Talk:M:tA First Edition

Proposed Mechanics

Current Expansion

Good Idea

• Entropy 2 (affect fate & fortune)
• Spirit 2 (call spirit)

This rote calls a figment helpful in the Mage's current predicament.

Heroine's Luck

• Entropy 2

The Emperor's guards fire at our heroine, but none quite manage to hit her as she makes her escape. Increases difficulty of rolls to hit the Mage.

Stay In Character

• Mind 1 (empower self)

The good storyteller knows that characters must speak from their own perspective, not the author's. She separates her author's mind that knows the truth from her character's mind that speaks what the plot demands. This makes her inventions indistinguishable from honesty, as the mind that speaks is only saying what it truly believes.

Two-Stream Consciousness

• Mind 1 (empower self)

Twin streams squares WPM. The Magus while writing separates her mind into two. One half writes, while the other half proofreads, saving a great deal of time.

Next Expansion

Hijack Character

• Life 3
• Mind 2

The Author, given the image of a character, takes the idea of that character and writes it over their own. The world sees that character in body and mind, but the Author knows the truth and controls them from behind the page.

Moon Portal

• Mind 1 (empower self)
• Spirit 4 (rend gauntlet)

The magus sends a part of herself to sleep and then opens a gate to her dream along the conduit this creates.

Author's Intent

• Mind 2

The magus reads the thoughts and images embodied in a text rather than the text itself, bypassing the need to comprehend the language. Despite the name, the images are not just those laid down by the author, but also those created by readers and the general cultural perception of the work. It is a sharply limited rote, as most texts will not have strong psychic impressions - particularly mass-produced or copy-pasted texts in the current era.

Spirit of the Lore

• Mind 3
• Spirit 3
• optional Entropy 1

This rote fulfils a similar role to Author's Intent but is far more powerful. The spirit of the work is summoned forth and its psychic landscape can be explored by the mage - so long as she does not enrage it and it does not then manage to throw her out. This allows for complex examination of the content, themes and associations of the work through examination of and discussion with the work itself. An optional Entropy 1 enables the mage to percieve what parts relate to the truth of the external world.

Speculative

Create Spirit

• Prime 2 (fuel pattern)
• Spirit 5 (forge ephemera)

This rote weaves an entirely new figment out of pure quintessence. Further spheres such as Mind may be needed to give it intellect.

Dodge the Named Bullet

• Entropy 1 (sense fate & fortune)
• Time 2

Not every stroke is dangerous, many are just scenery. The mage can identify the true killing blows that will threaten injury and death, so that she can focus on evading them and ignore the chaff. Lowers dodge difficulties.

Dream Vortex

• Mind 3 (walk among dreams)
• Spirit 5 (forge ephemera)

The walls between dreams are false. A true storyteller can reach into the dreams of others and move them as one. This rote allows the magus to blend her dream together with those of others and command them as she would her own. Of course, others may contest this command.

Land of Nod

• Correspondence 5
• Mind 1 (empower self)
• Spirit 4 (rend gauntlet)

The author's power is to make their dreams real for themselves and others. This rote sets the mage dreaming, then merges that dream with the real world. As she rules her dreams, she rules 'reality'. Extraordinarily vulgar.

Moon Bridge

• Correspondence 2
• Mind 3 (mental link)
• Spirit 3/4 (pierce/rend gauntlet)

With access to a possession or other sympathetic object of a person, the magus can step into their dream while they are sleeping. Without such an object or knowledge of correspondence they must be present in person.