Correspondence sigil.
Correspondence (previously known as Connection) is one of nine Spheres of magic in Mage: The Ascension. The Ahl-i-Batin occupied the Seat of Correspondence in the original Council of Nine Mystic Traditions, but it is currently held by the Virtual Adepts. The Shard Realm of Correspondence maps physically to Mercury.
Deals with spatial relations, giving the Mage power over space and distances. Correspondence magic allows powers such as teleportation, seeing into distant areas, levitation and flying. At higher levels the Mage may also co-locate himself or even stack different spaces within each-other. Correspondence can be combined with almost any other sphere to create effects that span distances.
Space, interrelationships and sympathetic links all become clear through the study of Correspondence. By bending space or bypassing it entirely, a mage can travel rapidly, fly or teleport from place to place. Divining locations allowsthe mage to see far-away places or direct magic over distances. With a link between a person and an object, Effects may be targeted through connecting rituals.
Distance forms no barrier to a master of Correspondence. Indeed, distance and even space do not exist to the student of this Sphere. Through the unifying Correspondence Point, mages realize that all things occupy the same space — or no space at all. Virtual Adepts, the most dedicated modern students of Correspondence, theorize that all things coexist in a single All-Space or Correspondence Point, and that bypassing space is simply a matter of realizing this unity. Mathematically, space is just an illusion, a convenient construct of the mind. Objects, people and places don’t really take up space, according to such theories. Instead, everything is just a Pattern, and space simply describes the relations of different Patterns to one another.
Mystically inclined mages see Correspondence through the theories of contagion and sympathy. Any two things that have touched share a little trace of that connection, which can be called on through Correspondence. Objects or places that are similar in Pattern can be manipulated through that similitude. Any sort of connection opens the door to the manipulation of Patterns. It’s always easier to work with the familiar than the strange, after all.
In and of itself, Correspondence understanding is highly abstract. A mage skilled in Correspondence can measure space, find connections between objects and move Patterns around. Combined with the other Spheres, Corresponding becomes a formidable tool indeed. Proper use of Correspondence lets a mage bypass the limits of its own senses, extending its magic and actions to distant places or objects as long as he can form some connection. Correspondence visualization lets a mage see far-away places, people or things, and perhaps even touch them, go to them or drag them to itself. This door swings both ways, though. Just as a mage forges a connection, that connection can be traced back to the mage.
The more disparate a set of objects, or the greater the perceived distance crossed, the more difficult the Correspondence Effect. Such distances can be combined in conjunction with other Effects. Doing so makes the Effect more difficult to cast but capable of extending to great ranges, possibly even beyond the mage’s senses and to places of which he is not aware. Normally, a mage can extend its magic only to areas of its immediate senses, but Correspondence ranges bypass this limitation. The Correspondence Sphere lets the mage perform Effects beyond its line of sight, outside its hearing and otherwise in places beyond its normal reach.
Despite its capacity to bend space and distance, Correspondence functions only on whole Patterns unless combined with the various Pattern Spheres. That is, it’s impossible to just teleport away someone’s heart with Correspondence alone. In essence, Correspondence does not affect Patterns directly; such manipulations must be done with other magic. Correspondence simply lets those Patterns be affected, whole and complete, in changes of space or distance. If the mage wants to use Pattern Spheres to affect something with Correspondence, she’s limited by the Correspondence level (if it’s lower than the Pattern Sphere). Thus, a mage can teleport something with just Correspondence, but if she wants to change its Pattern at a distance, its skill with Correspondence is as important as its skill with the other Sphere.
Advanced students of Correspondence seem befuddled or distracted, as if they’re not paying attention to their surroundings. In truth, they are constantly aware of their immediate areas to a degree that others can hardly comprehend. In spite of their apparent distraction, these mages exercise absolute precision of motion, a result of their intimate understanding of distances.[1]
Standard Powers
  Immediate Spatial Perceptions Basic understanding of Correspondence allows a mage to develop precise and intuitive judgments of distance or area. A simple Effect enhances the mage’s awareness of space to determine exact directions and distances. The mage can cast spells to “feel out” the contours of space around him, using mystical senses to determine the placement of other Patterns even beyond the normal senses. With the proper Effects, a mage can also detect warps in space or the presence of gates, sinks, wormholes and other instabilities or tears in the very fabric of perceived distance. Combined with various Pattern Spheres, the mage can determine exact sizes and distances to creatures, objects or forces. With more ephemeral Spheres, the mage could develop a rough idea of the locations of nearby thinking beings, the area of power in a Node or the direction and distance to a peculiarity or strange coincidence. [2] |
| Sense Space Touch Space With scrying magic and projection, the mage can cast out its senses to various places beyond its physical form. The mage could touch and feel something physically at a distance or use magic to see a vista at a far-away location. The mage chooses one target and performs an appropriate Effect to scry there. Sensing a distant area forges a sort of connection between the mage and the location — a warp of Correspondence as the mage brings its Pattern in contact with the place — that can be detected with simple Correspondence awareness. This connection also extends the mage’s perceptions to allow him to use its magic at such places. Conversely, the mage can make wards that bar scrying, or defend the Patterns that she perceives from conjuration or transportation, by strengthening the hold of space and hedging out such distant perceptions. Combining Correspondence sensing and touching with Pattern Spheres lets the mage affect small Patterns at a distance. The mage could reach out and touch a stone from a far distance, then use Matter with Correspondence to pull it into its hand, conjuring it from across a field. Similarly, the mage could deposit an animal some distance away with a touch and a conjunctional use of Correspondence and Life. As with all uses of Pattern Spheres with Correspondence, the mage is limited to its lesser understanding in the possible Effects. In conjunction with other Spheres, long-range Correspondence allows the mage to seek someone out in order to establish mental contact or read thoughts, project probability manipulation at a far distance, search for powerful sources of Quintessence to manipulate or even look into distant spirit worlds.[3] |
