on top of that.

As you accumulate Paradox, it may destroy your Quintessence Traits. If your Paradox + Quintessence total exceeds 20 Traits, then replace Quintessence with Paradox so that the total never exceeds 20.

Usually, Paradox strikes immediately, causing discomfort or injury to the mage. However, you can delay this accumulation by spending a Trait of Willpower. If you do so, the Paradox holds until the end of the scene or hour, whichever comes first (mark it on your sheet). All Paradox you have gained in that time adds up. However, you suffer the Backlash of all the accumulated Paradox at the end of that time.

Backlash

Usually when you garner Paradox, it snaps and injures you. You may become fatigued as a result of your spell (suffering bashing damage), or you may actually be injured from a wash of uncontrolled forces. In rare cases, this damage might even kill the caster. Make a Simple Test each time you gain Paradox Traits. If you win or tie, it backlashes immediately. If you lose, it stays with your Pattern and simmers... for now.

The damage of a backlash depends on the amount of Paradox you’ve garnered. Typically, a Backlash fires off all of your accumulated Paradox Traits. So if you’re sitting on a lot of Paradox, you could be in trouble. If you’ve suffered one to 10 Traits of Paradox, take half that many levels (rounded up) of bashing damage (to a limit of Mortally Wounded). If you’ve suffered 11 to 20 Traits of Paradox, subtract 10, halve (rounded up) and suffer that many levels of lethal damage (again, to a limit of Mortally Wounded). If you’ve suffered 21 or more Traits of Paradox (what were you doing?!?), subtract 20, halve (rounded up) and suffer that many levels of aggravated damage. And this time, it can kill you.

Paradox Spirits

Occasionally, a mage’s gross violation of reality draws down some sort of offended force. These beings manifest to punish the mage for hubris, and perhaps to force the mage to learn something from his errors.

If the Paradox Judge feels that it’s appropriate, a mage may suffer a visit from a Paradox spirit. Such a spirit typically manifests in a form appropriate to the magic used (such as a hovering flame for Forces or an old man for Time)and wreaks havoc upon the unfortunate with its powers. Some can materialize physically. Others simply hamper the mage’s Effects or create nuisance effects of their own. The most dangerous may actually kill a mage or carry her off to some distant Paradox Realm.

There’s no hard-and-fast rule for a Paradox spirit. In general, a Paradox spirit should have Traits equivalent to the mage, scaled up if the Paradox was large. For a Paradox Backlash over 10 Traits, the spirit might have twice the Traits of the mage. For a Paradox Backlash of 20 or more Traits, the spirit will probably have quadruple the mage’s power level and be nigh-unstoppable.

Paradox spirits are typically immune to the Sphere that was used to cause the Paradox that drew their attention. That is, if a mage botches a Forces spell horribly and a Paradox spirit appears, it’s probably immune to Forces. Furthermore, a Paradox spirit cannot be summoned, commanded or banished with Spirit magic.

PARADOX FLAWS (OPTIONAL RULE)

Since magic is a dynamic force, so is Paradox. When a mage pushes and the cosmos pushes back, sometimes it does something weird.

A Paradox Flaw is a hindrance that manifests as a result of the mage's spell. Perhaps the mage's attempt to create flames causes his own clothes to catch fire, or his scrying spell renders him blind temporarily. The Effect can be random, and it is almost always detrimental.

If you have a Paradox Judge, several Narrators and a good player base, you can assign Paradox Flaws at a whim. The more Paradox Traits Backlash, the more dangerous and significant the Flaw is. This system requires careful arbitration, and it can get clumsy if lots of magic flies around and requires constant arbitration in many places.

You might also use Paradox cards. Have your Paradox Judge come up with a stack of random detrimental or strange Paradox Effects. Hand out five cards to each player. Then, when a mage suffers a Paradox Backlash, have the player draw a card from someone else's shuffled hand, and give a card in return. The mage suffers the Effect written on the drawn card. Since it's someone else's card, he never knows what'll happen. The Paradox Judge can also wander about with the remainder of the deck, just to make sure people aren't always in the clear. You'll want to drop in new cards or change some every few sessions, just to keep people on their toes.