| Pierce Space Seal Gate Co-locality Perception Tearing the very fabric of space itself, the mage can open a brief gateway to other places and step through. While the mage could only cast its senses out to distant locations previously, she can now actually travel via teleportation. The mage needs only sense the destination — or even haphazardly cast out to a random place, although doing so is extremely dangerous — then perform an appropriate Effect to change its Pattern’s location. Drawing together connections in various Patterns — or severing them — is also possible, and it causes the Patterns affected to build a stronger or weaker bond that can be exploited later through Correspondence. By strengthening the bonds of space instead of warping them, a mage can seal gateways and block the passage of Correspondence Effects. The mage can actually bar an area from passage, be it mundane or through Correspondence. Such an Effect prevents transportation in an area, and it can be cast over Patterns other than the mage itself. Finally, moderate comprehension of Correspondence allows a mage to split its perceptions over several locations at once. Although the mage can open a door to only a single place, or manipulate individual Patterns without major effort, she can use its scrying to view multiple places simultaneously. The mage could experience the show in any form appropriate to its paradigm. She might see a set of ghostly superimposed images around its as she spies on multiple locations, or perhaps she has a series of small simultaneous images for different places. With Pattern Spheres, the mage can use Correspondence to teleport Patterns or move objects from a distance. The mage reaches out and bypasses space to touch the object from range. Searching through multiple locations at once lets the mage perform very acute investigations, especially when using other Spheres to look for specific results.[4] |
| Rend Space Co-locate Self Adepts of Correspondence can not only tear through the Tapestry to create warps or rents in space, they can force such distortions to remain instead of just sliding their own Patterns along brief slips of distance. The mage can create a free-standing wormhole or gate that transports anyone to another place, or he can bend space to remove something from the bounds of the normal Tapestry entirely. Space isn’t necessarily mutable at this level, but various points can be connected or Patterns can be placed in new locations or even outside the concept of “space” altogether. Combined with specific wards, the gates through space can be made selective so that only certain types of Patterns may pass through. By causing its own Pattern to manifest in several perceived spaces, the mage can appear to exist in multiple places at once. Judicious use of other Spheres can let the mage think separately in these places (with Mind magic) or even act differently in each (with Life magic). Pattern magic used by an Adept of Correspondence can not only teleport or move objects, but establish gates that bar or warp certain Patterns. A particular Pattern can even be thrust into its own bubble of non-space, closeted away from the universe. In such a bubble the mage can scry safely or put away an object where it can’t be found or manipulated.[5] |
| Mutate Localities Co-Locate Space Mastery of Correspondence allows a mage not only to pull spaces together or hold them apart, but to bend, twist and flex space itself like taffy. The mage can stretch distances, alter volumes and spin around the very concepts of arcs or angles. A three-foot-long rod might be made to span an apparent 10 feet, or a gun could be folded so that its bullet comes out the apparently curving barrel heading toward the shooter, since the bullet travels along curved space and thus follows a straight line through a curved barrel. Just as an Adept of Correspondence can stack its perceptions or presence to see and interact with multiple locations, the Master can pull entire chunks of space together so that they can interact freely. Instead of gates through which things pass to travel, the whole areas become superimposed on one another. Objects and creatures can exist in two places simultaneously, because the places are now a single location. Items could be made to overlap without damage; in effect, more than one thing can occupy a single space at one time. Correspondence Masters can use other Spheres to cause Patterns to interact bizarrely in overlapped space, to allow themselves to appear in multiple places with independent bodies and thoughts, to cause an object’s spatial warping to also reflect in its physical characteristics or to shield areas from intrusion. [6] |
Archspheres
Correspendence Masters of Correspondence generally use two major theories in their work. The first is the mystic doctrine of contagion. The second, more recent theory is that of the Correspondence Point.
For all Arch-Spheres, there is a step the mage takes to move beyond Mastery. For Correspondence, the mage must figure out how to be in the same space as himself; the Correspondence Point lets Masters exist in many places simultaneously. Next, the mage must resolve the paradox of coexisting in space with himself as more than one simultaneous awareness of singular space. Confused? Nobody said it was easy.
••••• • Fold Space/Create Space Rarely used inside the Horizon, this power allows the Archmage to reduce or increase the distance between any two objects. If the Archmage is not working in empty space, then he must use other Spheres to manipulate the intervening Patterns (or Spirit, in the Umbra). Successes can be used to remove or add to the space in an area. The mage could create a strip or bubble of additional distance in an area, pulling Patterns like taffy with conjunctional magic in order to make them occupy the new distance. Conversely, the mage could collapse an area of space to a pinpoint, easily letting anyone cross it. At this level of Archmastery, the mage can effectively create space, generating a zone of emptiness that pushes exist-ing space outward around it. With the right Pattern magics, this space can be filled with other matter or made to look like part of the preexisting landscape. Note that space is not a Pattern per se; it is just, as one Archmage jokingly put it, “the place where the Tellurian keeps all its stuff.” Thus, creating space does not require the use of Quintessence. A mage can folding a preexisting Pattern to warp its
interaction with space. The mage can take a person and twist
him into the shape of a pretzel; subjectively, the person still
seems to exist according to his normal proportions, but the
world around him is horribly bent. Naturally, this can lead
to all sorts of complications, though it does not actually
cause direct harm.
[Folding or creating space is almost always a very complex
(10+ successes) action. Folding a Pattern is a conjunctional
Effect, and is also a complex action.]
••••• •• No Warding
As the name of this power implies, the mage realizes that
wards are something to be practically brushed aside, as the
region inside the ward is space that can be reached.
Normally, a mage can use Correspondence to bypass warded
areas, teleporting directly into or out of an area with Correspon-dence gates or folding. Wards, however, are tied to the Patterns of
the Tellurian itself, so that even a mage who doesn’t necessarily
cross intervening space can be hindered, harmed or hedged out.
With this understanding, the mage no longer relies on Tellurian
Patterns for guidance. Instead of using the Correspondence Point
as an external gateway to all space, then, the mage becomes a
sort of Correspondence Point, existing everywhere at once,
bypassing the effects of wards that are keyed to concepts of
“inside,” “outside” and “touching.”
A mage can also temporarily negate the powers of a
ward so that others can evade it. The process is similar, but
the mage himself becomes the Correspondence gate through
which others access the warded space or object. Since the
mage can easily co-locate aspects of himself, though, the
subjects don’t necessarily need to see or touch him or even
be aware of the Effect.
[Bypassing a ward in this fashion typically adds the ward’s
strength to the required success total on other Correspondence
functions. Naturally, the mage need not even step completely
into a warded area; she could simply reach inside or even grab
a warded object, with no trouble whatsoever. Temporarily
breaking a ward requires defeating the ward’s strength, as with
usual contested magic, and additional successes allow others
to bypass the ward with the mage’s help.]
••••• ••• Limits of Spirit
At this level of Archmastery, the mage can travel
anywhere, as with normal Correspondence teleportation or
co-location, but still takes material (or spiritual) reality with
him. The mage carries some of the characteristics of Earthly
space with him when he travels. Even though he does not
technically co-locate with Earth, he need not suffer from the
harsh environment of his physical location(s).
If an Archmage with this mastery of Correspondence goes
from the Earth to anywhere within the Horizon, he must still
cross the Gauntlet or suffer the effects of space. The mage brings
the material aspect of the Earth with him; he does not create
it wherever he goes. The extreme cold and radiation of space
are still deadly. If he travels outside the Horizon, he does not
carry this material aspect with him, as that region rejects the
separation of spiritual and material. Mastery of Spirit is required
to survive here. Thus, this power does not protect against the
invasion of outside environmental forces, but allows the mage
to draw upon safe Earthly reserves, breathing normally, walk
on (non-existent) ground and so on.
Since the mage can easily create bubbles of space
that share characteristics with other space — essentially
co-locating spatial features instead of just objects — it’s
a simple matter to section off a pocket of space to which
only the mage and others with this level of Archmastery
have any access.
[The mage must score enough successes to maintain the
field for the duration of her trip into hostile territory. Build-ing a pocket of bounded space requires an extended ritual
of moderate complexity (generally ten to fifteen successes)
depending upon the area built and the duration that the space
is supposed to exist.]
••••• •••• No Limits
At this level, any movement is possible. Mages of supreme
Correspondence Archmastery can break through any barrier,
even the Gauntlet and the Horizon. To the mage, all space
is one space.
[To reach any place on Earth requires only one success,
two if the place is warded. Traveling within the Horizon from
the material side of the Earth’s Gauntlet takes two to five
successes and travel from the Earth to any place outside the
Horizon takes seven to ten successes. Survival beyond the
Horizon still requires a Mastery of Spirit, however.]
entropy
Archmastery of Entropy is both easy and impossible. The
mage must realize that his fate is his fault. He goes where he
goes because of the choices he has already made. He must
also realize that he cannot change this fate without changing
who he is. This is much deeper than simply saying “Great, I
accept that I make my own fate.” It’s an understanding that
every action the mage has taken has colored his future, and
that he cannot escape the consequences of his existence.
The mage may be able to bend the universe to his whim, but
ultimately he must live with himself.
••••• • Stultifying Order/Utter Chaos
At this level of understanding, the mage gains total
determinism over chance. The Archmage can deny any
change, or call upon Entropy to reduce an object or being to
its component parts. Whereas lesser levels of Entropy allow
the mage to affect the outcome of chance as long as some
element of chance exists, this power lets the mage generate
raw chaos or completely remove probability. A wave of the
hand can disperse an object into randomly moving molecules,
or assemble a form from scattered elements.[Although a mage can build or destroy Patterns with this
level of Entropy, such Effects are usually conjunctional with
other Pattern magic if they’re to be lasting. Creatures and
objects can be reduced to their component parts (suffering
Entropy damage) or they can be turned into totally static
automata for the duration of an Effect, rendered unable to
learn, grow or change.]
••••• •• Destiny of the Species
At this stage of Entropy, the mage can control the
evolution of a species. While the lesser mage sees the work
of Entropy in single Patterns, chaotic probabilities and intel-lectual constructs, the Archmaster understands Entropy on a
meta-Pattern scale. He sees Entropy not just in Patterns, but
in the interactions between them. He can make a species more
suited to its environment, making it more prolific. He can
also do the opposite, causing its extinction. Without access
to Correspondence magic, this may take several generations,
as the mage blesses or curses nearby members of a species. For
a migratory species, or for a species spread across the Earth,
Mastery of Correspondence may be necessary for any real effect
to take place. Still, this potent Effect is, essentially, infectious
Entropy. The mage touches Patterns in a way that causes the
cascading Effect to spread.
[Naturally, affecting a number of creatures is a huge
undertaking. The mage should cast the Effect consistently
several times as an extended ritual in order to affect enough
creatures. This use of Entropy is a bit more gradual than
lesser levels; the inertia stored in so many Patterns takes
some effort to change. Used conjunctionally with Time and
Correspondence, a mage could theoretically reduce a spe-cies to extinction in a day or hyper-evolve it, though such
incredibly vulgar actions are best left for pocket universes
and personal experiments.]
••••• ••• Breach Shroud/Deny the End
The Archmage literally opens the Shroud, or closes it off!
Tied closely to the Underworld, the mage’s control of Entropy
breaks the barriers of death. With but a step, the mage can walk
into the Underworld like the Masters of Spirit. However, the
mage can also reorder the powers of death to her liking. Though
manipulating the Underworld is a hazardous undertaking (see
Chapter Three), the mage is fully empowered to reassemble life
from the swirling nihilistic energy of death or halt Oblivion’s
hold on an object or creature.
[By twisting the progress of Oblivion, the mage can slow
or halt the processes of death, disease and injury. Archmasters
with this level of Entropy can keep spirits of the dead from
dissolving into the nothingness of the afterlife or channel
the storms of the Underworld in different directions. Such
Effects are fairly trivial, though a botch can be disastrous.
Actually stepping into the Underworld or raising the
dead is, of course, a feat worthy of Orpheus. The mage
must undertake a quest to perform the appropriate Effect,
literally piecing the subject back together by tearing the
barrier between life and death, thus destroying the distinc-tions between chaos and order. Such feats are tasks of great
complexity (20+ successes) and difficulty.]
••••• •••• True Destiny
The universe is an open book to the greatest students
of Entropy. Chance and fate are writ large, and the supreme
Archmaster recognizes no contradiction in luck, choice and
predestination. Instead of simply manipulating the outcomes
of probability, the mage can see the course of the Tellurian’s
every facet. He can watch the lines that influence all Patterns
and the eventual end of being.
[The mage can alter the Destiny Background freely, rais-ing or lowering it, or even change the actual destiny. Scrying
with this level of Entropy lets a mage determine a creature’s
Destiny as well, and only the most potent magics can bar
such perceptions. Although the mage does not necessarily
see through time, he immediately understands all possible
outcomes, and comprehends the ones that will come to pass
unless phenomenal forces are brought to bear. Changing Destiny
is a complex (10+ successes) action, while modifying a mage’s
Destiny rating means rebuilding the interaction of chance and
fate within her Pattern, requiring five successes and ten points
of Quintessence per dot changed.]
forces
As with all Pattern magics, Archmastery of Forces requires
that the mage understand Forces on an interconnected level
instead of an individual Pattern level. The mage must tap into
the universal Pattern of Forces. By questing in the appropriate
Shard Realm, the mage gains a glimpse of the unified Force, the
Pattern that describes the sum of all forces in the universe. Since
this Pattern (theoretically) expresses every possible force, this
means that the mage experiences just about every combination
of Force Patterns possible. This is typically lethal.
••••• • Economy of Force/Sense Universal Force
Opening himself to the universal force, a mage can see
the interactions of Force Patterns and their natural begin-nings and endings. Though normal Force perceptions allow
a mage to spot interactions of such Patterns, this level of
Archmastery lets a mage draw connections between a Pattern
and its origins, its interactions with other Patterns and its
eventual destination. Such a broad view allows the mage to
determine where and how to apply force for maximum effect
with minimum effort.
[With the ability to sense universal forces, the mage’s other
Forces Effects become much more efficient. Perceiving Forces lets
the mage trace a Force Pattern back to its origin or extrapolate
its likely results. The mage can also direct other manifestations
of Forces with half the usual required successes, as long as the
mage has already activated universal perception.]
••••• •• Plate Tectonics
By manipulating entire strings of Force Patterns at
once, the mage can drop portions of a continent into the
ocean, or raise parts of the sea floor. Without Correspon-dence or Time magic, though, he is sure to be caught in the devastation. By the way, does anybody in the class
remember our discussion of Fleck’s Folly?
[Simply put, the mage can move entire continents with
Forces. Instead of grabbing or creating individual Forces, the
mage collects all forces acting on an object into a single vector
and modifies them at whim. Though the consequences of this
manipulation are phenomenally devastating, the mage can
extend her Force Patterns to affect as much area as she can
score successes for on her Effect. The vulgar consequences
are best not contemplated.]
••••• ••• Toss Around Realms
Normally, a mage’s command of Forces is limited to the
interaction of forces that deal with other Patterns. With
supreme concentration, though, it’s possible to make forces
that interact with Tellurian space, designed specifically to
push the boundaries of reality itself.
The mage can now move Realms. Mage-made Realms
are fairly easy to move, while the larger and more static
Realms take a bit more effort. Under the proper circum-stances, a mage could alter the apparent positions of various
locations in the Umbra, even shoving normally separate
Realms into brief contact. Realms are generally too large
to be pushed through the Gauntlet, though; the resistance
would be phenomenal.
[Use your imagination — the mage at this level of power
can move Umbral Realms, making access easier or harder. Small
pocket Realms and Steadings may only take 10 or 15 successes
to move, while a full-sized Shard Realm would require the
work of several mages acting together for 30 or more successes.
Remember, too, that historical inertia means that Realms tend
to move back to their original states if unattended.]
••••• •••• Alter Universal Forces
At this level of Archmastery, the mage can alter forces that
affect the whole Tellurian. He can manipulate the interaction
of the Shenti, moving them closer to one another or separat-ing them. The mage can briefly change how a universal force
functions, or even invent an entirely new force (“This is the
Force of Thon, which removes the distinctions of gender!”).
Some Euthanatoi have wondered if Oblivion itself is an
aspect of an Exemplar of Forces. Could it be that every force
is just an emanation of the will of some ancient mage who
imagined the cosmos into being?
[By making a phenomenal Effect roll, a mage can
transmute the nature of a universal force — altering how
magnetism works, for instance, or changing the strong nuclear
force. This sort of Effect rapidly cascades out of the mage’s
control, as historical inertia resists; such a change lasts only a
few turns at most. Still, changing the gravitational constantof the universe has its uses. Also, a mage can briefly create
a new universal force and then use more mundane Forces
magic to conjure or modify forces of that new type. Either
is a very complex (15+ successes) task, though once added
to the Tellurian, a universal force may last for some time.]
Life
To become attuned to the universal Pattern of Life, the
mage must flow through a great many smaller Life Patterns,
understanding the flow between predator and prey, between rot
and rebirth. Life forms the Patterns that are intimately tied to
the Tellurian by change. Though other Patterns change as well,
only Life Patterns naturally dovetail into the flow of universal
energy, taking and giving Quintessence from the cosmic pool.
The mage must experience this flow of Quintessence, the Life
force itself, by traveling through many and varied Life Patterns.
The quickest way to do this is probably to become a plague.
••••• • Perfect Transformation of Others/New Life
While an Archmaster of Life has previously been able
to mutate her Life Pattern at will, now she can transform
others into forms of life she has studied before with no loss of
the subject’s intelligence. Even Masters of Life cannot create
completely new forms of life, but with this understanding, an
Archmage can create a Pattern that has no relation to any
creature she has ever seen before. The Archmaster can also
make Life Patterns that have unique properties not normally
found in natural life — Patterns that subsist on base matter,
that are unaffected by certain Forces or Matter Effects, or that
interact with other life in strange and unpredictable ways.
[Strange new Patterns of Life can be created just like
other life forms are made with lesser Life magic, and the mage
can specify how they interact with other Patterns. Similarly,
the mage can transform other life forms just as she could
transform herself with her own Life Mastery, into nearly any
form of creature with no loss of native intellect.
Furthermore, massive Pattern manipulations are easier.
The mage can affect whole groups of Patterns without dif-ficulty, attaching a single Effect to all of them — healing
everyone in an area or transforming a group of animals — just
as easily as she could change a single creature. For such mass
manipulation, the mage need only affect the desired area,
without worrying about the number of subjects.]
••••• •• Scale of Life/Infection
Though individual Life Patterns each carry their own
Quintessential flows, they are all joined by their primordial con-nection to the Prime. With this understanding of Life, a mage
is no longer limited to shifting individual Patterns or creating
changes in groups of Patterns; instead, he can cause a change
to the underlying flows of Life, altering all Patterns of a certain
type within the area of the Effect. This is not simple Pattern
manipulation, but rather a change to the Quintessential flow
itself, which in turn causes the Pattern to shift accordingly.
The mage could cause all mammals in the area to become able
to subsist on air alone, or change just the human in an area to
make them unable to walk. Doing so is as easy as affecting any
single Life Pattern. In effect, the mage changes a meta-Pattern
of Life so that all life around it responds.
With control over meta-Patterning, the mage can also
make effects that jump from one Life Pattern to another. As
they interact, Life Patterns alter eachother and trade Quin-tessence. The mage can place an Effect on a Life Pattern so
that it jumps to any other Patterns, either duplicating itself or
shifting in entirety. Thus, a Pattern could be infected with a
debilitating or helpful “disease” that spreads to others, or such
an alteration could be made to simply jump from individual
to individual without copying itself.
[When performing a meta-Pattern alteration to Life,
the mage causes all Patterns of a specified sort to undergo
the same general alteration. Instead of requiring a specific
change, though, this change can be generalized according to
the general Pattern properties involved. “Cause all people in
the area to sprout wings” is possible without rewriting each
individual Pattern, as is “cause all fish to become able to
breathe air, regardless of other differences in their physical
structures.” The player need only roll as if affecting a single
Pattern — in this case, the underlying fundamentals of the
Life Patterns involved and their Quintessential ties.
Furthermore, the mage can build an Effect that jumps
from Pattern to Pattern as creatures interact. This Effect lasts
according to the duration scored by the mage; permanent Ef-fects are theoretically possible, but Life Patterns have a way of
adapting to changes over time. Still, this is an insidious way
to deal with enemies, assist allies or even spread a message.]
••••• ••• Create Shifter/Virus
A mage at this level of Life can now grant others the
ability to alter their own forms. He can essentially merge two
Patterns, allowing the shift between them, and even add forms
that combine aspects of the two. He can also create Patterns
that pretend to be components of other Patterns, at the very
limit between Life and Matter.
[By mutating a Life Pattern to contain flexible elements,
the mage can give it the ability to change its own nature —
whether through a series of static shapeshifting forms or in
a random sequence of bizarre transformations. This follows
the normal guidelines for transforming Life Patterns. Note
that such a creature is not a true spiritual shifter like a were-wolf, but rather a physical mutant. This does not, therefore,
grant any of the special spiritual abilities that supernatural
shifters possess.
Furthermore, the mage can build Life Patterns that only
develop Quintessential flow in contact with other active Life
Patterns. Otherwise, these Patterns are inert, their Quint-essential flow locked into an inward spiral. Such Patterns
straddle the edge of Life and Matter; a viral Pattern like this
is barely detectable with Life magics, and may interact with
other Life Patterns as a combination of Life and Matter. It
is thought that the beginnings of Technocratic cybernetics
came from such Patterns.]
••••• •••• Perfect Immortality
The penultimate understanding of Life renders a mage’s
own Pattern immutable. Only through the mage’s will can
her Life Pattern be affected. Age and disease are no threats,
as with lesser Life mages, but now even physical injury causes
no real harm. The mage’s Pattern sustains itself regardless of
perceived damage. Indeed, the Pattern that was once the
mage’s life force is now extraneous. The mage simply expands
her Life Pattern to tie directly to the Tellurian. No amount
of damage can destroy that connection.
[A mage who reaches this level of perfection is function-ally immortal. She can suffer the complete discorporation of
her physical form; her Life Pattern itself is no longer tied to
the simplicity of her gross physical mass. Of course, surviving
extreme injury or age is quite Paradoxical on Earth, but in
the Tellurian the mage is essentially immortal in the face of
anything less than another Exemplar or a god.]
Matter
Understanding the universality of Matter may seem the
safest and easiest of the Pattern magics, but it is actually the
quickest way to lose oneself. Like advanced Forces, Matter
Archmastery comes with comprehension of the relationships
between Matter Patterns throughout the Tellurian. The
mage must delve into the nature of matter, its existence as
a solidified state of Quintessence, and ultimately learn the
most basic properties of Matter through its differences from
the mage’s own Life Pattern.
••••• • Alter State
Although alteration of matter may seem similar to earlier
levels of skill, at this level the mage can easily shift matter
through various states.
[All necessary properties are altered to induce a change in
state (solid, liquid, gas, plasma, ether), requiring one success
per state shift. A change to plasma technically requires Forces
3, and ether (or Quintessence) requires Prime 2. This change
can be accomplished with any Matter Pattern in the mage’s
sensory range. It is important to note that plasma created in
this manner is not hot. Rather, it is more a state between a
Matter and a Forces Pattern.]
••••• •• Transform Pattern
The Archmage of Matter can turn anything (or ev-erything) in sight into whatever he wants. Again, this is a
function of scale. While earlier Mastery of Matter allows a
mage to transform Patterns on a small scale, this level of
Archmastery lets a mage grasp multiple disparate Patterns
and alter them simultaneously en masse.
[Generally, every change in property requires a single suc-cess. Thus, each success lets the mage alter one fundamental
property — hardness, density, weight, light absorption and
so on. Instead of working with individual bricks in a wall,
the mage just grabs the meta-Pattern of the wall and twists
it appropriately. A castle turned into butter with one success
is still hard as stone, but tastier.]
••••• ••• Create Pattern
Archmastery of meta-Patterns allows an Archmage to
exceed the normal bounds of scale that lesser magics enforce.
Instead of creating individual Patterns, the mage creates a form
that holds multiple replicating Patterns. Individual changes
to specific pieces can be done later. Moving multiple-element
components poses no difficulty. The mage doesn’t bother with
weaving each piece of the Pattern from the inside out and
instead just makes an outline of the Pattern, letting it fill in
according to its needs.
[The Archmage can, within sensory range, weave as large
and intricate a Pattern as he likes, assuming, of course, that
he has both the Prime knowledge and the Quintessence to
fuel it. For instance, instead of just creating a brick, the mage
builds a Pattern for a Pattern, using a template of a castle and
recursively filling it with bricks. The difficulty is no greater
than creating any other sort of Matter, so although it’s harder
to cast this Effect correctly, it allows the mage build larger,
more complex objects.]
••••• •••• Subjective Reality
At this Sphere’s pinnacle, the mage creates Matter Patterns
that respond not to other physical Pattern forms but to etheric
Patterns such as Mind. These Patterns alter their properties
according to their pre-programmed responses to Mind or Spirit
impulses. Thus, the mage can make Patterns that have certain
properties to one person and different properties to another.
[The supreme Archmaster’s command of Matter is so
great that her creations appear differently to those who view
them. She can have material properties, for instance, that
are poisonous to specific Natures or Essences. The Matter
Patterns can be keyed to respond to certain Spirit Effects or
emanations of Prime, as desired.]
Mind
Early students of Mind magic perfect the no-mind
technique, emptying their thoughts. Masters delve into the
complexities of mental Patterns and independent thought
constructs. Archmasters do both at once: thinking, not
thinking, mind and no-mind. To the Archmaster, thought
and its absence are just like shadow and light.
••••• • Relive Past Lives/Sense the Universal Mind
The Archmage can delve into her past lives, find amazing
insights and remember ancient trials and even more ancient
wisdom. She can understand herself more fully, and sometimes
learn useful information about friends or enemies. By reach-ing into the web of all minds, she taps the pieces of wisdom
contained in all waking Avatars.
[With a simple Effect, a mage can easily delve into the
recesses of Dream, even beyond her normal reserves. By spend-ing a point of Quintessence, the mage can fuel her mind to
traverse the limitless thoughts mirrored in her Avatar, pulling
out bits of former lives or reflections of wisdom from other
Avatars. Each success on such a roll allows the mage to tap
into an extra dot of Past Life for a single roll. Such an Effectcannot be extended and is not cumulative — whatever the
mage scores on the Arete roll is what she gets.]
••••• •• Universal Subconscious/Reprogram Avatar
At this stage, the Archmage understands the Sleeper
world as well as he understands the waking one. With
care, he can guide his Avatar to repair his faults for tests
in his next life.
[Just as a mage could sense the Avatar’s past thoughts
through the earliest applications of Mind, this power enables a
mage to imprint thoughts, memories and impulses specifically
onto his Avatar. The Avatar carries these images, playing them
out in later lives and Seekings. Though this would seem to be
of limited utility, it is perhaps the last hope for an Archmage
who has realized the futility of attempting to reach Ascension
through Mastery of the Spheres alone.]
••••• ••• Self-Awareness
The mage who progresses this far understands the true
insignificance of mental achievement in attaining Ascension.
The process of thinking is not nearly so important as the
state of being. As the saying goes, “Try to be a human being
instead of a human doing.” At this level, the mage gains
precise control over his actions and emotions.
[Once a mage achieves this total self-awareness, she is
no longer subject to states of emotional turbulence. Though
she cannot necessarily force enlightenment, she can cast
aside any remaining mental barriers and weaknesses with
ease. An extended ritual can remove specific mental Flaws
from the mage or a specific subject. Similarly, the mage can
expend Quintessence to refresh her Willpower by fortifying
her mental Pattern on a one-for-one basis limited by the
number of successes scored on the Effect roll.]
••••• •••• One Mind
The province of the extremely rare mental Archmasters
(or the extremely power hungry), One Mind gives access to
all minds. The mage understands the inner workings of all
the minds around him. He sees the reflection of every thought
in the Quintessential flow of the Tellurian, opening his con-sciousness to a realm of total intuition. His Mind Pattern,
no longer fettered to his Life Pattern, exists independently
in the flow of the universal Mind.
[The mage at this level of Archmastery no longer requires
a body. Even if his physical form is killed or his body destroyed,
his Mind Pattern remains intact and able to float through any
realm of consciousness. The mage can sense the emotions, intents
and thoughts of nearly any creature, as with the lesser levels of
Mind magic, but can also determine the general flow of multiple
Mind Patterns. Thus, with a simple Effect bounded by an area,
the mage can identify the tide of emotion over an entire group,
the “gestalt mind” of a mob, species or collective.]
Prime
Prime is the fundamental component of the Tellurian. It’s
no surprise that the ability to manipulate the greatest Prime
energies also grants the power to repair the warps and tears
of reality, smoothing out the pain of Paradox.
Because Paradox is, in many ways, simply a reaction to
unrestrained change, the power to repair Paradox is the power
to regulate one’s own flaws. Paradox warns the mage when
his power is out of his control — Archmastery of Prime lets
the mage recognize that flaw and deal with it.
••••• • Paradox senses
Although at first this may seem of limited use, Archmages
of Prime realize the ability to see Paradox manifest, not only in
themselves and others but in reality as both disbelief and the
domino effect. Their view of the interaction of Prime energy
and Paradox also allows them to see when mages have entered
Quiet. Furthermore, the Archmage can channel Quintessence
into this Paradox, canceling both. This last effect is coincidental.
[With a simple sensory roll, the Archmage can determine
the source and nature of Paradox energies. Channeling Quintes-sence can only be done once on any given source of Paradox,
and the number of successes scored limits the Quintessence
that may be used to negate Paradox energy. Paradox nullified
in this way has a tendency to explode, doing aggravated dam-age, so it’s a dangerous way to help other mages. Note that
permanent Paradox is beyond the ministrations of this power.]
••••• •• Weave Odyllic Paradox/Violate Pattern
By understanding the true nature of Prime, an Archmaster
can access supposedly “inviolate” Quintessence. The Archmage
can tap directly into another person’s Avatar and harness the
stored Quintessence. The mage can even direct Paradox at
his enemies, increasing the severity of reality backlashes and
creating disturbances that nullify magic.
[An Archmage can access another mage’s stores of Quintes-sence by making a Prime attack. He need only use his Prime as a
directed Effect. Each success that isn’t dodged or countered steals
one point of Quintessence. Furthermore, the mage can amplify
the severity of Paradox backlashes, using a fast (non-cumulative,
non-extended) Effect to add his successes to the Paradox Pool
of a backlash. The mage can even cause Paradox to turn and
strike a different target, using the guidelines for altering Forces.
Of course, if the mage screws up the Effect, the Paradox is likely
to strike him instead. Do not botch.]
••••• ••• Channel Paradox
The ridiculously vulgar Effect of giving someone else your
store of Paradox rarely breaks even. Taking another’s load of
Paradox is also possible, though hardly desirable. Still, mov-ing around Paradox — shifting the blame, so to speak — is
possible with enough esoteric knowledge.
[For each success scored on an Effect roll, the Archmage
can channel one point of Paradox away from someone else,
causing it to immediately burst into a backlash or even throw-ing it at a victim who fails to dodge or counter the Effect.
Every two successes scored can be used to move a point of
Paradox from the Archmage’s pool to someone else or cause
it to immediately backlash.]
••••• •••• Expel Base Paradox/Create Universe
An overachieving Archmage can toss his Paradox off
into the ether. Those few who know of this power theorize
that this is what creates Paradox spirits.
An Archmage at the pinnacle of Prime can also use
Quintessence to create a pocket universe. The internal di-mensions of this universe, and all other properties, are at the
Archmage’s discretion; his knowledge of Patterns is the only
factor limiting the universe’s internal properties. This pocket
universe is a small piece of folded space where the Tellurian
naturally balls itself off in a sort of protective shell. Naturally,
watching this universe evolve can provide all sorts of insights
for less-experienced fledgling mages, and it may even be an
interesting place to visit for the Archmage creator. The mage
simply gives the tiny Pattern a spark of creative force, and
lets it run. Perhaps this is the way our own universe started.…
[By scoring three successes per point of Paradox, the
mage can expel his Paradox energy into the void. This is an
all-or-nothing affair — the mage must score enough successes
to eliminate all of his Paradox, or the Effect fails (with the
consequential gain of additional Paradox).
Creating a universe is best left to the Storyteller’s imagina-tion. Due to the differences in primal Patterns, objects from
a created universe cannot survive in the parent universe (the
Tellurian of the creating mage). They are, at best, insubstantial
shadows of that higher reality. The reverse is not true; the
creating mage (and other creatures or objects of his reality)
are quite functional in such a pocket universe, unless the
creating mage specifically builds its Pattern otherwise. This
can be a unique way to explore some very bizarre stories.]
spirit
To achieve the greatest understanding of Spirit, one must
be subsumed by it. An Archmaster of Spirit undergoes the sha-man’s journey, becoming possessed by the spirits, symbolically
(or literally) dying and returning with their wisdom.
••••• • Awaken Ephemera
While awakening Ephemera may seem a minor trick, its
effects can be devastating. Ephemera are the sleeping spirits
of objects, trees and places. When awakened, they sometimes
posses incredible power to affect the real world. Most mages in
their home turf are on friendly grounds with nearby spirits. As
a result, an Archmage can call upon all manner of spirits to aid
him and may be able to summon spirits in other places as well.
[Just about any sort of Pattern object or creature can have
its own Ephemera spirit. Rousing such a spirit is a fairly simple
task (5 successes or so) — a testament to the powers of Spirit
over the complexity of the other Spheres. Once awakened,
such a spirit can often exert control over its physical host, and
may have powers associated with its mythical properties. The
spirit is not automatically friendly to the Archmage, but an
Archmaster of Spirit is probably no stranger to dealing with
spirits. This power does not function on intelligent beings.]
••••• •• Create Realm
The Archmage is now adept enough to weave spirit stuff
in almost non-spiritual ways. He can create a “pericarp”— a
wall similar to the Gauntlet, through which one must step
with Spirit. The pericarp walls off an area, turning it into a
tiny Realm of sorts.
[Although the mage does not actually shift the locale
into the spirit world, he does create a membrane of spirit
around it. People wishing to cross into the delineated area
must pass through the pericarp in some fashion. Each success
scored translates into a level of effective Gauntlet rating
for the pericarp, or can be used to extend duration and
range as usual. Creatures with no ability to enter the spirit
world find the pericarp to be an impassable, hazy, slightly
reflective barrier.]
••••• ••• Remember the One
Although some Choristers hearing of this power consider
it rather blasphemous, this is only because they are completely
wrong about what it does. This power allows the Archmage
to bring overlapping Realms together, with no Gauntlet
between. It is named for the mythical First Age, when all
Realms were one.
[By scoring three successes for each point of the Gauntlet,
the mage can pull together overlapping Realms. Additional
successes add to the duration at one-third the usual rate. Realms
pulled together this way are not harmed and are treated as whole
and complete locations where their inhabitants may interact.
Typically, this functions only over a small area — use the range
chart with one-third the normal values. When the Realms split
apart again, creatures return to their native planes, even if they
had somehow crossed over beforehand.]
••••• •••• Awaken Avatar
Yes, it is possible to force the Awakening of another. It
is rarely a good idea. Awakening needs to come when the
mage is ready for it. Very few people Awakened this way re-main useful to their awakeners. The Awakening is traumatic
enough; a forced Awakening can kill the victim with shock
or leave the Avatar damaged and deranged.
Some rare and powerful Umbrood posses this power.
These Umbrood are generally known as demons. Infernal
mages have to get their powers somehow, after all.
[Awakening a mortal’s Avatar is no mean feat; it typi-cally counts as an extraordinarily difficult (20+ successes)
task. The subject immediately loses a permanent point of
Willpower from the trauma, and must then make a Willpower
roll. Failure indicates that the subject gains a derangement
and suffers some sort of damage to her Avatar (manifested
as Sphere Incompetence, no Avatar rating or a similar
handicap), while a botch kills the target. This power has
no effect on supernatural or already-Awakened creatures.
Even if the Awakening is successful, the individual might
not be friendly to the mage or even able to act after the
sudden, terrifying experience.]
time
Frankly, altering the past is a power that the Storyteller
needs to keep out of the hands of the players. There is no rule
system that describes time travel because a story is a linear
progression of events. Realize that if the Archmage can affect
the past, then the past can also be affected by the Consensus
of those living in the present. People who write history can
literally change history. This explains the Technocracy’s efforts
to change perception and historical documentation.
A character that finds ways around this should see time
changed to suit his vision of it. Also, a mage trying to affect
a different age finds his rating in the Time Sphere reduced by
one per age removed. If the mage improves his Sphere rating
in another age, his rating can be increased to his normal rat-ing at a cost of 2x new rating in experience points. This also
means that a mage cannot travel to even the High Mythic
Age (the most recent previous age) until his Time Sphere
rating is eight. Once he achieves such a Sphere rating in more
than one age, doorways in time can pass the age barrier. Also,
a mage cannot exceed his highest rating in Time in an age
other than his own.
In order to surpass Mastery, the potential Archmage of
Time must enter a temporal loop and realize a way out of it.
It’s almost like getting stuck in a Paradox Realm from a Time
backlash. However, the mage deliberately triggers paradoxi-cal Time circumstances, and then forces a resolution. The
trick is returning the Archmage to his original time stream.
••••• • Aid the Past
This power allows an Archmage to send objects, or even
Quintessence, back in time. When an Archmage changes the
past, the alteration is greatest at the moment of interference.
Thus, Paradox may backlash on the Archmage not only when
he sends the materials back, but also at the receiving end.
Naturally, Time Sense picks up all sorts of weird vibes from
this interference.
[Prime, Matter, or Life are generally required to send
items back through time. Successes must be spent for both
the size of the item and the degree of alteration to the present.
The object sent to the past literally shunts the mage into a
new time stream; the more divergent the time line, the more
successes required for the Effect to take hold.]
••••• •• Go to the Past
At this stage, the mage’s abilities to alter the past are
vastly improved. She becomes a dynamic force in the time
stream, and can follow the course of time, greatly altering
the present. She can easily step back further than any of
her former Time abilities allowed her to see or alter. The
drawback, however, is in Paradox. The mage must be careful
to step only briefly into the time stream and affect minor
changes without calling upon additional magic. Magic
displaced through time causes great strain on the Tellurian,
reflected by extreme Paradox.
[Any magic used in the past draws Paradox as if the mage
were using Arch-Spheres, even if she is only doing subtle,
simple Effects. Paradox that would normally be gained from
the Effect is gained as normal, but all other Paradox becomes
stacked in the “present.” If the backlash in the “present” is
large enough (20+ points), then ALL of the changes made
by the mage revert to normal upon the cessation of her time
trip. This is in addition to whatever damage the backlash
causes her. If the backlash hits 30+, it’s time to retroactively
write the mage out of the chronicle.]
••••• ••• Time Door
Doorways in time can move forward or backward through
time or not at all. When an Archmage at this power level
steps forward or backward in time, he no longer exists as a
traveling Effect along the way. He cannot actually be affected,
even by those who understand the Sphere of Time. Effectively,
he jumps from one point in time to another.
Often, however, a mage may create a moving door in the
present. Observers see merely an open doorway. Such a doorway
is often created to go to a specific point in the time stream, so
the other end is non-moving — it always exits at the same point
in time in the past or future. The door in the present moves
forward with the time stream, remaining open and available
for use (a non-moving doorway would just exist for a moment,
and then as the present moved on, it would continue to exist
in that static moment in the past). Theoretically, a mage may
even make a door that moves backwards through time; stepping
through the doorway at an early point in its creation takes one
back only a short time in the past, while stepping in later takes
the individual back a great deal of time.
All doors with a non-moving end — like those used to
visit a specific point in time — collapse as soon as somebody
steps through. If the two ends of the doors move in different
directions through time, they can either converge or diverge.
Converging doors collapse when they meet. Diverging doors
and doors with both ends going in the same direction exist
until collapsed at either end.
For example, if a mage creates a door with a static end in
the past and a forward-moving end in the present, the door
continues to exist with the present (it moves forward with
the present). The static end in the past always exits to the
same time, regardless of when someone uses the door. If the
past end is moving backwards, then stepping into the door
at the moment of its creation places someone at the original
destination of the door’s exit, but waiting to use the door later
catapults the user further into the past, since the door’s exit
has retrogressed into history.
[Time Doors could be better named Plot Doors. The meta-physics of Time Doors can be staggering in their complexity,
so it’s best just to leave them as portals built to fulfill a specific
role in the story. Remember, if a mage builds a Time Door and
alters his past, he winds up in an alternative time line where
his actions have spawned the appropriate changes.]
••••• •••• Exist Apart from Time
It is the privilege of the very few to view the time line as
a whole from beginning to end. The annoying problem with
such perceptions is that they do not truly span the ages. While
all but a few warded times in this age are clear to the mage, the
previous and upcoming ages are difficult to view with any detail.
Archmages speaking of this perception of time over the past few
years have called it “watching the Armageddon clock.”
[After achieving this Archmastery of Time, the mage no
longer exists as a static moment in the present. Instead, his Pat-tern’s entire span of existence is fused into a single “moment”
that encompasses the whole age. The mage can “coalesce” to a
second and decide to work within the time line at any point. As
usual, modifying the time line places the mage in an alternate
time stream. This is annoying, since determinism is pretty much
meaningless and the mage finds himself constantly in time flux if
he takes any actions at all. About the only thing that the mage
can do at this point is create Time Doors for others.]
Effects
| Mage: The Ascension Spheres | |
|---|---|
| Traditional: | Correspondence · Entropy · Forces · Life · Matter · Mind · Prime · Spirit · Time |
| Variations: | Data · Dimensional Science · Primal Utility · Void Correspondence · Qlippothic Spheres |